Ways to Avoid a Busy Resume

Hiring managers use resumes to get a quick overview of who you are and how you can help them. If your resume is too busy to interpret with a quick glance, it may be glossed over in favor of easier-to-read resumes. Create a better resume by following these tips to decrease its busyness, and enjoy a more successful job search.

Target Your Resume for Both Job and Company

The easiest way to pare down your resume is to customize it for its intended audience. This means that you need to adjust every resume you send out, keeping the specific job position in mind. For a better resume, choose words that mimic the job posting, and eliminate experience, skills and other items that don't directly relate to your qualifications for the position.

Include White Space

White space makes your resume easier to read. There should be adequate margins around the outside and more white space between sections. Avoid using a tiny font to try to fit in more items. If the hiring manager needs a magnifying glass to read it, he is most likely going to push it aside and move on to someone else.

Use Headings and Bullets

Headings show clearly what type of information is coming up and bullet lists are very easy to skim for information. Try showing headings in a different font, or bold or underline them. Better resumes also have the most important details at the top of the page, written in short phrases. Large blocks of paragraph-style text are more difficult to read.

Avoid Long Lists

Although bullet lists are great, better resumes limit the number of items on those lists. For example, if you are listing your skills, only include the skills that are most important for the job for which you are applying. Also, don't include skills that most every applicant is likely to have, such as computer literacy and great communication skills. Emphasize skills that make you uniquely qualified and work well with your personal branding.

Stay Focused

Think of your resume as painting a picture of your educational background and job history. Better resumes create pictures that make sense. Make sure that you only list education, training, jobs and volunteer work that have specifically prepared you for the position you hope to acquire. For a less busy resume and a more successful job search, remove courses, hobbies and previous jobs that don't add to the big picture. If your resume contains too many extras, it is going to look like a mess instead of a clear picture, and the hiring manager won't be able to see past the clutter to know if you are a great candidate or not.

Terrific resumes focus on the specific job skills that are needed to be a great employee in the position for which you are applying. Avoid adding extra items to your skill set, accomplishments or job history. Build a better resume by keeping the format clean with adequate white space, and utilize easy-to-scan headings and lists to help employers easily assess your strengths and get an accurate picture of your qualifications for the job.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net