You don’t know where to start. You don’t know how to start. You don’t know what a resume should look like. You just want it to be the best it can be.
Who wants it to look like his resume is messy and hard to read? I know no one. You just want to see how a good resume should look.
You have got so much conflicting advice. You are confused. You only know an excellent resume can bring an interview call. You know the importance of it.
No pressure readers. Some of our best resume pieces of advice are waiting for you. So, why not you read on below?
What an excellent resume should look like:
You should follow some best practices. If you can maintain those, then there are 90% chances of getting an interview call, and you’re lucky enough because I’ll explain everything today. Then why not read this piece of writing, “what an excellent resume should look like.”
Make your resume simple:
Are you applying for a design role? If not, then keep your resume simple. Use a simple template, not too decorated.
--- Use clear section headings. You have to make them attention-grabbing. Pro tips: Stand out with a different colour, bold type and capital letters.
--- There should be sufficient white space. Please do not make it overstuffed and keep the font size at least 11 pt. You need to choose the perfect font. Using a unique font on your resume is a straightforward approach to make it stand out.
Pro tips: For the creative field, you can use sans serif font.
--- Do you know there is resume scanner software? Those do not work well with illustration, graphics and pie charts. So avoid those to increase the chance of getting an interview call.
Be reachable:
Always provide your contact details near the header so that recruiters can reach you quickly, and it should be visually prominent.
Pro tips: You can use color to draw the recruiter’s attention to your contact details.
Match your skills:
You have skills in graphic designs and accounts; for example, if you are applying for a graphic designer position, then you need not mention skills in accounts. It does not match the graphic designer position.
You have to list those skills on your resume that meet the job’s requirements. Not sure or confused?
Pro tips: Read the job skills carefully. See which skills, keywords and programs they mentioned. If any of your skills matched with their job requirements, it should be on your resume. In other words, you need to spotlight your skills that match.
Latest experience first:
Recruiters still prefer the reverse chronological style. As they prefer, include your most recent or current job experience first on your resume.
Consider adding volunteer or other experience:
You can list your volunteer work or other interests. It will add personality to your resume and help you see more three dimensional. These experiences can also assist you in highlighting transferable abilities you've acquired outside of the office.
No objective:
The organization already knows about your objective. You have applied for a particular post. So, no need to waste your resume space. This will limit you. It’ll exclude other positions that you are interested in. I hope you understand.
Make resume content skimmable:
Recruiters spend only 6 seconds on each resume! Yes, it is true. I am writing this based on a research result.
Now you may think about how you will make your recruiter read your resume in these precious 6 seconds? No problem, my readers, relax.
--- Use a column on your resume to make it easier to skim to the HR manager. There is more chance to make the recruiter read. Be creative to use different columns. You may be surprised reading this.
Is it possible? Yes possible. Use the small and large columns on your resume. Put your impressive achievements in small columns, and a larger column can be used for more detailed data, such as job descriptions.
--- Use bullet points for a longer description. You can mention your professional strengths here.
---- Keep your resume as short as possible. Keep white space so that your resume does not look overwhelmed.
Use an infographic:
Before using this, you have to consider the position you are applying for. Are you applying for an administrative role? If yes, then do not use the highly graphic design on your resume. If you apply for a design role, use it. I think you are clear enough.
Keep it concise:
A resume should be a maximum of 1 to 2 pages.
Have you been in the workforce for several years? If yes, then you can write a maximum of two pages. This rule is for the most senior professionals.
Actually, most recruiters spend just a couple of seconds judging a resume. Within this time, they decide whether that resume should receive further consideration or not. So, you need to highlight the recent and relevant skills and work experiences on your resume
Technical side:
- Choose a typeface that is cool to read and pleasing to the HR manager’s eye.
- There are some fonts you can consider.
- A 10 to 12 pt sized font is recommended.
- Some good fonts you can pick. You can consider: Calibari, Helvetica, serif etc.
- After picking, stick to the same font on the whole part of the resume and use the same font on your cover letter. This is the best practice.
- All four sides of the resume should have 1-inch margins. If you want a single-paged resume, you can maintain ½-inch margins.
- Use double-space before and after each heading.
- Your resume should have single or 1.15 line spacing
- Section titles should be slightly larger than the rest of the document.
Right file type:
You have invested hours thinking about how a good resume should look (or, in other words, you can say what a resume should look like) and have designed your resume as the best as you can but in the wrong format. Your efforts can be meaningless.
Sometimes resume looks wonky to the hiring manager when he opens it. It may happen because of saving in the wrong file format.
Who does not want to avoid this risk? I know. To avoid this, save your résumé as a PDF. For example: “ShishirKumarSaha_Resume_XYZInc.PDF”.
How a good resume should look:
I think you have no doubt now how a good resume should look. You know everything about what a good resume should look like. So, it’s your time to follow the above guidelines and win the interview call. Cheers!
Conclusion:
Carefully design your resume. Prepare it in a way (I have already written in this article – “what a good resume should look like”) that can be pleasing to the hiring manager’s eye - best of luck.