Two Spaces After A Fullstop Could Reveal Your Age

Two Spaces After A Fullstop Could Reveal Your Age

Depending on your age and where you went to school, you may have learned keyboard skills on a typewriter rather than a computer. Those of us who learned on a typewriter were usually told to type two spaces after a fullstop. Try single spaces on your resume and emails if you want to avoid some unintended age discrimination.

Photo by Seth Morabito

Career counselor Marc Miller wrote a LinkedIn Post covering some tips to avoid appearing older than you want to be when applying for a job. He recommends single spaces after a fullstop in all communications:

I am going to go out a limb and declare that putting two spaces after a period is obsolete. It is how most of us were taught to type on a typewriter. Therefore, most of us who do this (I have taught myself to stop putting two spaces after a period and it was hard) are over 50 years of age.

Over the years, I have heard that this has been used as a method of screening out older candidates.

We’ve covered the single vs double space debate before and its history from the typewriter days (though some dispute the original source of the double space). Whatever the reason, consider it the next time your write a potential employer.

5 Things On Your Resume That Make You Look Old [LinkedIn via Business Insider]


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