As a job applicant, you want to
stand out from the crowd. But it is best to let your qualifications,
experience, credentials and background do the impressing.
When it comes to Fancy Fonts, etc., a little
goes a long way.
Like cheesecake – we all
love a piece. But douse it with lots of chocolate
syrup,chocolate chips, loads of whipped cream, and a handful of sweet strawberries, and
you'll be scrambling for a glass of water to wash it down.
Impress With Organization & Simplicity
Ten to fifteen years ago, the fancier fonts were considered a clever tool to attract the attention of the Personnel Managers, perhaps even including a
large ornate logo alongside. Not so in
today's modern world.
Nowadays, Hiring Agents oftentimes must
muddle through dozens of resumes at a time, or even hundreds. All they want to do is find the most
qualified applicant. And while they want
to be impressed, they don't want to have to wade through ankle-deep chocolate
to see who the applicant is or how they could potentially benefit their
company.
In this case, less is more. Remember the adage, you only
have one chance to make a first impression. The extra chocolate might be all it takes to land the resume in the can.
Discreetly Use Fonts, Bold and Italics
Start
laying out your resume by setting your Margins
at 1" on all 4 sides – top, bottom, right and left. Then work on your Heading at the very top of
your page.
Header (where you put your name
and contact information) Use a size 14 to 18 font. The name should be at
least one size larger than the contact information. All or some can be Bolded if you like, or
Italicized. For pleasing eye appeal, use a font with
serifs* , like Times New Roman, Garamond, or Palatino.
Example 1: The name is size 16 Times
New Roman.
The contact information is size 12, with
a line in-between to set them apart.
Example 2: Here
the Header is Centered – with the Name in Size 18 Garamond, Bold & Italic.
The contact information is Garamond Italic in Size 12.
Headline/Objective: Since you want your Headline
or Objective to catch the hirer's immediate attention , get noticed by Bolding
and/or Italicizing. Start this 2 spaces
below the Heading.
Sub-Headings: Drop down another 2
lines for your first Sub-Heading or Category. Here use a 12/14 size font, a little smaller than your Heading, but larger
than your Body Text. These can be either
centered or left justified, underlined or not. Just make sure that all Sub-Headings are formatted the same throughout.
Body Text: Left Justify your body text and stick to 10/12
size font. Employer/company names can be
bolded or italicized if you prefer it, but do not bold/italicize descriptions
of job duties, etc. Make sure that each of
the job listings is formatted uniformly.
Example 3:
* There is some discussion about whether to use fonts with serifs* in your resume or not. Fonts with serifs make text much more
aesthetically pleasing, and if you will be hand-carrying your resume in, faxing
or mailing it, a visually attractive resume is great. But if you intend to send your resume through
email, it might be wise to stick with a font without serifs. Otherwise, the words may get distorted by the software of the receiving computer.
What's the difference
between a Serif Typeface Font and a Sans-Serif Font (without serif)?
Serif fonts have curves or details in the ends of certain letters, for
instance a "t" or an "a", and/or the thickness of the letter strokes. They are more pleasing to the eye. Fonts without serifs show no variation in its
design.
Here are some examples.
Resume Formatting-Fonts, Etc.
