1. Parallelism
E. Siler

2. A Basic English Rule
• Whenever we put grammatical structures in a list
of two or more, the structures must be identical
in grammatical/structural type (form).
• This rule is called the rule of “parallelism.”
• It’s important to understand parallelism if you
plan to do any form of professional writing in
English.
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical papers
are all organized around the rule of parallelism.

3. Understanding Parallelism
• It’s best to think of parallelism in terms of
examples.

4. Example 1: Noun phrases
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical
papers are all organized around the principle
of parallelism.

5. Analysis
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical
papers are all organized around the principle
of parallelism.
• This is a list of four noun phrases.
• Three of the noun phrases are plural count
nouns: slides, resumes, brochures.
• The fourth one is a plural count noun and an
adjective phrase: technical papers

6. Punctuation
• Slides, resumes, brochures, and technical
papers are all organized around the rule of
parallelism.
• Note that the parts of the list are divided by
commas (,) and the last two elements in the
list are connected with “and.”

7. Parallelism and Other Structures
• Parallelism is not just a way to arrange noun
phrases.

8. Example 2: Verb Phrases
• Sometimes we list verb phrases.
• My laboratory experience includes:
– Autoclaving
– Extracting DNA
– Operating the sanitary incinerator

9. Example 3: Adjective Phrases
• Sometimes we list adjective phrases.
• Bilingual; US-educated; Experienced in hotel
front desk work.

10. Example 4: Prepositional Phrases
• Sometimes we list prepositional phrases.
• Experience
– In hotels
– In restaurants
– At amusement parks
• Experience in
– Hotels
– Restaurants
– Cafeterias

11. Example 5: Clauses
• Sometimes we list clauses.
• I interviewed candidates , recommended short
list candidates, and organized interviews.

12. Resume Mistake #1
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed to develop professional
skills and preparation in professional
engineering.]

13. Analysis
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed to develop professional
skills and preparation in professional
engineering.]
• Problem: The two elements listed with “and”
are not in the same form.
• One is an infinitive phrase (to develop . . .)
• One is a noun phrase (preparation in . . .)

14. Fix it!
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed to develop professional
skills and (to) prepare for a career in
professional engineering.]
• Solution: Now we have two infinitive
phrases.

15. Fix It!
• [ Semester long one-on-one mentorship
opportunity designed for the development of
professional skills and preparation in
professional engineering.]
• Solution: Now we have two noun phrases.

16. Resume Mistake #2
• Experience
• Shoe Company
Payless Shoes
Purchasing Agent Assistant
• Econometrics Lab
Unemployment Rate Research (USA) Fall
2010

17. Analysis
• Experience
• Shoe Company
Payless Shoes
Purchasing Agent Assistant
• Econometrics Lab
Unemployment Rate Research (USA) Fall 2010
– Each entry starts with the general place the person worked (shoe
company, econometrics lab).
– But after that different types of information are listed!
– The first one lists the name of the company (Payless Shoes) and the
title of the position (purchasing agent assistant).
– The second one lists the type of work done (unemployment rate
research) , the country in which that research applies (USA) and a date
(Fall 2010).

18. Fix It!
• The types of information listed must be
identical!
• Experience
Payless Shoes
Purchasing Agent Assistant (Spring 2011)
Washington State University Econometrics
Lab
Researcher (Fall 2010)

19. Resume Mistake #3
• Languages: Mandarin (Native) English
(Academic)
• Professional: SWOT analysis  international
law  entrepreneurship analysis for companies
 the process of export and import.
• Computer Skill: Proficient in Microsoft Office.

20. Analysis
• Categories are not in parallel order:
– Languages – plural count noun
– Professional – adjective
– Computer Skill – singular count noun

21. Fix It!
• Skills
– Language (modifier)
– Professional (modifier)
– Computer (modifier)
OR
– Language skills (noun phrase)
– Professional skills (noun phrase)
– Computer skills (noun phrase)

22. Analysis
• Remember: When we have two things in a
list, we combine with AND. In a resume we
could also use a semi-colon.
Language skills: Mandarin (Native) and
English (Academic).
OR
Language skills: Mandarin (Native); English
(Academic)

23. Analysis
• Remember: Wherever possible we want
phrases to be roughly the same type and length.
• Professional skills:
– SWOT analysis: (compound noun)
– international law: (adjective noun)
– entrepreneurship analysis for companies: (compound
noun with prepositional phrase)
– the process of export and import: (noun modified by
prepositional phrase.

24. Fix It!
• Professional skills:
• SWOT analysis: (compound noun)
• international law: (adjective noun)
• entrepreneurship analysis for companies:
(compound noun with prepositional phrase)
• import/export processes: (compound noun).

25. Resume Mistake #4
• Experienced specialist in International
Business  Bilingual in Mandarin/English 
Sales experience  Illustration experience

26. Analysis
• Experienced specialist in International
Business  Bilingual in Mandarin/English 
Sales experience  Illustration experience
• This profile has a number of problems with
parallelism:
– Noun phrase focused on the person (specialist)
– Adjective phrase (bilingual in Mandarin/English)
– Noun phrase focused on sales experience.
– Noun phrase focused on illustration experience.

27. Fix It!
• Bilingual international business experience 
Sales experience  illustration experience