How to Create a Professional Looking Resume
Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007
by Hannah Quinn
Too-Write! Professional Services
As a professional resume editor, I focus primarily on content. Once the content is developed and presented in the most positive, informative and suitable way, I focus on layout. Rather than adding style and visual attractiveness, I mostly end up removing the efforts of my clients. Unfortunately, most people tend to spend all their time and effort making the layout and style as fancy as possible, and I spend my time simplifying it to make it as eye-friendly as possible. The aim must always be so the reader will be able to pinpoint the important and relevant items as quickly and easily as possible.
Resumes are selling documents and they have a job to do in a highly competitive environment. Put yourself in the place of the human resources officer, or the busy manager of a small business, or the owner of an even smaller business. The first will receive hundreds of resumes; the latter two will have very little time and possibly less experience. All are looking for the resume which will tell them which people have the most suitable skills and experience for the position on offer.
They are looking for clean, clear, easy-to-read and highlight indicators such as bullet points. Fancy fonts, colours, dense paragraphs, extraneous detail and irrelevant information will only ‘clutter' your chances of moving to the next stage, the interview. In fact, it might not even get you to the first stage: having your resume read.
No matter what job you are applying for, a professional looking resume is invaluable. Here's a few do's and don'ts of what makes a resume stand out from the rest without having to go too far.
DO:-
DO:-
- use crisp white paper, the best quality you can afford, and black ink
- ensure your ink is consistent, without faded areas and without smudges
- use a 12 pt font for the main text, not italics or bold
- use a clear, business like font, e.g. Times New Roman or Arial, not a script or fancy font
- use Bold and a larger font for headings, e.g. 14 pt
- use bullet points so the reader can quickly scan your skills and experience When they see you are a suitable applicant, they will then read your content more thoroughly. If you have much to inform them of, especially for a professional position, present page 1 in similar format to an index, with more information on the following pages. For positions other than professional, two pages are ample
- provide a cover sheet with your name, all contact details and the position you are applying for. A photo can be attached, or scanned onto your cover page. It never hurts to have your potential interviewer/s identify you as a 'real person'. This is completely optional and less popular than it used to be
- ensure your resume is absolutely clean, no breakfast spills or crushed pages
- check and recheck spelling and grammar. If you are unsure, seek a second opinion of someone you trust to know how to spell and form a sentence
- think about using a professional to prepare a professional resume which you can then adapt over time
- provide a cover letter with the position being applied for. There might be more than one position open in the company.
DON'T:-
- use coloured paper or coloured ink
- go for fancy fonts, coloured print, or overuse italics
- underline - it's not eye-friendly for quick reading
- write an autobiography - extra and pertinent personal details are for the interview, and later, the water cooler
- handwrite your resume unless you are applying for a calligraphy position
- re-use the same copy of your resume if you don't get a position because it will look dog-eared, crumpled and recycled
- send your only copy - very few companies return resumes
- give pages of information about jobs and experience which are totally irrelevant to the position you are applying for
- oversell yourself - you want to appear capable, confident and enthusiastic, however, you don't want to make the interviewer/s believe you will be trying for their job the day after you arrive
- sound desperate, even if you are
- give up!
There are many ways to improve the presentation of your resume, but in the end, simpler, clearer and straightforward is always best.
This article is the intellectual property of Hannah Quinn and is protected under International and Australian Copyright and Moral Rights Laws. Do not reproduce without the express permission of the author, Hannah Quinn.
© Hannah Quinn 2007
This Article has been viewed 2,284 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great tips on resumes Hannah, thanks for sharing them with everyone!
Thanks Hannah, I agree with your points. Perfect for a paper resume. But, when using an online source, something I found to be really original was a website called personavita. Not only can you do a resume, but a whole online portfolio of your work and ideas. I think it gives you an edge in the competition by having it right there online for future employers to view. The site definitely makes you stand out as an individual. Plus, I found it pretty simple to use.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.