Are you using effective resume formatting?

Resume formatting is key when you name your business Design Resumes. I do more than type up a resume, I work continuously to improve eye-appeal.

The many points of resume formatting

When I begin a new resume project, I use my custom road map process to design a comprehensive plan for the resume. I call it my “Show and tell” process because I take clients through a tour of resumes that other clients allowed me to share. This show and tell process helps me complete the road map and create an individualized strategy to showcase the particular client’s talents and accomplishments.

Resume formatting items we discuss are:

• Fonts
• Color
• Bullet selection
• Style for line separations
• Drop Cap or other font enhancements
• Style for Keyword list
• Graphs
• Testimonials

We also review the sections we use for the resume to ensure we have the right components for the particular client and the industry. After that, we discuss more details of the job search and complete the road map.

How resume formatting plays a role

When a resume (or any other reading material) is formatted properly, you may not notice it. You will notice formatting when it is all wrong. Too big or too small of font, too many different fonts, too much bold, too many bullets, too many paragraphs, too big of graphics, too many different strategies, too little white space, too dense of space, and too little organization all impact readability.

When I started this blog, I had little understanding of the art of blogging. My headlines were often non-existent and I used a large amount of bold. There were times I mixed up fonts and used the wrong sizes. Newer posts reflect improved readability as I studied top bloggers and determined what I was doing wrong.

Improving the readability of your resume

The same thing needs to happen with your resume. Not only do you need value-infused accomplishments and the right key words but you need to create an attractive, eye-catching document that will get read. This combination of great writing, value, and formatting will land your resume in the right hands to get you hired. A messy, unorganized document lacking eye-appeal will be passed over and the reader will go on to hire a different candidate.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net