When to use : and ;

Naggins

I'm doing my CV at the moment and I'm listing a few of my attributes but I'm not sure should I be using , or ;. When I should the former and when should I use the latter?

Yakuza

I would use a colon and commas in a list, e.g.
"Operating Systems: DOS, Unix, Windows 95-Windows 8, Mac OS."
In a cv, you could use a semicolon in a list that begins in more of a sentence-like structure, e.g.
"I like foreign languages; French, Spanish and German."

pickarooney

; is for two separate clauses (which should function independently as sentences) which are closely linked.

"I'm a keen traveller; I've visited over 40 countries"

There's really no place for a semi-colon on a CV, that I can see.

Yakuza

pickarooney wrote: »

"I'm a keen traveller; I've visited over 40 countries"

There's really no place for a semi-colon on a CV, that I can see.

There's nothing wrong with that exact sentence in a CV, down in the "Interests" section, where I'd include the foreign language example I made.

Yakuza

Yakuza wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with that exact sentence in a CV, down in the "Interests" section, where I'd include the foreign language example I made.

I don't think your foreign languages example is correct since "French, Spanish and German." isn't an independence clause. Considered by itself it doesn't make grammatical sense.

I would consider the following to be correct:

"I like foreign languages; I'm fluent in French, Spanish and German."

"I'm fluent in three languages: I can converse freely in French, Spanish and German."

In the semi-colon example, the former and latter clauses can be considered independently but both are closely related. In the colon example, the latter clause expands upon the former.

Yakuza

It's a CV, not pure prose and I don't think the above convention necessarily applies to them. On CVs (I see a good few during the course of my work), I have seen plenty of lists prefixed by such a sentence.

A CV has conflicting priorities; it needs to get as much information across as possible without being overly long and also without being overly dry. Peppering it with long sentences will put a potential employer off reading it and using only pure lists makes it too dry and robotic. I think what I've outlined above is a fair compromise, but maybe I'm in the minority.

To be on the safe side, OP, stick with colons!

Naggins

Meant , and ;. Like making a list here is an example: filing; photocopying; etc or is it filing, photocopying, ...

I don't really know when to use ;.

Yakuza

Ah, then commas all the way.

Bepolite

This:

pickarooney wrote: »

; is for two separate clauses (which should function independently as sentences) which are closely linked.

"I'm a keen traveller; I've visited over 40 countries"

There's really no place for a semi-colon on a CV, that I can see.

It is also used in the same way as a comma in a list when the clauses are more complex.

The joining instructions are as follows: be there on time; bring socks and pants; be in uniform; do not chew on the bus.

As opposed to:

Ensure you bring: pants, shoes, comb, socks and a tooth brush.