THE DESIGN OF YOUR RESUME

The things you've done and how you describe them are the building blocks of your resume. The trick is to put them together in a way that's visually appealing, that makes people want to read your resume because of the way it looks. Quite simply, a resume that's well designed is more likely to be read and to get you interviews that a resume that's not.

How do you make your resume work visually? How do you design it so that it's
balanced and uncluttered? So that it makes everything easy to see and read, highlights your
achievements, and impresses the reader before she's even read a word? The guidelines that
follow will tell you how. '■/

1. Paper

The paper you use should be 8/4" x 11", its color should be white or ivory, and it should be 20 pound stock with a 25% rag content. Use it when you make an original. Ask for it if you make copies.

2. Margins

Your resume should have 1" margins on either side and Р/г" margins on top and bottom. Why? Because margins frame a resume, improve its look, and give the reader a place to jot down notes if he wishes.

3. Typeface

Use a typeface that will produce clean looking words and sentences that can be read at a glance. Stay away from typefaces with ornate characters; typefaces whose characters are too small; typefaces that don't leave enough space between characters, creating a cramped look; and typefaces that put too much space between characters, making it hard to tell when one word ends and another begins. "Letter gothic" and "prestige elite"

HOW TO PUT TOGETHER A RESUME

are examples of typefaces that can give you the look you want.

4. Spacing

Spacing is very important. It can produce a resume that has too much empty space or one that hasn't nearly enough, a resume that looks cramped or one that looks uncluttered, a resume-that gives space to each piece of information or one that makes everything seem to run together. Here are some rules of thumb:

• Use the whole page, or close to it. A resume that takes up half the page looks like the
resume of someone who hasn't done much. So find things to say. If youVe only had
one job, describe it in some detail. If you've received one or more honors or awards,
put them in a separate section. Create a section on coursework. Create a skills
section. With a little thought, you'll probably find more things to say than you have
room for.

- Double space above and below each heading. It'll make each heading stand out.

• Single space descriptions of jobs, listings of courses, and summaries of activities.

• If you've had two or more jobs, double space between each job description. If you
need a sentence or two to describe each of your activities, double space between
activities.

5. Headings

Section headings are either centered or placed on the left margin. They're also capitalized. Your objective, if you're going to include it, is the first heading on your resume. Your education usually comes next, followed by work experience or school-related and community-related activities. Lead with the stronger of the two. After that, it's up to you.

6. Dates

Dates are used to indicate when your degree will be granted and when you held jobs. They can also be used to tell the reader when you received certain awards and when you participated in activities that carry considerable weight, like editor of the school's literary magazine or member of the swimming team.

There are two decisions that need to be made about dates:

Career Power!

• Whether to use words and numbers or just numbers: for example, September 1996 or
9/96. Which way should you go? If you need to use up some space, use words. If
space is scarce, use numbers. If space isn't an issue, use whichever form you like.
For summer jobs, use Summer and the year.

• Where to put them. Dates are either placed on the left margin or integrated into the
descriptions you write.

7. Highlighting key pieces of information

Highlighting key pieces of information increases their visibility, further defines the space each piece of information occupies, and gives your resume more visual depth. To highlight key pieces of information, use boldface. It's striking, it's attention-getting, and it'll make everything on your resume look better. What pieces of information should you highlight? Boldface can be used to heighten the visibility of your name, each section heading, and your degree, job titles, and activities.

8. Designing a scannable resume

Additional guidelines for preparing a resume that a computer can scan without difficulty are as follows:

• Have your name, by itself, at the top of your resume.

• Use a 10 to 14-point font size.

• Don't use graphics, shading, italics, parentheses, brackets, or vertical lines, and don't
underline anything.

• Use a laser printer or quality inkjet printer. Avoid dot matrix printers.

• Don't staple or fold your resume.

• Send originals—the resumes that the printer produces. Don't send photocopies.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 992