FresumeResume spelling
How to Spell Resume
Resume, résumé, or resumé? All three are correct in US English. Here is which spelling to use on a job application, whether the accent marks hurt ATS parsing, and how to type the é when you need it.
How do you spell resume?
You can spell it three ways, and all of them are accepted in US English: resume with no accents, résumé with an accent on both e’s, and resumé with an accent on the last e only. On a modern job application, the plain resume is the most common and the safest choice, because it is the easiest to type and every applicant tracking system reads it without trouble.
The word came into English from French, where résumé means “summary.” Over time, everyday American usage dropped the accents, while formal and academic writing often keeps them. None of the three spellings is wrong — the real question is which one fits where you are writing it.
Resume vs. résumé vs. resumé: what is the difference?
The only difference is the accent marks; the meaning is identical. What changes is how formal each version looks and how reliably it types and parses. The table below shows where each spelling fits.
| Spelling | Accents | Where it fits | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| resume | None | Online applications, forms, filenames | The default for most US job seekers |
| résumé | Both e’s | Formal, academic, and print writing | Style guides that require the French form |
| resumé | Last e only | A middle-ground hybrid | Rarely recommended; looks inconsistent |
Dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster list all three as valid, so you will not be marked wrong for any of them. The single-accent resumé is the least common, because keeping one accent and dropping the other reads like a typo to many people.
Which spelling should you use on a job application?
Use resume with no accents on almost every US job application. It is the dominant modern spelling, it types cleanly on any keyboard, and it never risks a garbled character in an online form or a filename. Save résumé for formal or academic writing where a style guide asks for the accents. Whichever you choose, use it consistently across your document, your cover letter, and your profiles.
Consistency beats correctness. Mixing spellings — “resume” on one line and “résumé” on the next — is the one version of this mistake a recruiter actually notices. Pick a single form and use it everywhere: the document, the filename, the cover letter, and LinkedIn. For most people in 2026 that form is plain resume.
Do accent marks hurt ATS parsing?
In almost all cases, no. Modern applicant tracking systems read standard accented characters such as é correctly, so “résumé” parses fine as ordinary text. The bigger point is that the word “resume” rarely appears inside your actual resume at all — you title your sections “Work Experience” and “Education,” not “Résumé.” So the spelling question affects your filename, your cover letter, and your profiles far more than the document a parser reads.
Where accents can cause trouble is in filenames and older upload tools. Some systems mishandle non-standard characters in a file name, turning résumé.pdf into scrambled text. The fix is simple: name the file in plain letters, like Jordan-Lee-Resume.pdf. To confirm your finished file parses cleanly, run it through the free ATS resume checker or review the rules in our ATS-friendly resume guide.
How do you type the é in résumé?
If you do want the accented form, every device can produce an é without special software. Here is how to type it on the tools you already use:
- Windows: hold Alt and type 0233 on the numeric keypad, or press Win + . to open the symbol picker.
- Mac: press Option + e, release, then press e again.
- iPhone or Android: press and hold the e key, then slide to é.
- Google Docs: open Insert → Special characters and search “e acute.”
- Microsoft Word: press Ctrl + ’ (apostrophe), then e.
- Any app: copy and paste the character directly — résumé.
Common resume spelling mistakes to avoid
Beyond the accents, a few versions show up often enough to flag. None of these are correct spellings of the word:
- “Resme,” “resune,” or “resum” — simple typos; the word always ends in -ume.
- “Resumè” with a grave accent — the accent in the French word slopes the other way; it is é (acute), not è (grave).
- “CV” used as a synonym — a curriculum vitae is a longer academic document, and in the US it is not the same thing as a resume.
Spelling the word itself is only step one. The wording inside the document is what wins interviews. See how to structure yours in our resume format guide, browse real resume examples, or start from one of 50+ resume templates.
The bottom line on how to spell resume
Spell it resume for job applications, use résumé when a formal style guide calls for the accents, and stay consistent either way. The spelling alone will not make or break your application — but a clean, well-structured document will. Fresume gives you a free ATS resume checker, 50+ single-column templates that export to a pixel-perfect PDF, and a library of examples to model. The free plan covers the essentials; premium is $17.49 a month, with a $2.95 7-day trial, and adds a voice AI interview coach plus one-click application autofill for LinkedIn, Indeed, Workday, and Greenhouse.
Questions
FAQ
01How do you spell resume correctly?
All three spellings — resume, résumé, and resumé — are correct in US English. On a job application, plain “resume” with no accents is the most common and safest choice, because it types easily on any keyboard and every applicant tracking system reads it cleanly.
02Is it resume or résumé?
Both are correct. “Résumé” is the traditional French spelling still used in formal and academic writing, while “resume” without accents is the dominant modern US spelling and the standard for online job applications. Pick one and use it consistently.
03Do you need accent marks on resume?
No. Accent marks are optional. Merriam-Webster accepts the word with no accents, and most US job seekers write “resume.” Use the accents only when a formal style guide requires the French form.
04Will accent marks break an ATS?
Almost never. Modern applicant tracking systems read the é character correctly in body text. To be safe, keep accents out of your filename, where some older upload tools mishandle non-standard characters. Naming the file in plain letters removes any doubt.
05How do you type é on a keyboard?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0233 on the numeric keypad. On Mac, press Option + e, then press e again. On an iPhone or Android, press and hold the e key and choose é. You can also copy and paste the character from anywhere.
06Is “resumé” with one accent correct?
It is accepted by dictionaries but rarely recommended. Keeping one accent and dropping the other looks inconsistent to many readers, so it is cleaner to choose either “resume” with no accents or “résumé” with both.
However you spell it, make it ATS-ready.
Check your resume free, then build a clean, single-column version that parses everywhere — with the keywords each job is looking for.