Seeing is believing. Imagine you have two resume documents in front of you of which one has lengthy text, different fonts, formatted with bold and underlined words here and there and the second one also has a lot of information but is presented well in bullet points, uses a good header and footer formatting and uses a similar font all throughout.
Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager and think, which would you choose? The second one obviously!
Presentation is important and the lack of it may cost you the ticket to your dream job. You need to keep the following tips in mind in order to design a perfect resume.
1. Use White Spaces
White spaces are very important if you want to represent your writing neatly. Leaving adequate margins ensures that the content is visible and is distinct.
2. Visual Hierarchy
This becomes important if you want to avoid getting overlooked. The basic thumb rule to follow here is to put all the recent and most relevant experiences on top of your resume. Well organized information could always get more attention than something that’s non-orderly or not relevant.
3. Clean Fonts
Now those really exquisite and fancy fonts often tend to catch your eye, and you’re justified in thinking so. But don’t encourage yourself to use such fonts on your resume, because it doesn’t show up any professionalism. If you think using stylish fonts will let the recruiter know that you’re flexible, fun and creative, then you’re wrong. The recruiter by all means will want to discard your resume for he wouldn’t be able to read it at the first glance. Stick to two fonts maximum.
4. Consistent Colours
Refrain from using too many colours on your resume, or using different shades to make it look bright and colourful. In keeping consistent colours, you’ll establish a methodical pattern which will look professional and be pleasing to the eye as well. The best colour scheme is monochromatic (black and white).
5. Bullet Points
You won’t get major brownie points from the hiring manager if you don’t note down your most important points in bullets. Bullet points make it easy for anyone to read the resume because it helps matter become concise. You can use them to focus on your best skills, or some awards you’ve won.
What you need to remember in all this is to include authentic information, which is visually appealing and will pass the recruiter’s stringent checks.
Board Infinity is a Full Stack career coaching platform providing Personalized Career Guidance & Fast Track Learning to Students & Job Seekers. Leverage our Resume Review, Interview Coaching, Role Clarity, Sector Clarity & Career Advice services now!
You can join Board Infinity Platform as Career Aspirant.