The Design Secrets Behind Stand-Out Resumes

Are you ready for your six seconds of fame?

In the time it just took you to furrow your brow in confusion, go back and reread that opening line to make sure it actually said “six” seconds, then finally arrive to the midpoint of this paragraph, your six seconds passed by like a thief in the night. Congratulations, we’ll add you to the “not ready” stack and escort you to the shredder.

I don’t actually mean “you” in the physical sense, of course; I mean your resume. Courtesy of a recent study conducted by TheLadders, an award-winning career-matching service, we now know that employers spend an average of six seconds scanning applicants’ resumes. Six seconds, after all the hours you spent typing it up, you ask?

I know, this might come as a hard blow considering the attention and time you put into your resume, but luckily there are several design principles that can draw in speed-reading employers and increase your chances of being tossed into the “yes” pile.

Organization and layout

Anatomy of a Winning Resume, courtesy of Mashable.com

According the TheLadder’s study, researchers also found, through methods involving “eye-tracking” and “gaze-tracking” techniques, that employers spent roughly 80 percent of their “gaze” time on the following sections:

• Name
• Current title/company
• Previous title/company
• Previous position start and end dates
• Current position start and end dates
• Education

The study included that beyond these points, employers merely scanned for keywords relating to the position being applied for. This is why the organization and layout of your resume is of the utmost importance.

As we can gather from the points above, employers search foremost for your previous experience in their industry, so you should be sure to put this at the head of your resume – referred to as “reverse chronological order” – beneath your name and contact information.

You may be wondering about the “overview” section, commonly seen as the descriptive paragraph listed before anything else on your resume. Many are now considering the overview “optional” due to the fact that some experts believe employers rarely take the time to read it and that it takes up valuable space. Those in favor of ditching it say to replace it with an executive summary, which is essentially the 30-second elevator pitch on paper. It’s typically three to five sentences long and states who you are and what you’re looking for, therefore saving your potential employer time and saving you space – another important element of design.

Stephen Provenzano, author of Top Secret Executive Resumes, mentioned in his book the importance of incorporating white space throughout the resume, writing “white space gives readers a break and helps them quickly scan the page for key points.”

“I usually indent (tab) after each bullet,” he wrote.

This use of bullets draws the reader’s eye in and gives your resume an organized feel, similar to a list. However, be sure to break up bullet points with summaries of your experiences, so the entire resume doesn’t just read like a long list.

Font and size

As you can see throughout this article, I’ve listed titles in bold and italicized important points, creating clear distinctions as to where my writing is guiding you; the same methods should be applied to your resume. Provenzano again gives us clear instructions for using these elements:

“Use frills such as boldfacing, underlining, italics, bullets or dashes for emphasis, but not on every line. They quickly lose their impact when overused. They should be used only to make major points stand out or to set items apart and break up type. Avoid using all the elements – boldfacing, underlining and italics – on the same line of type. Choose a combination of any two.”

Along with this, knowing the impact of certain typefaces and fonts and how to combine them to create an aesthetically pleasing resume is essential. Adam Dachis, in “A Non-Designer’s Guide to Typefaces and Layout,” explains that the majority of resume writers will most likely only be making a decision between serif or sans-serif fonts.

Photo by williamcromar via Flickr.

As pictured above, serif fonts contain tiny flourishes on the ends of letters, and as Dachis wrote, “resemble the look of a typewriter.” Serif is easy to read and is often viewed as proper, conservative and traditional. Sans-serif, literally meaning “without serif,” lacks the letter flourishes and is considered a modern, minimalistic typeface – which is, in essence, aesthetically appealing.

Keep these styles in mind and compare them to the style of the company you’re applying to – for example, most newspapers go the conservative route and print in a serif typeface, while more modern design firms (or if you’re applying as a graphic designer) can utilize a modern sans-serif alternative.

Purdue Owl’s Online Writing Lab also reminds us that, like the use of boldfacing and italicizing, we should be careful with how we use typefaces.

“The key to using fonts in your résumé is to be consistent,” the site stated. “For example, if you decide to use a sans-serif font for a main heading, do so for all your headings, and use the same sans-serif font each time … generally, you should use no more than two fonts in your résumé.” 

Color

The use of color in resumes largely depends on the company and type of position you’re applying for. Design positions typically allow for unlimited creative freedom regarding resumes, which includes a well-designed color scheme. However, if your resume is in a field not involving advertising, design or anything art related, the recommendation is to always stick with a black-and-white color scheme.

This doesn’t mean your entire resume has to be one bland shade of black, however; with the use of boldfacing and gray hues, you can still highlight noteworthy areas without painting them in color.

Consistency

Amanda Augustine, career expert at TheLadders, recommended in an article for Business Insider, to keep your resume consistent with your online identity and to always put a link to your online profile with your contact information. Along with this, she suggested that “if you have a common name, consider including your middle initial on your resume and online professional profiles to differentiate yourself from the competition.”

“For example, decide if you’re Mike Johnson, Michael Johnson, or Mike E. Johnson,” she said. “Then use this name consistently, be it on LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.”

Structuring your resume in a visually appealing, easy-to-read format with differing font styles may not seem like a big deal, but it’s a commonly overlooked aspect of the job search. Think of it this way: during those six seconds of fame we spoke about earlier, do you want to be seen by your employer in a t-shirt and torn jeans … or in a custom-tailored suit with a pair of eye-catching cufflinks?