Job hunting can be both one of the most exciting and most painful things you do in your life. You're excited about the next step in your professional life, but it's hard to stand out from other candidates who are at least as qualified as you are for the job you want.
Your resume is the first thing a possible employer will see about you. A resume that is formatted and written well can make the difference between getting an interview and getting the job and not getting picked. Most employers get a stack of resumes from qualified applicants and quickly skim through them to decide if they want to read more. You have only a few seconds to make an impression that will last. Don't worry. Instead, pay attention to how your resume looks, since it's the first thing your employer will see, whether it's on paper or online.
Using templates that come with Microsoft Word is the most common mistake people make when making a resume. Even though these resume templates are easy to use and quick to put together, they are out of date and will make your resume look bland and uninviting. Also, even though these templates are formatted well in Microsoft Word, they won't look good when emailed or uploaded to websites for job search engines.
Putting graphics on the page is the second most common mistake that people make when making a resume. A resume is not the place for your picture or any other kind of graphic. Including anything other than plain text will make you stand out in a way that makes the employer think you don't take yourself seriously as a professional, which is not the first impression you want to make. On the Internet, you can find examples of resumes. Search for resumes in your industry to find templates that make the most sense for the job you want. Then, start with a blank page and try to make it look like the resume you like.
Here are some basic rules for putting together your resume:
- Keep the resume to no more than two pages.
- There should be a one-inch space at the top, bottom, right, and left of the page.
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As a rule, only justify to the left, and don't centre the text on your resume.
- The font and size of the font should be the same.
- The bullet points should be simple. Use circles or squares, but never symbols that might not show up well when you email your resume to a potential employer.
Headlines can have all capital letters, but the rest of the text shouldn't be formatted in any special way.
- Do not put any information in your resume in bold. In the Internet-driven world of job applications, an underlined word in a document means that it is a link to a website.
- Headlines shouldn't be bigger than 14 points, and the rest of the text in the resume shouldn't be bigger than 12 points.
- Don't use the Space bar to make spaces between the words on your resume. Instead, use the Tab key.
As a last check on the way your resume looks, ask your friends or family to help you look it over. Send the resume file to a few friends via email and ask them to look it over and make sure nothing seems wrong. Print out the resume and look at it to make sure the margins are right and that the content doesn't look too crowded. Keep in mind that your resume will get you the job you want if it looks clean and simple and is written well.
