Résumé Help: Style Points
There are several ways we can improve Clara’s résumé. In the mark-up of Clara’s original résumé, I have shared a few comments. If we corrected all of those items, Clara would have a good résumé. Would it be a great résumé? Would it stand up to the scores of résumés from fellow engineering students? Possibly, but, why chance it? After she improves the content, grammar, and structure, she needs to earn some style points. We are always drawn to attractive designs, even if we don’t realize it.
The first rule of design is that form follows function. This means that the layout of the page, the font, and the style features (such as graphics, colors, bolding, borders) must support the purpose of the document. Every choice is made to help capture the reader’s attention, facilitate readability, and highlight the candidates’ value.
We changed Clara’s résumé in the following ways to enhance the style while supporting the purpose of her résumé. We updated the font to Calibri, which is a bit bolder, more articulated, and attractive. Each category is wrapped in a burgundy border. The summary, once bulleted, is now a concise paragraph. This offsets the bulleted list of achievements. A design of all bullets can cause a reader to lose interest and skip bullets. Because Clara is a new professional, we want to showcase the skills she gained that employers are seeking, so we built a quick-to-read “Core Competencies” section for that purpose. We shaded it to add interest to the page and bring attention to the skills. We changed the title of the main area of the résumé to “Highlights of Achievements” and also trimmed those achievements to be more concise and direct.
Does your résumé need style points to raise it to the top of the heap? Consider a revamp of the look of your résumé. If document design is not your forte, consider talking to a professional résumé writer or seek examples of résumés online.
If you would like to read more advice on the subject of résumé improvement, these blog entries may be of interest:
Very Creative or Very Unprofessional
Résumé Help: Format and Layout
Please click on the images below, to see Clara's before and after résumé
No matter how trite it may sound, modern children will have to live in the future and use completely new types of devices. Understanding the general principles of how technology works and what to expect from it is the language of the modern world. The editors of Robottler ranked the best robot for kids that adults can follow: parents, relatives and friends. You have a baby? We have gadgets with which he will become Stephen Wozniak or Ilon Mask of the future! Different educational toys give different skills and are mostly intuitive to use.
If you would like a résumé critique, please contact Debra Wheatman at debra@careersdonewrite.com or visit us at http://careersdonewrite.com. The Résumé Help blog appears weekly on Mondays.
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Clara's revamped résumé.
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