Gut Reaction, How Does Your Resume Look?

Many job seekers focus mainly on resume content and ignore resume design. While content is crucial, the design plays a big part in an employer's reaction to your application. By assessing your document carefully and paying attention to your gut response, you can fix problem areas before they hurt your job search.

If you've never worked on the company side of the hiring process, it can be difficult to make smart choices about your resume design. After all, if you've only seen one or two other resumes, you have no basis for comparison. Before you can trust your gut reaction to steer you in the right direction, it is important to look at other resumes. Run an Internet search for "professional resume" and spend time looking through the image results. Ask your friends and colleagues to share their resumes with you. Identify professionals that you respect and search online for their resumes, either on professional or personal websites. The more exposure you have, the easier it will be to assess your own document.

Once you have a solid idea of how a professional resume should look, print out your own. At first glance, what stands out? If you notice that it looks sloppy, disorganized or crowded, it can mean that you need to redo the resume design. An ugly resume can turn off the reviewer instantly, damaging your chances of moving forward. An employer may equate a poorly formatted resume that is aesthetically unappealing with an inability to design attractive and effective presentations.

Information design is one of the most important factors of a successful resume design. A well-designed document allows the reviewer to locate crucial details at a glance. Imagine you are the employer. Can you find job titles and education? Is each section clearly labeled? Your resume should also have a clear hierarchy that allows the eye to move smoothly down the page. Usually, this is accomplished with bold text, indentations, bullet points and large headings. Avoid large blocks of text, which make it more difficult for employers to find individual items.

If you're having trouble, print out other sample resumes that look appealing and professional to you. Place them on a table with your document and see how the resume design compares. When you put your resume next to strong, beautiful examples, the problems and strong points can be glaringly obvious. This is a particularly effective step if you are not creative or design-oriented.

In many cases, your gut reaction is a helpful tool in choosing a resume design. By building a strong basis for comparison, you can overcome creative shortcomings and create a document that stands out from the crowd and helps you advance to the next stage in the hiring process.

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