Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The best way formatting your resume

Having a well-formatted resume is almost as important as having a well written resume. Most employers receive a stack of resumes of qualified candidates and scan them quickly before they decide whether or not they want to read further. In addition to key words, what stands out the most about your resume is its format. It is essentially the first thing people will notice, whether on paper or in electronic form.
There are a number of rules you should keep in mind when formatting your resume.
First, start with a blank page. Avoid using templates that are already available in Microsoft Word. These templates are outdated, and they will make your resume appear generic and uninviting. Additionally, these templates, while well formatted in Microsoft Word, will not translate well when emailed or uploaded to job search engine web sites. You can find samples of resumes on the Internet; search for resumes by your industry to find the templates that make most sense for the job you are seeking. Than work on a blank page to replicate the look and feel of the resume you like.
Ideally, your resume should fit on one page; if you have extensive experience, limit the length of the resume to two pages, but only list experiences and skills relevant to your career objective. Even if you are applying for a job in a creative field, do not insert images or pictures into your resume. If you are looking to show off your creativity, you can do so in a separate portfolio of your work.
The page should have one inch margins, top and bottom, right and left. Use left justification only – as a rule, do not center the content of your resume. The font and font size should be consistent. Your name, and any headlines in your resume should be displayed in the same manner. Typically, the headlines will be in all caps, and in bold. Try not to underline any of the information in your resume. In the world of Internet driven job applications, underlining in a document implies a web link. Thus, using underlining for emphasis is not appropriate. The font size for headlines should not exceed 14 points; the remainder of the text in the resume should not exceed 12 points.
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