photo credit: Olivier Charavel
Regardless of how many hours or days that you have agonized over
the content and layout of your resume, it will take seconds for a
hiring manager to skim over your masterpiece and
make a decision whether to consider you or not. Your resume
needs to be visually appealing, strength oriented and easy to read.
Listed below are some resume layout tips that you should
use when creating or updating your resume.
- Always write in the first person and not using the “I” at the beginning of each statement
- Decide if you want to use the functional resume or chronological resume
- Determine what paragraph styles you want to be either a traditional paragraph, bullet, or a combination
- Always include an email and web address if you have a website with your resume
- Use easy to read fonts that are clean, conservative but take this opportunity to set yourself apart
- A general rule is to use the 10 or 12 point font
- Minimize type enhancements such as Bold, Italics and CAPITALIZATION
- Use white space to make your resume readable
- Keep your resume down to one or two pages (Some instances of longer resumes are acceptable)
- Consider electronic or paper – what looks good on paper may not look the same on a computer screen
- Using graphics may be relevant but be tasteful and relatively conservative
