Short answer: both types of resume work, but pick the one that matches your goal. Below is a quick, practical guide so you can choose with confidence.
Best for: most corporate roles, ATS scanning, recruiters who skim, print-friendly copies.
Why it works
ATS friendly. Most applicant tracking systems read top to bottom, left to right. A single flow makes parsing reliable.
Scanable. Hiring managers can find job title, dates, and one key accomplishment in seconds.
Clean and simple. Great for conservative industries, senior roles, and people with lots of clear experience.
Quick tips
Keep headings obvious and consistent.
Lead with a short summary or core skills section if you need to frame your candidacy.
Use bold text for role and company, right-align dates.
Keep each bullet as a one-line CAR style statement: context, action, result.
Best for: creative roles, design portfolios, early-career candidates who want to highlight skills and projects, or when you need to fit a lot without bloating page length.
Why it works
Better real estate. Put contact, skills, certifications, and quick stats in a narrow left column and use the main column for experience and projects.
Visual hierarchy. Recruiters can quickly scan skills and tools without hunting through paragraphs.
Differentiation. A well-designed two column resume stands out in creative industries.
Quick tips
Avoid cramming. Enough white space keeps the layout readable.
Don’t hide important info in sidebars. Critical items like experience and top achievements should stay in the main column.
Test for ATS. Some two column layouts break parsing. Put your name, contact, and summary in the main flow or in a hidden plain-text version for applications.
Ask yourself:
Is this role tracked by an ATS? If yes, prefer single column or an ATS-safe two column.
Am I applying to a creative or design-first company? If yes, two column can help you stand out.
Do I have lots of short, relevant skills or certifications? Two column may present them better.
Will this be printed or emailed? Single column prints and converts to PDF more predictably.
If you are unsure, use Yotru to create a master resume and apply our single or double column template. All of the templates are ATS friendly and should get you started on the right track.