Give your résumé a face lift
After avoiding the 7 deadly sins of résumé design,
you may be asking, "If I can't use crazy colors, clip art, and other
types of decoration, how do I make my résumé stand out from the crowd?"
Like many things, the answer lies in the details.
Even if you can't hire a fancy designer and are stuck with Microsoft
Word, a few tweaks can turn your blasé résumé into an elegant and
functional showpiece.
Update (Oct 25): As promised, here's a template of the final résumé. Please credit this site, LifeClever, if you post it elsewhere. Thanks!
The typical résumé
Before starting your résumé makeover, first take a look at a typical one:
Like most résumés, it was created in Microsoft Word. It doesn't look
horrible, but it could use improvement. You can improve almost all
résumés with four steps:
- Pick a better typeface
- Remove extra indentations
- Make it easy to skim
- Apply typographic detailing
1. Pick a better typeface
If you're using Times New Roman, Word's default typeface, change it
now. Times doesn't read well on-screen and lacks typographic subtleties
such as non-lining numbers. Because it's available on virtually all computers and designed to be readable on on-screen, try Georgia instead.
At the same point size, Georgia appears larger than Times New Roman,
so you'll want to set the font size a point or two smaller. Just don't
go below 9 points.
To improve readability, also increase the line spacing (also called leading) to at least 120% of the font size.
To do this in Word:
- In the menubar, go to Format and select Paragraph.
- In the pulldown under Line Spacing, choose Exactly and set the line spacing to 14 points.
Our example résumé currently uses Times New Roman set at a size/line
spacing of 11pt/13pt. Let's change it to Georgia with a size/line
spacing of 10pt/14pt.
Here's a detail of the difference:
Notice how the Georgia's numbers blend in better than Times New Roman.
Here's the full page:
If you can't stand Georgia and aren't worried about on-screen legibility, feel free to choose another appropriate typeface.
2. Remove extra indentations
Next, reduce the number of indentations. Better yet, take them all
out. While useful in outlines, too many indentations in a résumé will
cause your eyes to jump all over the page, destroying page harmony. The
goal is to have all text align to each other.
After reducing indentations, also hang your bullets.
In Word:
- Replace any spaces after a bullet with a tab character.
- Select the bulleted list.
- If you don't see the horizontal ruler, go to the View menu and select Ruler.
- On the ruler, drag the First Line Indent marker to left by 1/8th of an inch.
Here's a detail showing the résumé before and after removing indentation:
To align all the cities and dates on the right, use tabs.
Already, you can see a huge improvement.
Also notice that the top margin is now reduced to 0.5 inches. This helps compensate for the additional line spacing in step 1.
3. Make it easy to skim
To make the résumé skimmable, you have to create a distinct
typographic hierarchy. By typographic hierarchy, we mean Ellen Lupton's
definition from Thinking With Type:
Our example résumé already uses bolds and italics to highlight
important information such as names and job titles. If you aren't using
them, set them now.
The headings for the major sections, however, don't stick out
enough. Even with "Education", "Legal Experience", and "Skills and
Certifications" underlined and set in bold, they look too close to the
job titles.
To make these section headings more distinct, use horizontal rules above and below each section heading.
In Word, select the section heading and go to Format in the menubar. From here, you'll make changes in Paragraph, Font, and Borders and Shading.
Paragraph
- In the pulldown under Line Spacing, choose Exactly if it's not already chosen, and set the line spacing to 16pt.
- Under Spacing, set the Before field to 6pt and the After field to 8pt.
Font
- Select the Character Spacing tab.
- For Position, choose Raised from the pulldown and type "1pt" in the field.
Borders and Shading
- Select the Borders tab
- Under Setting, select Custom
- For Style, select a solid line. For Color, choose black. For Width, choose "3/4".
- In the preview area, click the Top Border icon to the left of preview image.
- To add a bottom border, repeat step 3 using grey for Color, and "1/4" for Weight.
- In the preview area, click the Bottom Border icon to the left of preview image.
Here's a detail of the difference:
And now the full page:
To give more emphasis to job descriptions and responsibilities, deemphasize the cities and dates by setting them in grey.
4. Apply typographic detailing
Our résumé makeover is almost done, but it needs some finishing touches:
Use smart quotes
Never ever use inch and foot marks (straight quotes) as quotation
marks and apostrophes. They should always be curly. Microsoft Word has
automatic curly quotes turned on by default. If not:
- In the menubar, go to Tools and choose AutoCorrect.
- Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
- Under Replace as you type, click the checkbox next to "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes".
Space out text set in ALL CAPS
In general, avoid setting type in ALL CAPS.
Because the letters start to look the same, it's harder to read. In
small doses, text in ALL CAPS is acceptable if you space out the
letters.
The extra spacing between letters help makes each letter more distinct and readable:
In Word:
- Select the text set in ALL CAPS.
- In the menubar, go to Format and choose Font.
- Select the Character Spacing* tab.
- In the Spacing pulldown, choose "Expanded" and type in "2pt" in the field.
Separate durations of time with en dashes
Durations of time such as "9-5", "Monday-Friday", and "October 5-December 31" should always be separated by en dashes, not hyphens.
On the Mac, press Option-Dash to create an en dash. On a PC, hold down the Alt key and press 0150.
Adjust spacing in phone numbers
The space after the closing parenthesis in a phone number is often
too wide. To reduce this, select the space and change its font size in
half. So if the rest of the text is 10pt, change it to 5pt.
The final résumé
After adding the finishing touches, here's the final résumé:
No rules are set in stone, so feel free to experiment. Just do so judiciously. You can find additional guidance here:
- Thinking With Type (also check out the book's website)
- The Elements of Typographic Style
- Erik's Typo Tips
- Five simple steps to better typography
- The Rules of Typography
Remember don't hesitate to post additional résumé tips in the comments!
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114 Comments
-
Mirko
Oct 24, 2006
12:14 pm
Very
well written, quite simple but with a great final look. The end result
is actually much easier to skim, people that get tons of applications
will appreciate such a document. -
Mattias
Oct 24, 2006
2:37 pm
I dont use MSWord at home, but still- the final result was very nice. Looking forward to testing this in OOo or perhaps in TeX...
Thanks for the tips!
-
Tyler
Oct 24, 2006
3:43 pm
I
like your suggestions, but the bullet points sticking out looks
unfinished to me. In general, bulleted lists should be indented so the
left edge of the bullet lines up with the left edge of the text. -
Chanpory
Oct 24, 2006
3:48 pm
Hey
Tyler, I think there's much debate over whether or not to hang bullets.
My preference is to hang bullets, because then the type lines up,
creating less disruption. -
Abby
Oct 24, 2006
4:02 pm
I
really like the detailed description you have here. I've taken my
resume out and tried applying these tips. I'm using Windows, not Mac.
All of the suggestions work except for one. I'm having trouble making
the lines above and below the headers different widths. Got any ideas? -
Chanpory
Oct 24, 2006
4:17 pm
Hi
Abby, indeed that is the trickiest part. Unfortunately, I'm on a Mac
and don't have MS word for the PC. Can anyone else lend a hand? Much
thanks! -
David
Oct 24, 2006
5:36 pm
Abby,
I struggled with the same thing. Go to Format -> Borders and Shading
-> Borders tab. Make sure that Setting: is set to Custom and that
all the buttons on the preview are deselected (so there should be no
lines visible on the preview). Select your style, in this case solid
line, then your color, then the width. Then click on the diagram once
where you want that type of line to appear (on the top for example).
Now your first line is set. Then change the style, color, and width for
your second line and click on the diagram where you want that line to
appear (on the bottom for example). Click OK and your changes should be
in the document. I did this with Office XP and 2003. -
Kman
Oct 24, 2006
5:42 pm
There are some really nice tips here. You should submit this article to Digg.
-
Ryan
Oct 24, 2006
6:14 pm
Great
tips Chanpory! And the detailed explaination and images make it
downright fantastic. I'll be sending some of my visitors from PharmBoard.com here immediately. They'll love this. -
Prue
Oct 24, 2006
6:15 pm
Great post. I'm just starting to apply for grad positions and I'll be updating me resume with these tips asap.
-
Chanpory
Oct 24, 2006
6:26 pm
@Kman,
I submitted the story to Digg, and it was starting to get enough Diggs
to go on the front page. But it looks like Digg just removed the story
from the Upcoming Stories list and their search results. Someone must
have "buried" the story. Oh well, such is life. -
Chanpory
Oct 24, 2006
6:35 pm
Digg just emailed to explain why it was removed:
"That story was reported as lame and subsequently removed by the digg community."
-
Greg
Oct 24, 2006
7:07 pm
I
have no intention of leaving my job anytime soon. But this article made
me want to start looking for a new one, if only as an excuse to redo my
resume. Great job! -
miguel
Oct 24, 2006
7:33 pm
mm
nice, but rather take a sample of my work on a dvd you know, but this
is useful.
Also N E V E R I mean never use comic sans, or colors in the resumé,
girls we know you are a gal by the name there is no point adding pink
and rainbow colors all around every where. You know how many resumés we
have not read jsut casue of that? At least 3 a month. And we are a
small company, now imagine big corporations.
But the point is thats a good article. -
Kim Siever
Oct 24, 2006
8:27 pm
If it's any consolation, I don't think it's lame at all. It's very useful.
-
germ
Oct 24, 2006
8:36 pm
Sorry, but the bullets outside the text area do not look right to me.
I wrote my resume with LaTeX. It blows anything done in Word away. And it's free.
In this specific case, there is still something not quite right
IMHO: It looks too busy and heavy. Try reducing the size of the text
one or two points, it should look much better. The second horizontal
rule below the titles does not look too good, either. Expanded
character spacing is ugly. -
Kim Siever
Oct 24, 2006
8:39 pm
This has to be the one of the best resume designs I have ever seen.
-
gazard
Oct 24, 2006
8:50 pm
Great tips! Now I have a prettier resume. Thanks!
-
ac
Oct 24, 2006
11:27 pm
Georgia was also designed for screen by Matthew Carter
for Microsoft. It is a HUGE improvement and a great typeface but if
your looking for old style, serif numbers for print you could use
Garamond or Sabon (an updated Garamond). Both have the old style
numbers in their glyphs that you can use. -
Sarit
Oct 25, 2006
12:04 am
This looks great. I'm going to give it a tryexcept my resume is in Hebrew so it'll be written right-to-left ;)
-
Kevin Schultz
Oct 25, 2006
12:16 am
Would you be willing and able to post a sample file of the finished document?
-
Paul
Oct 25, 2006
12:22 am
This is an excellent tutorial. Thank you for taking the time to write it up!
-
Jeroen Sangers
Oct 25, 2006
12:38 am
Instead
of having to select each title or text one by one and change the
paragraph or font settings, it is a lot easier to change the properties
of the used style. Changes to the style will be applied to all
occurences of that style in the whole document, and will also be used
for future additions. -
Roy
Oct 25, 2006
12:45 am
I have just graduated from my degree and this resume lesson comes in really handy! Thank You for sharing your tips.
-
Johan Tibell
Oct 25, 2006
1:17 am
Nice article. Just wanted to give you a heads up on that the "Erik's Typo Tips" link at the end is broken.
-
Kevin Schultz
Oct 25, 2006
1:35 am
Nit-picky warning:
On Windows XP Character Map lists em-dash as Alt+0151 and en-dash as Alt+0150.
-
Tristan
Oct 25, 2006
2:11 am
Thanks you very much, thats very neat ... i ll let you know whether i get the job ..
-
Neil Courtis
Oct 25, 2006
3:58 am
This is just what blogs should do. Excellent idea, excellently realised. Fantastic post.
Neil
-
Rob
Oct 25, 2006
4:07 am
Your
version does look ten times better! Thanks for the tips and helpful
screen shots. However, I stopped using en dashs and Smart quotes
because sometimes when other people opened my resume they got junk
characters for anything except the basic character set. Same thing with
accented letters. Also, when I would cut and paste my resume into an
online job application, I got the same trouble with the special
characters. Frustrating because those little touches do help the
appearance. Maybe it's best to have 2 versions- 1 for printing and 1 as
plain text.
Thanks for the great article. -
Larry
Oct 25, 2006
6:30 am
Wow. Wish this was a template to download (for us lazy people in the audience) :)
-
Kapil
Oct 25, 2006
6:33 am
Supporting
Rob's comment. Its most advisable to have your resume prepared in a few
common formats. Word, PDF and txt file (ASCII format). I always prefer
sending out my resume in PDF format - for easy reading and printing. -
Abby
Oct 25, 2006
7:36 am
I
always send out PDF's as well. I'm really enjoying this. And thanks so
much, David, for converting this into Windows terms. I'll give it a try
later today. -
Abi
Oct 25, 2006
7:43 am
Wow,
what a terrifically useful post. Thanks for making the steps so easy to
follow and so well illustrated. Good luck on your 9rules entry! -
Chanpory
Oct 25, 2006
7:50 am
Hey
everyone, thanks for the comments! I've corrected the Windows en-dash
key command, as well as the link to Erik's Typo Tips. I'll see if I can
get a template of the final résumé up tonight! -
Josh
Oct 25, 2006
8:37 am
Can you make this a template for us students? Thanks!
-
J David
Oct 25, 2006
8:53 am
Great
tips. I just took a class about getting a job and there was a lecture
about resumes and your tips line up pretty well with what I learned.
Excellent advice! -
Sarit
Oct 25, 2006
8:58 am
Here it is in Hebrew! :)
http://thumbq.com/thumb/show?WUMfc1 -
Doug
Oct 25, 2006
9:07 am
I'd also like it to be a downloadable template?
-
Positivity Blog
Oct 25, 2006
9:50 am
Excellent post. It really looks a lot better. I´ll update my resume later tonight using your tips.
-
Gigi
Oct 25, 2006
9:55 am
I
notice that you've left something out which many career counselors say
is a critical part of any resume - a brief summary section underneath
the contact information. This is a brief statement - no more than a
couple of sentences - which encapsulates the applicant's experiences,
strengths, and goals. I also find that it saves a little space on the
page to put each employer's city and state in plain text right next to
the employer's name in bold small caps, with the date of the employment
directly across on the right margin and the title under the employer's
name on the line below. It also makes the resume slightly easier to
read since the eye only needs to go across the page once to the dates
rather than twice in your model to get both dates and locations. -
Terri
Oct 25, 2006
10:22 am
@miguel
I
slightly disagree with your statement about not using colors. As a
recent grad from an Art School, we designed two resumes; a creative
one, and a standard one. My standard one is black and grey and uses a
lot of the techniques in this article. Where as my creative resume has
a hit of color. Not everything is pink, purple and rainbow. The use of
color is not to say "Hey I'm a girl," It's more of a, "Look how
effectively I can use color on something that is typically black, white
and serif."
Some jobs I'd apply for would never know the creative version of my
resume existed, but for jobs where I have a contact at the company and
I know it's a fun, laid back, we play ping-pong at lunch and wear jeans
every day kind-of a place they'd most likely get my creative resume.And as for Gigi's comment about a brief summary, that sounds like
something that is better suited for a cover letter where you would
tailor your summary of your skills and goals around the job you'd
perform if you were hired for the position. -
Chanpory
Oct 25, 2006
10:29 am
Terri,
I agree with you about colors. While I think it generally should be
avoided, color that clarifies the résumé's hiearchy can be quite
useful. As Greg points out it should not be decorative.Gigi, you're right about the omission of an "Objective" section in
the résumé. I think there's debate about how useful or not this should
be included. It certainly can be added easily to example résumé shown
in the post. I do agree with Terri about the use of a cover letter to
summary relevant skills and goals. -
Wheels
Oct 25, 2006
12:12 pm
Absolutely
never hang the bullets! It screams unprofessional and will lead
potential employers to skip this resume in a pile of indented bulleted
resumes -
Abby
Oct 25, 2006
12:18 pm
Rats. I tried David's suggestion, and it didn't work for me. :( I'm still getting the same width of line above and below.
-
Linda
Oct 25, 2006
12:35 pm
Looks great. Is there a template for it?
-
Andy H.
Oct 25, 2006
3:33 pm
Couple
of comments. Wonderful tutorial that produces great results. I also add
a running header for page 2 that has my name, e-mail address and phone
number in case the pages get separated. I'll save in .doc, .pdf, .rtf
and .txt. Each has a use for different Website etc. -
David Perry
Oct 25, 2006
5:36 pm
That
resume sucked! Unless of course you want to bore someone to death which
it appears most resume writes excel at. Listen carefully it's not just
the layout it's the content. For starters, Education goes LAST.People, resumes are a sales tool and every salesman knows you lead
with your best foot. If it's your education... you got problems.Sure, if I was looking to fill an opening then yes the resume might pass the 5 second test because it flows nicely.
But if I wasn't looking or you as a candidate where trying to find a
job in the "hidden job market" or get me to create one just for you
[the best solution] AND you where trying to entice me to read it -
forget about it.Job hunters need to understand that one resume does not fit all jobs
nor does pone resume style. Passing this off as a good or great resume
is criminal. It's bland and boring. You want to swim in a sea of
mediocrity - fine.Want to stand out? Different story. Give me your accomplishments.
Get me excited about what you could possibly do for my company. Be
bold. Don't tell me how creative you are... show me. If you'd like a link
to a sound example of what I'm talking about BEFORE you scold me then
follow this link and listen to this podcast.
http://tinyurl.com/ymj2muDavid Perry
-
RSK
Oct 25, 2006
5:52 pm
i agree with dave perry.
frankly, between the original and the final, i think the original is
much better. generic and boring, yes. but not choppy, and ugly, with
bullets hanging everywhere. -
Chanpory
Oct 25, 2006
5:55 pm
David,
I agree with you that content is important. But this post is not about
resumé writing. There are enough resumé writing books and sites out
there already.The example résumé puts the education first because some positions
will care most about school history. In this case, Catherine is
currently a law student applying for student jobs and internships. Law
firms, in particular, place the most emphasis on education when hiring
students and fresh graduates. The school you went to is what gets you
in the door.As with anything, no rules are set in stone. They often have to be adjusted depending on the context
Thanks so much for your politeness, and for trying ever so hard to
not insult our readers and friends. Your company must be a fantastic
place to work for.Chanpory
-
David Perry
Oct 25, 2006
6:11 pm
Chanpory
Polite? Do you think it's polite when the manager who receives this
resume throws it in the trash? Job hunting - especially by new grads is
not about being polite it's about getting to the point, adding value
and not wasting people's time. Your previous advice about not using
color is wrong. No offense but it hearkens back to the late 60's and
70's.As for this resume being ideal for a student. Please be assured that
the actual student gets the job - not their resume. the resume gets
them the invitation. If they all look the same then it's a crap shoot.
I do enough on-campus interviews across America to assure you that
looking like every other "student" is not an advantage. Beige is
another shade of vanilla. Promoting this type of end product is akin to
writing another "how to write a resume" book that I suspect you too are
tired of reading.If you want to suggest that people give their resumes a face lift
then IMHO start with suggesting they add some meat to it. Reformatting
the same "stuff" won't do it.Busy people need to "get it" right away and this resume doesn't make
me do that. It's the content first and the delivery a close second but
frankly to get anyone to read if it must look compelling. It must make
the reader drop what ever else their doing and read it AND then pick up
the phone and call because the JUST have to met you.And there's absolutely nothing wrong with Times Roman. In fact it's easier for older people to read.
-
Chanpory
Oct 25, 2006
6:49 pm
David...
for someone who purports to care most about content, you clearly didn't
read the post nor the comments very well. First, I don't believe there
is an inherently right or wrong way to create a résumé, and at the end
of the post I suggest that judicious experimentation is good.1. As mentioned, I believe color can be used sparingly to clarify
the structure of a document. I still stand by not using a rainbow of
colors to decorate a document. As you mentioned, this is not the 60s
and 70s disco acid trip era. It's odd that you imply color would
attract your attention, when you say you care most about the content or
the "meat." Wouldn't excessive color and other decoration overshadow
the content?2. I don't believe I've proposed this résumé as the ideal for
students. You are conflating my words. The example résumé, as all
résumés should be, is tailored for a specific context. In this case,
it's law firms which care most about which school you came went to. Of
course, some law firms may not care at all if you went to Yale or an
internet school. If the context was your company for example, Dave,
then the résumé would obviously need to be tailored for your eyes. I'd
hate to see that however.3. The reasons for why Times New Roman is not the best typeface is
clear in the post. It doesn't read well in on-screen. And studies have
shown this. Even Microsoft is abandoning the typeface in their new
operating systems and software. In fact, Georgia's larger x-height
makes it easier for older people to read.4. Obviously, the person matters more than the résumé. The résumé
should be considere part of a larger package. If I was hiring someone,
I'd also look at how respectful they are and if they listen carefully,
etc.5. I'd love to hear specifically how a résumé would "look
compelling" to you. What would make you call someone? As mentioned in
the post, suggestions are welcomed. However, grand declarations of
right and wrong without examples aren't very useful.I'm glad you disagree and don't like this résumé, but I had hoped
you had given more specific pointers as to what you do look for in
résumé (both in form & content) rather than making grand
generalizations that don't help any of our readers.To our readers, I apologize if I sound overly annoyed, then so be
it. To be frank, nothing angers me more than people who insult our
community readers and friendsâ€"people who are trying hard to improve
themselves and their lives. -
Chanpory
Oct 25, 2006
7:35 pm
Okay,
I've calmed down. To everyone who wanted a template to get started,
I've updated the post with a downloadable Word doc. Check it out!Thanks again for reading and commenting!
-
David Perry
Oct 25, 2006
7:42 pm
Chanpory,
At the beginning of your post you say, "Even if you can't hire a
fancy designer and are stuck with Microsoft Word, a few tweaks can turn
your blasé résumé into an elegant and functional showpiece."I agree. A few tweaks can turn your blase resume into an elegant and
functional showpiece. My mistake. I thought you where holding out the
promise that your suggestions would if followed would in turn help a
job seeker move their resume to the top of the pile [my interpretation
of showpiece].Obviously I misinterpreted your intentions. I thought you wanted to
actually give guidance to people who where writing resumes and not just
show people how smart you where.I know your intentions are honorable but your end product is not
more elegant for starters and in fact is harder on the eyes in my
opinion. I am objecting to your advice BECAUSE a new grad make actually
take the advice for face value and harm their chances to land an
interview. To imply that the simple changes you suggested will work to
advance a job-seeker's quest is wrong.If it's possible to up load an example to your blog which the whole
community can then debate let me know how and I'll send you a before
and after that'll aptly demonstrate what I believe you wanted to
accomplish. The design work you do could be a great asset to your
readers if we explore some resume misconceptions and stretch the
boundaries.What do you say?
I'm open for the criticism. Like you I have nothing to gain here.
Hopefully the end product will illustrate good design practices and
help job-seekers which is what I believe you sincerely want to do. I
just happened to have this post sent to me for comment by a colleague.
You're not under attack. Perhaps I'm just being too much of a crotchety
old CEO tonight.Insulting your community of readers is/was not my intent. Nor do I wish to insult you.
David Perry
Perry-Martel International Inc.
http://www.perrymartel.com
http://www.gm4jh.com -
A
Oct 25, 2006
8:02 pm
Chanpory, thanks for the great article as well as the template. A very good resource I plan to pass along.
-
Chanpory
Oct 25, 2006
8:19 pm
Dave,
thanks for your reply. I just want to say again that this post was not
about writing résumés, but about improving the design of one. The two
are indeed connected, but I want to reiterate that distinction.Feel free to post a link in the comments as to what you'd consider a show-stopping and compellingly designed résumé.
If you stand by it, I'd love to see a post on your own Guerilla Job
Hunting blog with instructions. I think this would actually be helpful
by offer a competing viewpoint, and another model for job hunters to
look at.It's a late night for both of us. Perhaps a night's rest will put us both in better moods.
-
Chris Y.
Oct 26, 2006
12:43 am
Reading
through the comments, it seems that Mister Perry may have been reading
another post all together. It's very clear that this blog posting was
meant to provide a few pointers to improve the visual appeal to an
existing resume when limited to particular types of software like Word.
Each tip in the posting has provided direction, with technical
instruction on how to execute a particular look. All these tips were
suggestions, not rules, to aid in legibility. Because really, are you
saying that it's wrong to use en dashes instead of hyphens when
separating dates? Or is this short of a cry for attention to bring
folks to your job hunting sites?I'd like to add another tip to this list of tips that I think some
might consider using. Spellcheck in Word is a very useful tool â€" it
not only catches typos and commonly misspelled/misused words, but also
run on sentences, incomplete sentences and other variations of poor
grammar. You can find this function in Word in the File Menu under
Tools:Spelling & Grammar... -
PHP-For-Beginners
Oct 26, 2006
12:55 am
What about a little color????
Nice template but needs some life!!
-
Chrome
Oct 26, 2006
2:19 am
Dave .... "but frankly to get anyone to read if it must look compelling." ... hmmm .... well ...
Looking at your website I'd say you've got a good workload ahead of
you. Talk about confusing typefaces, weird colours and random element
positioning - a nightmare.You really shouldn't be talking about layout or design before you get that mess sorted out.
-
Tanya S.
Oct 26, 2006
8:04 am
As
one who hires people, and thus has to look at resumes, I like the
format of this one. It's nice to look at. I agree with David Perry that
content is vital (and since I hire technical writers, spelling errors
will keep you from getting an interview with me, even if you have
excellent experience), but the example above is about layout, not
content. Resumes with color or extravagence are annoying. Don't do it,
people (possible exception for very creative jobs, but more likely the
resume should be basic and your work samples should illustrate your
creativity). I don't mind resumes that look alike and have never
understood the desire to do wild and different things to make the
format of your resume stand out. The resume should be simple and clear,
thus allowing your content (which does hopefully stand out; that's what
gets you an interview) to speak for you. If your content is hidden
behind an attempt to make your format exciting and interesting, I might
pass you by because I'm too distracted by the pretty (and annoying)
colors or whatever to notice that, hey, you have relevant experience.In other words, I really like this format and agree it is basic but clear and easy to look at.
-
Abby
Oct 26, 2006
8:24 am
I
can't believe this has turned into such a heated battle!! I am actually
not in business. I am a psychologist, so what I'm writing is more of a
curriculum vita than a resume. Education must ALWAYS go first, no
matter what. In my field, education really does matter the most. Right
now, I'm trying to decide whether my presentations and publications
should remain in typical APA formatting, with a hanging indent, or if I
should make them match the rest of the document. I'm also trying to
work out how to include awards, etc. I like the format quite a bit, no
matter what "Mr Business" thinks. -
Nadja
Oct 26, 2006
9:52 am
Wow
! Great job. I was looking for different font from Times New Roman or
Arial, I've tried many and finally, I chose B
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