2. Emphasize quality over quantity. If your pages look too cluttered, you need to do a little editing and focus on the information that's most relevant to your chosen field. Reducing type size, shrinking margins, and closing up spaces isn't the way to do it. A crowded look is overwhelming and uninviting.
3. If you have a two-page resume, put your name and "page 2" at the top of the second page. If your pages happen to become separated—not an uncommon occurrence—someone will (hopefully) notice and (hopefully) reattach them.
4. Use a serif typeface—the kind with the little "doodads" on all the letters. Tests have proven serif type is easier on the eye...and therefore, easier to read. Serif typefaces include New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, Bookman, Times, Courier, and Souvenir.
This typeface is Helvetica. It's a sans-serif style. Don't use it.
5. Stick to traditional typefaces. Stay away from the fancy or cutesy ones.
6. Select a readable size. Never use anything smaller than 10-point type for the body of your resume. You may go up to 12 points. Your header can be even larger—typically two or more points larger than your body type.
7. Don't mix typefaces. Resist the urge to play with typefaces. Pick one and stick with it. When an amateur tries to do a little "designing," the result is inevitably... amateurish.
8. Highlight with boldface type. Boldface type is the darker, heavier type that leads off each of the entries on this page. Using boldface type can help you emphasize certain elements of your resume and draw attention to them.
For example, you might want to boldface your name, job titles, the names of employers, and your degree. These elements would then stand out as a recruiter glances over your resume. However, don't get too carried away, or you'll lose the effect. (And be careful to eliminate boldface from your electronic resume.)
9. Use ALL CAPS and underlining sparingly, if at all. Don't underline words or phrases in your body copy. Research shows that underlining and capitalizing whole words slows and even stops the eye while reading. Save these treatments for your name header and section heads. (And, again, eliminate them from an electronic resume.)
10. Avoid italic type. Italic type often is used in publications to emphasize a word or phrase, but don't do it in your body copy. First of all, it just adds another type style, which is something you want to avoid. In addition, your goal in writing your resume is to emphasize everything through clear, concise phrases. Italics would only be redundant and could actually detract, as italic type is harder to read. (One exception: I like using italic type for college honors—cum laude, with honors, with distinction, etc.
11. Use generous margins. Leave at least a one-inch margin at the top of the page and, if possible, one-inch borders around the other three sides. Never use less than a half-inch border. Wide margins create a pleasant, uncluttered look.
12. Use "ragged right" layout. Don't worry about "justifying" or "evening up" your right margin, such as the right margins in this book. (Notice how all of the lines end at exactly the same point.) Instead, just let the lines end where they may, as in the following example:
This paragraph uses a ragged right style. Notice how the uneven line breaks create attractive white space around the edges. A justified paragraph looks "boxy" and places needed white space between words instead of at the end of the lines.
13. Avoid hyphens. Hyphens break up words and, consequently, the flow of a hiring manager's eyes as she reads about your qualifications and exploits.
14. Single-space between lines of each listing. And double-space between sections and paragraphs. This approach breaks up body copy and creates an attractive, balanced look.
15. Use bullets to highlight accomplishments. Key points can get lost in a paragraph format. Using bullets helps organize information in digestible pieces and works to emphasize those key points. Look at the following examples—you'll notice the difference immediately:
Military Personnel Management Officer, Arizona Air National Guard, Midway Field, AZ
Administered and managed personnel function for staff of 26. Increased office-support capabilities and decreased required overtime by 50%. Initiated new mail procedures and streamlined and standardized routing forms and procedures, which improved work flow and reduced "lag" time. As central coordinator for Headquarters' enlisted members, designed programs that led to documented increases in performance, production and morale.
Military Personnel Management Officer, Arizona Air National Guard, Midway Field, AZ
Administered and managed personnel function for staff of 26.
• Increased office-support capabilities and decreased required overtime by 50%.
• Initiated new mail procedures and streamlined and standardized routing forms and procedures, which improved work flow and reduced "lag" time.
• As central coordinator for headquarters' enlisted members, designed programs that led to documented increases in performance, production, and morale.
16. Keep bulleted items to two or three lines of copy. The whole idea of using bullets is to provide information in short bursts. When you start getting windy, bullets lose their effect.
17. Keep paragraph length to no more than four or five lines. Otherwise your reader will give up trying to wade through the sea of information.
18. Shorten your line length. Studies have shown the easiest copy to read is that which asks your eyes to travel just a short distance back and forth across the page. To keep your line length short, consider indenting all body copy about two inches from the left margin and put only section heads and accompanying dates to the left. You can find a number of resumes that effectively use this format among the samples that follow.
19. Find the look that fits you. There are 101 sample resumes in a variety of styles starting on page 60. Find one you like, modify it as necessary...and create the resume that reflects you.
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