CyberFootprint

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Formatting

The single most important goal of proper resume formatting is to make it easy to scan for the eyes of the reader. HR executives are overloaded with various resumes pouring in. If they spot a document that is easy to read, they are more likely to actually read it. Thus, the simpler your resume looks like, the better for you.

Use only standard fonts, because technology is tricky and will malfunction at the most inconvenient time. There is nearly nothing worse than receiving a resume filled with incomprehensible signs. Guess where it is going end up? Those, who are thinking of our old friend trash can, are right.

As for the look and feel of the typeface, there are more knowledgeable authors who can provide some more advice on this issue.  When I was writing my resume, I stuck to Garamond. It shows that you are not lazy and sticking to the default typeface, like Times New Roman or Arial. At the same time it is quite conservative, and it is a standard font.

Oh, and don’t use Comic Sans MS. Just don’t. It is overused and has lost a lot of its originality.

Try to keep everything ‘gestalt.’ Using one font for the header, another one for the name of the position and the third one for the name of the company makes the resume look all over the place, which is undesirable (see the first paragraph.)

Unless you are applying for a creative position (copywriter, art director, designer), there is no point of ‘spicing up’ the graphic layout of the resume with photos, sketches, work samples, or your personal coat of arms. Make the resume easy to read and easy to scan, that is your main task.

Attention to detail

The HR manager reviewing piles of resumes each day is looking for only one thing – an excuse to throw one more document in a bin and have one less prospective candidate to worry about. Make sure that this unfortunate person is not you.

There should be no spelling mistakes, typos, factual errors and incorrect punctuation. The last one applies especially when hunting for a job in communications and media. Presence of any of those elements sends you straight away to the circular file.

In the next part of the “Job Hunt” series, we will take a look at cover letters.