The look and feel of your resume can be as important as the content A resume is a reflection of the owner's professional personality. If it's messy and unorganized, it can suggest the same in its owner. A clean, well-structured resume, on the other hand, is an immediate signal that the writer is capable of completing organized, coherent projects. No matter how impressive your credentials, a resume may be thrown out if it's hard to read or printed on bright, colored paper, especially when an employer has hundreds of resumes to scan. So what can you do to clean up your resume and help it attract the positive attention it deserves?
Simple lines Keep all of your text in clean, straight lines. Be sure all of the dates on the left side of the page, for example, are aligned in one vertical column. Also check that the rest of the text begins every line at the same tab mark on the page. Clean lines make a resume flow more smoothly, and allow the reader to easily differentiate between sections of the document. If a resume is full of jagged left text edges and uneven columns, it makes the writing hard to follow down the page.
Uncomplicated font Choose a font that is common and easy-to-read, such as Times New Roman or Arial. The main font should be a serif font, which means the text is a style with some type of decorative line to finish the ends of a letter (other examples include Bookman Old Style, Times and Century Schoolbook). Studies have shown that serif fonts are easier to read on a printed page. A second font,such as Copperplate Gothic, may be used for subject headings and your name at the top of the page. It is okay to use a sans-serif font in this case (a text without the decorative line finishing the letters, such as Arial or Helvetica). A second font makes the resume more attractive to the eye and distinguishes sections and headings from the basic text. These guidelines are just suggestions. The goal is to make your resume flow easily and not distract the reader from the content.
Choose the right paper You don't have to spend a lot of money on premium resume paper. Choose a clean white stock - other colors distract from the professionalism of a resume. If you were submitting a report or project at work, it wouldn't be on colored paper, and your resume should be treated with the same professional style.
A final review It's common knowledge in the employment world that the content of your resume should be held to the highest standards, but it's also important to remember that the look and feel of the document is equally important. A clean and attractive resume is key to bringing positive attention to your credentials. The goal is to convince the employer to read the content, so organized design is crucial. Use that left-hand alignment, change that crazy font to something a bit more classic and throw out that baby blue paper. You want your resume to draw attention to your fine attributes, not distract from them, and a refined resume is the way to do it.
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