TWO COLUMN / THE COLUMN TEMPLATE
A narrow supporting column keeps skills and education in view alongside your work history. Column is useful when you want to compare two kinds of information at once.
Create and export your resume with CVura.Product Designer
Portland, OR · jordan@example.com
Product designer making complex workflows feel simple. Experienced in research, accessible interfaces, and working closely with engineering teams.
Fieldwork Studio
Common Ground
Product design · User research · Prototyping · Figma · Accessibility · Design systems
BFA, Communication Design · Pacific Northwest College of Art · 2021
THE DESIGN THINKING
The main column carries the story of your work. The supporting column holds concise factual details that do not require long explanation. This leaves the experience section a clear visual priority.
WHEN TO CHOOSE COLUMN
Column gives skills and education a narrow supporting area alongside the work history. It is useful when those facts are concise and the main entries need more explanation. Do not force long descriptions into the sidebar simply to balance the page visually. Test the longest items, inspect page breaks and copy text from the final file to review its sequence. Where an employer asks for a simple layout, or the columns become interleaved during extraction, choose a single-column version.
Column can introduce a designer or other professional whose work samples provide useful depth. The main history should explain each project’s purpose and your contribution. Supporting skills then help orient the reader without replacing the project explanation or requiring the portfolio to supply basic employment context.
A short education entry and selected skills can remain visible while the main column carries the work. Preserve important qualification status and dates. If the supporting information needs extensive explanation, consider whether a different layout would give that content a more appropriate reading space.
When you are introducing yourself to a person, the simultaneous view of work and supporting facts can be convenient. Still review the actual file. If a later application form specifies a simpler structure or reads the columns unpredictably, prepare a single-column version from the same facts.
A FICTIONAL WORKED EXAMPLE
In this fictional example, Kenji has one internship and a strong course project. His first draft fills the sidebar with design-process explanations and leaves the main history almost empty. He uses Column to move the project story into experience, keeping the educational label visible. The supporting area now lists a small set of methods and tools that the project actually demonstrates.
UX design, research, prototyping, testing, and many design tools.
Redesigned a course-project registration flow after six supervised usability sessions, clarifying required information and testing the revised sequence with a second prototype.
The revision states the educational context, the behavior changed, and the method used to evaluate it. It does not present the project as a commercial product or claim broad user impact. Column can now give the project enough explanation while the supporting facts remain concise. Kenji’s portfolio can show the iterations, with the resume already clear about what kind of experience the reader is viewing.
FROM SAMPLE TO YOUR RESUME
Write the work history so it can be understood without the sidebar. Include project context, ownership, and dates where relevant. This creates a complete first reading and prevents essential information from being scattered across two areas simply to achieve a balanced visual shape.
Keep skills and education relevant to the vacancy and short enough to scan. Do not use full paragraphs to define methods. If a skill needs evidence, attach that evidence to the role or project where it was used rather than expanding the supporting column indefinitely.
Check that the preview gives experience priority, then inspect the final file’s text order. Dates and contact details should stay intelligible. If the recipient’s system combines columns incorrectly, choose a simpler template rather than assuming that a visually clear page must be read correctly by every tool.
TRY THIS WEBSITE LAYOUT
Free browser template. No account. Example details are fictional.
THE FINAL EDIT
The supporting area does not need the same amount of text as the main history. Adding unrelated courses or skills to make the bottoms align distracts from the application. Let the content reflect its purpose rather than filling space for symmetry alone.
The resume should explain whether a project was personal, academic, paid, or collaborative. A link cannot replace those facts. Keep the main contribution clear before the reader opens a case study, especially when a polished portfolio could otherwise imply a larger role.
GOOD QUESTIONS
It can be when the supporting facts are concise and the main area explains meaningful projects or work. Label educational experience accurately. If education needs to dominate the document, check whether the layout’s fixed arrangement serves that purpose.
Use recognizable terms and avoid shortening them so much that an outside reader has to guess. A narrow column rewards concise wording, but clarity is more important than forcing every entry onto a single line.
Follow the portal’s instructions and inspect the actual file. Two-column text may be interpreted differently across systems. Keep the edited content available so you can use a single-column version when the destination calls for one.
PUT THE IDEA TO WORK
Fictional practice case: Yara is a landscape designer applying through a direct introduction. She has a long professional-study title and a detailed project history. All qualifications in this exercise are fictional. Column's narrow supporting area makes the credential wrap awkwardly, tempting her to remove its status.
Preserve the credential's actual title and whether it has been completed. The sidebar does not have to end at the same height as an adjacent job. A balanced-looking rectangle is not a reason to make an educational claim ambiguous.
Remove a redundant explanation of the institution or unrelated coursework if it adds no useful qualification. Keep project decisions in the main column, where Yara can explain the site constraint and her responsibility for the proposed design.
If essential qualification details remain uncomfortable to read, a single-column template may serve this application better. Column's supporting area is a useful option, not a requirement that every career history should be forced to satisfy.
Check the complete exported page at normal reading size. If your eye must repeatedly jump between wrapped credential fragments to understand the award, simplify the surrounding content or change layouts rather than abbreviating away an important fact.
Choose a resume format for your evidenceA USEFUL NEXT READ
Explore a UX designer resume example with interaction design and user research evidence, annotated bullets and a fictional sample.
Explore the exampleCheck whether your resume text survives export, inspect reading order and contact details, and understand what a local extraction test cannot prove.
Read the guideCOMPARE THE TRADEOFFS
A strong center of gravity
A clear map of your experience
YOUR NEXT STEP
Take the writing ideas from this example into your next application. Choose a layout in CVura, prepare your resume and export the format you need.
