resume format | Robin's Resumes (r)

Use Formatting Strategically on Your Resume

Mar 10 2019

According to several studies, hiring managers and recruiters spend less than 10 seconds scanning a resume before deciding that it deserves more careful reading. Those seconds are spent looking at five items: job titles company names, start/end dates, education, and then keywords (the words that appeared in the job listing as essential hard or soft skills and accomplishments).

Use Emphasis Wisely

Once you know where a recruiter or hiring manager will be looking, the importance of formatting (designing and organizing your resume) becomes clear. The easier it is for the recruiter to find your job titles, for example, the better. You can emphasize the five items of interest through the use of capital letters or small caps or bolding or italics—just be consistent and do not use too many types of emphasis at the same time.

Choose the Right Font

You also want to make sure that the font you choose is easy to read and that it prints out clearly on paper. A resume that looks best at 200% zoom on your computer is probably using too small a font.

If you make it past that first 10-second glance, you want to make sure that your accomplishments are easy to read. Bullets with short sentences are far more readable, and likely to be read than endless paragraphs of text.

Is the recruiter or hiring manager interested enough now to invite you to an interview? Make sure your contact information is formatted for easy reading and that it is placed where it is easy to find.

Format Your Resume for the ATS

Another concern related to resume format is whether the resume will pass through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Those systems choke on overly formatted resumes. In fact, tables, graphs, and other illustrations may cause the ATS to discard your resume regardless of how qualified you are. If you favor a resume format with a lot of graphic elements, save it for the interview stage, when you are face to face with the hiring manager or your future boss.

Conclusion

The resume format has a great effect on readability–and that improves the likelihood that a recruiters or hiring manager will keep reading. Have you used formatting strategically on your resume? If you are not sure, please contact Robin’s Resumes® so that we can help.

Format Your Resume for Success

Apr 01 2018

No matter how impressive the content of your resume, poor formatting can deter a hiring team from considering an applicant. So what changes can you make to ensure that you format your resume for success?

Include the most important information first: your name, contact information, and desired position.

Be careful about the fonts you choose. Choose a readable, common, and professional font. Avoid fonts that are too large (“This applicant is unqualified and wastes paper.”) and fonts that are way too small (“This applicant is causing me serious eye strain.”). Resumes are professional documents, and the font should reflect this.

Keep your formatting consistent. If the name of former position is bolded, make sure that all others are as well. Choose a single style for bullets (either circles or squares, for instance) and major headings (either bold or italics, initial caps or full caps, and so on)—and keep to it.

Avoid random changes in alignment and punctuation. Make sure that every heading, for example, has the same alignment (the choices are centered, ragged right, or justified) and every sentence ends with a period. Make sure dashes and hyphens are a consistent length.

Keep the spacing between words, paragraphs, and bullets consistent. Search for double spaces between sentences and words; replace with a single space.

Watch out for excessive capitalization. There is no need to capitalize every noun. (For example, “Collaborated with Sales Teams to improve Revenue year-over-year.”) The more capitals you use, the less power they have.

Shy away from graphics and show restraint in the use of color, bolding, italics, highlighting, font changes, and other effects. A little goes a long way.

Make sure your formatting works as well in print as on the screen, especially if you have used color or shading.

Formatting enhances your resume. At Robin’s Resumes®, we are prepared to format your resume to highlight your experience, skills, and potential.

The Best Word Processing Software for Your Resume

Mar 31 2013

There are still a lot of word processing programs to choose from, including Word LaTeX, WordPerfect, OpenOffice, and Ability Write. However, unless you are applying to a company that specifically asks for a resume in some other format, use Microsoft Word.

Before many hiring managers read resumes they electronically load or scan the resume into their Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and use an algorithm to screen for keywords related to the job. Those keywords identify resumes that seem to meet the job requirements. ATS systems are now used for more than 70% of new hires in the US, due to the number of people applying for jobs, the need to track applicants throughout the hiring process, and the reporting requirements of the US Federal Government Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO).

All ATS programs read Word but many of them cannot read resumes in any of the other word processing or PDF format. You want a clean Word format without tables, columns, text boxes, or headers/footers, so the ATS systems can read it correctly.

Please contact me if you need help with your resume.

Write a Resume That Helps You Land Your First Job

Sep 11 2011

Many people writing a resume for their first job make these mistakes:

1. They try too hard to be clever and stand out by using fancy fonts, colors, clip art or even video resumes.

2. They think that volunteer work, summer jobs and school honors or adult-ed courses do not count.

3. They are not clear about their career goals; they apply for everything and expect their resume to get them “any job.”

4. They do not research what employers want.

Your resume helps you land your first job by presenting you at your best to recruiters and hiring managers who are looking for someone with your achievements, skills and education. Here is what your should be doing in your resume to land your first job:

1. Forget about clever paper, fonts and presentations. Companies are not impressed by an origami resume. Focus on skills and achievements and you will quickly grab their attention.

2. Recognize and embrace the value of your experiences and education. One of my clients worked the same summer job every year and showed enough skill in that short time to win two promotions. Another client who wanted to become a training manager wrote her thesis on “Mentoring in the Workplace.” A future sales person helped sell tickets to a nonprofit’s fundraising event. These are all important achievements.

3. Write your resume for the job you want, not “any job.” Do you prefer to work in a forest or an office? Do you like to travel and meet people, to work in a team or to work at home alone? Did you take courses in biology or art? Apply for the jobs that you are prepared for and that excite you.

4. Find out what employers want. Read the ads. Talk to people who already work in the job or industry that appeals to you. Read books about your chosen field. When you know what employers want, you can write a resume and cover letter that shows how you meet their needs.

Applying for your first job is difficult enough. I have years of experience helping people in exactly your situation with resumes that land the job. Give me a call today.