Basic Resume Design and Layout

In creating your resume, whether doing one for the first time or simply spicing up a template, you should make sure it would stand out from the crowd. But before you go crazy on your word processor’s word art, here are some reminders on how to pull off an attention-grabbing resume in plain black and white.

Since I mentioned it, limit font styles to two at the most. Recommended fonts to use are the ‘basic’ fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Courier, Verdana, or Georgia. Put variety by using bigger sizes in the headers and using bold and underlines. But do remember to not overdo it.

Font size should range from ten to 20. Adjust according to preference and readability.

In the header, your name should stand out by using a bigger font and not just making it bold. Make sure that your contact information is updated.

Next thing to remember is to emphasize your most recent achievements. If you are fresh out of school, put up your educational background. If you have had a considerable amount of actual work experience, it is better to highlight your employment history.

There is no need to put in all of your information. Create a specific resume for a particular job or field you want to go in to. For example, if you want to try out computer graphics and writing, produce a different resume for the former which stresses your related experience in computers and graphics and compose another one which accents your writing projects.

Make your resume easy to read. Unless it is a unique job title or job description, you only need bullet points or to enumerate your previous work. Again, put in front the most recent.

Awards and certifications should follow. This also includes seminars and symposiums related to the work you are applying to. Then mention extra-curricular work or other hobbies or activities that you do to show that you are a well-rounded person.

If there is still space, write miscellaneous information about yourself that you think would be needed by your employer. Limit your resume to three pages max. Better to limit yourself to two pages, if not, one.

To those who want to include a photo, attach the image by pasting it on the soft copy rather than stapling or gluing it manually. Use a recent photo. Size 1 x 1 inch is all right, although you may also use 2 x 2 inches or passport size.

A suggestion is to put the picture at the bottom right end at the last page of the document rather than at the top right in the first page. Besides not messing up the first page layout, it is a conversation piece on why you have your picture at the final page.

Putting the ‘Um’ in Your Resume

It was meant to be a joke, but there is some truth to it that the resume is the closest anyone would be to becoming perfect. No one would dare put an outright lie – although I know someone who almost got away with it, if only an HR person did not call us up in our school organization and verified if a certain someone was a remember – but how close to the truth are you actually?

By this I mean how much would you put in to emphasize some points in your resume. As a disclaimer, this is neither about stretching the truth nor exaggerating a task you did as part of your work experience. This is merely about accentuating the good parts in order to highlight them.

This is the nifty trick of using clever euphemisms to pad your resume. This somehow involves clever wit and creative wordplay. Again, let me remind you that no lies were used in creating this resume.

The very obvious area of the resume where a little figure of speech could be put into play is at the job description. Being bland and narrative does not work to some. Besides, how well you put it could give you some brownie points come interview time.

An example of this would be to depict one of your tasks as “ensuring quality customer service” when you actually mean that you add “Would you like fries with that?” as an auto response after getting the order or handing out a free apple pie to an irate customer because your companion fouled up his order.

Another place in the resume where you could play around are your job titles. It helps if you officially had that title, then it would not be hard for you to justify why you were a content analyst in your last job when what you did was check the layout, design, and actual content of webpages before they get uploaded. Since being an editor usually invokes thoughts of correcting spelling and grammatical errors, it would be better for your standing if you also have a more all-encompassing job title that connotes the diversity of the work that you did.

Fancifying your resume might also mean breaking the monotony of what is written. Sure, the last five jobs you had were all copywriting, headwriting, and freelance writing. Then why not put in something similar yet something different? What are synonyms for anyway? Put your writing skills into good use, especially if you are an one professionally.

From there, you could coin something new and hip like content provider. If you are doing it on the web, adding something like conceptualizer and composer of online digital content would have that futuristic techie feel although technically, you are still a writer deep inside.

Another idea and also another concept of resume composition is to itemize your tasks instead of position. This works well for the renaissance man. Instead of writing down plain old production assistant, you can enumerate the different things you did as PA like researcher, analyst, copy editor, and what have you.

For those who are trying to scrape the bottom of the barrel for any skill where they were not academically trained to specialize in, one could state instead the number of units related to the field you want to get in to. It is a plus if you have had additional training or employment somewhat close to the job you are currently applying for.

Turning one small skill set into something that you want to be perceived as have been doing for so long is quite a challenge. Just be sure to deliver if you are asked to. For example, dealing with people from different countries because of circumstance might make you an incidental diplomat. If you feel you could hack it fulltime, then give it a try.

In essence, it is about making things sound better than they usually do and bringing out every drop of goodness from an experience. Or maybe I am just stretching it. But, at least, you get the drift.

Your Resume and Fonts

One thing I learned from a class I took in college is that the fonts that you use determines who you are. For our homework for that lesson, we were asked to print out our name using a font that typifies us. Bonus points if we could also do the same with the names of our family.

That being said, I am a Verdana person. Still, I did not put much notice into it. I just like using Verdana. It must have been its slender lines when it is in its normal font face and how it fattens up when in bold that appealed to me. It is not as formal looking as a serif font like Times New Roman and it is not as irregular as Comic Sans. Where am I getting these descriptions from?

On to the topic, the font that you use could give the HR person perusing your resume an idea of your personality and if you are a right fit for the job.

Standard practice in the corporate setting is to go for the formal fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana. There is no actual research yet with regards to people’s perception of fonts used in resumes, but the closest would be is the Washington State University study of people’s reaction to fonts used as marketing tools. According to the research, it is a safe bet to go for Grade Six fonts, like the ones mentioned above since they evoke a feeling of comfort.

The study also shows that there are certain fonts that can be appropriate in certain fields. Grade One fonts are feminine, and thus can be utilized in women-dominated jobs. Grade Two fonts, on the other hand, are what are called the ‘edgy’ fonts, thus they can be put in by job-seekers whose professions are more right-brain inclined. Grade Four fonts are more masculine and more apt for stereotypically manly jobs.

Another point to consider is whether the resume would be submitted online or needs to be a hardcopy. Sans serif fonts are perceived to be easier on the eyes when viewed from a PC monitor and are also more contemporary.

It also helps if the font you use is appropriate to the field you are trying to get into. It would seem odd if you would be submitting a resume in good old TNR if you are applying for a design position. Now that is called out of place.

Font size and layout also matter in the resume, but these are better reserved for another topic. As with the content, how your resume is presented is as important a factor whether you will get that job you are aspiring for or if you have to try your luck somewhere. Or if you have to construct a new resume altogether.