Three Formatting Tips for Resumes

Three Formatting Tips for Resumes While you may have the standard information included in your resume, it is sometimes difficult to make that information “pop” to a potential recruiter. Some simple formatting tips can help ensure your information stands out and is easy to read. First, use bolding and underlining sparingly. I recommend bolding the heading, which contains your name and contact information. Also, bold various section headings and your job titles. Underlining should only be utilized when you specifically want to emphasize something. If you bold too many items, then suddenly nothing is being emphasized. Over-bolding takes away the credibility of emphasis. Next, be sure to align everything properly. If you center your headings, then make sure all headings are centered. Don’t left-justify some headings and center others. And, be sure to use headings. These help break up the information on the page; this added white space makes the document easier to read. Finally, use a common, readable font. For the resumes I create, I like Brittanic Bold, Candara, Garamond, Arial Narrow, or Impact. A resume is not the time to be creative with a script-like font or something fancy that is difficult to read. And, you want to be sure the recipient does not have any font issues when he or she opens your document files. When it comes to resumes, be sure you take some time to consider appropriate formatting. A nice, clean, easily-readable resume will allow you to move farther along in the hiring process. And, isn’t that the point of well-crafted job search documents?