For more than a year, there was a billboard near my home that read “BETTER LEFT UNREAD THAN DEAD.” It was a powerful ad that aimed to convince drivers that no risk was worth texting while driving.

The problem for my hyper-orderly mind was that grammatically, the subject of “dead” was the text, not a person—an incongruence that wreaked havoc on my grammarian sensibilities. In other words, the writer didn’t follow the rule of parallel structure.

Parallel Structure Defined

As a refresher, the rule of parallel structure calls for the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence or bulleted list. By following the same grammatical pattern for each listed or compared item, you ensure parallel construction.

So every time I drove by that sign, I’d get annoyed and try to think of a better way to say it that was grammatically acceptable. (Yes, I realize this puts me on some sort of OCD spectrum—hopefully I don’t scare up too many bad memories from high school English😅).

I’ll admit—I’m hard-pressed to come up with a grammatical alternative that’s just as powerful. No doubt (and hopefully!) the ad folks spent some time around a conference table debating alternatives, finally settling on poetic license to justify their form. And let’s face it: The meaning is clear.

Unfortunately, most of us can’t claim poetic license if we make grammatical mistakes in our resumes and other career docs. So we need to make sure our content is strong both in terms of storytelling AND grammar.

How to Create Parallel Bullets

An example of where that parallel structure can fall apart is in the branding section at the top of the resume.

Take a look at the following bullets from a technical sales leader’s resume branding section and see if you notice what’s “off.”

• Accomplished mid-market and small business pre-sales leader with a record of delivering strategic solutions, services, and cloud applications that scale for growth.
• In-demand keynote speaker and technical sales expert who ignites enthusiasm among customers, media, and industry analysts at global industry seminars.
• Recognized for transforming and mobilizing technical teams to unite around a common ambitious goal and achieve peak individual performance. 

If you guessed the last bullet because it starts with a verb rather than a noun phrase, congratulations 🎉! You understand the need for parallel structure.

Now, to make the sequence parallel, all you’d need to do is slide in a noun phrase at the beginning of the third bullet.

• Accomplished mid-market and small business pre-sales leader with a record of delivering strategic solutions, services, and cloud applications that scale for growth.
• In-demand keynote speaker and technical sales expert who ignites enthusiasm among customers, media, and industry analysts at global industry seminars.
• Professional development advocate recognized for transforming and mobilizing technical teams to unite around a common ambitious goal and achieve peak individual performance. 

Aside from showcasing this client’s a-mazing skills, there’s something else at work here. If I’ve done my job well, it’s invisible. But parallel structure is arguably as important as the content itself.

Why Parallel Structure Matters

Can the first example be understood just as easily as my corrected structure? Arguably, yes.

But a parallel structure leads to uniformity throughout the section, which leads to clarity. This, in turn, makes for smooth reading. And a smooth read makes for a happy reader…🤗

And if you compare the non-parallel example against the one with the parallel structure, the first one just doesn’t look as sleek, because the way I wrote the bullets is inconsistent. If grammar rules alone won’t convince you, consider parallelism as a design feature—just as important as the shading or font styles you use.

By the way, there are other ways to call out your brand. For example, you can talk about specific achievements rather than broader contributions, as I did above. But again…either start with a strong verb (Steered the organization through multiple changes) or a noun (Winner of 10 industry awards). Just be sure to stick with one grammatical pattern.

Parallel Structure Within a Sentence

Don’t forget to follow this rule within a sentence.

Here’s an example where I see clients struggle:

❌ Incorrect: Increased revenue, profits, and scaled for growth.

If you start a series with one verb, don’t introduce a new verb unless… 

You use a new verb for each series item:

As in:

👌 Grew revenue, increased profits, and scaled for growth.

Or…

It’s part of a new clause:

👌 Increased revenue and profits while scaling for growth.

Although we could potentially get away with a structure that’s not parallel, there’s a reason for grammar rules. Overall, we should follow them so we can communicate clearly, effectively, and succinctly. (see what I did there?😎).

Even more important: if you call out your amazing communication skills in your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile, you never want to create doubt in the mind of your reader—who may well be one of those scary grammarians 😱.

You can get ideas for your own branding section by checking out my resume samples here.