Showing posts with label Fantastic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantastic. Show all posts
12/6/10
Resume Layout: How to Create a Fantastic Looking Resume
One of the most often overlooked elements of Resume creation is your choice of layout. The majority of people understand that it is important to write and re-write the content of the resume multiple times until they feel that they have produced a document that has the correct balance of their experience, power words, and as been written with the tone of an experienced marketeer. But they will then overlook the important aspect of how it is set out on the paper.
Let's first start with how not to layout your resume. First the biggest no no of them all, remove the words resume, curriculum vitae or CV from the document, and do it immediately. The first words that should be seen are your name. It will be obvious what the document is when you look at it. Secondly do not pick a generic template from your word processor as your template. They are produced quickly and will not impress an employer, a resume is a professional document and should look like such.
Now you know some don'ts let's look at some dos. White space is your friend. Utilize it where ever possible, a document with lines between paragraphs, bullet points and suitable use of bold and italics is easier on the eye, if you lose the readers eye they are likely to just move to the next resume in the pile, you need to keep them.
Pick a great font. Firstly where is your resume going to be seen. If in print only, i.e. You are sending in a printed document, make a serif-font as this looks better in print, if however you are going to be send a PDF (always a PDF, never a word file!) then use a sans-serif font. Also make your font size 10. You can play with this a little but 12 is far to big for a printed document, it looks poor and takes up lots of space for no added advantage.
Use some basic styles consistently and throughout. Nothing looks worse that seeing someones work experience section being font 14 and underlined whilst their educational experience is font 12 and in bold. You can experiment with different style until you find one that seems to work for you. My resume was actually updated recently and I based it on this sample resume that I found on the internet. It provides basic styles to use for each category, however the actual look is down to personal preference; consistency however is not optional!
If you follow the above advice you will manage to create a resume that will serve you for many different job applications and be able to grow with you as does your experience. One of the biggest tips I can give anyone is to constantly work on their resume, even when not looking for work. It provides career direction and means when a change does come in your life you won't be caught out short. Although if you are determined to get it wrong there are some useful tips available.
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