Resume Tips
TARGET YOUR RESUME
It’s best to target your resume to one position, company or type of job. This will give you more success than designing a “one-resume-fits-all”. There are two common types of jobs for teens: customer service and manual labour. One involves working mostly with people, while the other involves working mostly with your hands. Obviously not everything falls into these two categories, but they are the most common. If you don’t wish to target your resume to an exact position or company, at least focus it on one type of job, such as service or labour, because they are quite different in their expectations.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Working with customers involves working with people, usually in person but also on the phone or online. These types of jobs can be found in department stores, mall stores, big box retailers, video stores, fast food restaurants, full service restaurants, movie theatres, financial institutions, telemarketing companies, libraries, gas stations and many more. These are some of the qualifications desired by these employers:
Availability. These employers are often open long hours and seven days a week. Therefore they need staff who can work weekdays, weeknights, weekends and holidays. If you believe you have better scheduling availability than most of your competitors, include it on your resume.
Reliability. If employees are late or don’t show up for work, customers will be left waiting. Therefore, dependability and punctuality are very important in this field. Reliability can be proven through past performance evaluations from employers, school attendance records, letters of recommendation, and telephone references.
Flexibility. Scheduling and shift changes are common with these businesses and managers want employees that are flexible. This includes staying late, coming in early, working on scheduled days off, or working at other locations. Demonstrate your flexibility through references, acknowledging the importance of it, and providing examples from your past.
MANUAL LABOUR
These relatively unskilled jobs often fall to young adults. Positions can be found in roofing, construction, warehousing, landscaping, maintenance, painting, factories, concrete, stock rooms, rubbish removers and many others. It can be physically demanding work and employers may look for these qualifications:
Physically Fit. These jobs may require great strength or endurance, whether it’s frequent heavy lifting, standing, walking or moving all day, working at heights or in all weather conditions, or operating heavy machinery. Demonstrating your ability to handle these conditions may move your resume to the top.
Safety. These jobs can be dangerous and require employees who are safety-oriented. Previous training in first aid, workplace safety or handling hazardous materials can be important qualifications. Employers may also want you to supply your own hardhat, gloves, steel-toe footwear or other safety equipment.
Transportation. Reliable transportation is commonly required by employers. Often these jobs are not found in residential areas or on bus routes, and sometimes may involve working at different sites or delivering supplies. If you have a driver’s licence and regular access to a reliable vehicle, this also may be important to include on your resume.
Understanding what an employer looks for when hiring is important in job searching. Scanning the classifieds and noting what employers want will help you when designing your resume, especially when applying for jobs not advertised. Then make it easy on them. Job-seekers who clearly state they meet or exceed the required qualifications have the best chance of getting called. Employers don’t have time to call every applicant to ask if they have a reliable car or great availability, so tell them up front that YOU DO!
THE PURPOSE OF A RESUME
Do you ever get flyers in your mailbox? Maybe it’s the landscaper down the road who wants to trim your hedges, or a real estate agent looking for listings? Why do they send you this stuff? Good question. The answer, of course, is to advertise their services. Or, to be more exact, they are sending you their flyers to persuade you to call them about doing business.
Is this any different than your resume? Why do you drop it off at places you want to work? Because you want to persuade the hiring manager to call you for an interview. Right? It’s important to realize that your resume is advertising. It’s your flyer, your brochure, your commercial – designed to convince the receiver to take action by contacting you.
There is a concept used in advertising that may help you understand what steps a reader needs to climb in order to take the action that the writer wants:
A – ATTENTION
I – INTEREST
D – DESIRE
A – ACTION
In other words, the purpose of any advertising should be to:
1. Get the receiver’s attention. When managers have a stack of resumes to go through, they typically scan each one for only a few seconds before making a decision. It will either go in an ‘A’ pile to look at closer, a ‘B’ pile in case none make the ‘A’ pile, or a ‘C’ pile which is essentially the garbage. Your resume has to somehow grab their attention in order to avoid the ‘C’ pile. What will make it stand out from the hundreds of other resumes they have? The appearance plays a big part.
2. Get the receiver’s interest. Once it has caught their eye, something on your resume needs to encourage them to read the entire page, because most don’t. While the appearance will get their attention, the framework and structure will determine the level of interest. Is it targeted to their industry? Does it have clear and applicable section headings? A relevant job title? Are the most important qualifications near the top?
3. Elevate the receiver’s interest to a level of desire. As they are reading your resume, you want their casual interest to escalate to desire so that they really want to meet you. To do this, your resume has to give the reader some reason to think you can benefit their business. They won’t call you just because they get the impression you’re a nice person, but they might if they feel you could be a valuable addition to their staff.
4. Entice the receiver to take action. Once they have that strong desire to meet you, they will take action by picking up the phone and calling you for an interview. At that point, your resume has worked.
This concept shows why appearance, not only content, is so important on a resume. Those first few seconds are the only opportunity it has to grab the reader’s attention. An applicant may have desirable qualifications but if the resume is unappealing, cluttered, unorganized, vague, hard-to-read, too full or too bare, too long or too short, it could easily get rejected and interest, let alone desire, will never develop.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION is a very important section on a resume, however most of the time it’s not used properly. Most employers are not only interested in what level you’re at, but also what else you were involved in at school. All of the following qualifications could be included on your resume:
DIPLOMA/CERTIFICATE. Did you graduate? What is the name of your certificate or diploma?
VOLUNTEERING. Did you volunteer in the library, cafeteria or computer lab? Were you a member of the Grad Committee? Did you get involved with student government? Work on the yearbook?
WORK PLACEMENTS. Did you complete any internships or work experience placements, where you go to work with an employer to develop skills?
SPORTS/ACADEMIC INVOLVEMENT. Were you on the basketball team? Swim team? In the Chess Club? How many years? Include these and point out that this demonstrates teamwork skills, a strong work ethic and self-discipline. Add any championships or medals won. Also mention any time you played a leadership role, such as team captain or coach.
AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Did you receive a Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Attendance? Or for leadership? Or for volunteering at the school? Did you achieve academic standing? These accomplishments can offer “proof” to an employer of your character, dependability and work ethic.
SPECIFIC COURSES. Did you take any individual courses that are relevant to the job you are applying for? Also think about courses that may not be relevant but may provide “proof” of your skills, such as Peer Tutoring or Entrepreneurship. Also mention any high grades or special projects completed.
WORKPLACE TRAINING. Did you earn any workplace training certificates such as SuperHost, First Aid, Food Safe, WHMIS, Workplace Safety or Conflict Resolution?
COMPUTER TRAINING. Did you take any computer courses? Include specific courses you completed, software & operating systems you know, and even keyboard speed if it’s a selling feature.
NIGHT SCHOOL. Did you take any night school, continuing/adult education, workshops or other part-time courses? These could also be viewed as important by potential employers.
WORK EXPERIENCE is also an underutilized section. Many resumes just list the job title and duties under each employer. While that may be okay, sometimes it’s already understood what the position involves. Instead of just talking about what job you did, talk about how well you did it, and provide proof:
PROMOTIONS. Did you get promoted? From what to what? After how long? Did you beat out other staff members for the promotion?
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS. Did you get a written evaluation of your work? Did you achieve high scores or receive positive comments?
AWARDS & RECOGNITION. Did you earn Employee of the Month? Were you publicly or privately recognized for doing a great job? Did you receive any thank you letters from customers or clients?
PRODUCTIVITY. Did you achieve or surpass specific performance goals? Did you earn any rewards, bonuses, commissions for your outstanding productivity?
COMPANY INVOLVEMENT. Did you belong to the Health & Safety or Social Committees? What was your role? What did you accomplish? Did you volunteer to help the company in some way?
ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Did you go above and beyond in your job? Did you cover for your supervisor while they were away? Did you work overtime when asked? Did you come in to work on short notice?
PROVE YOUR WORTH
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS [Candidate #1]
Leadership Skills Physically Fit Mechanically-Inclined
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS [Candidate #2]
Leadership Skills – elected captain of my ice hockey team two seasons in a row; completed two leadership courses in grades eleven and twelve.
Physically Fit – played organized soccer for three seasons; former member of high school wrestling team; competed in Earl Davidson Marathon in 20XX.
Mechanically-Inclined – completed high school courses in metalwork and woodwork; completely rebuilt an automobile; comfortable with both hand and power tools.
One common problem found on teen resumes is a “Summary of Qualifications” section similar to Candidate #1. Other qualifications frequently seen are “hard-working”, “self-motivated” and “reliable”. Unfortunately, none of those are actually qualifications on their own. They’re not even facts. They are simply opinions that employers have no reason to believe. You, past supervisors and even teachers may believe they’re true, but listed on their own like that will not get a hiring manager interested.
Always try to focus on the facts. These can be used on their own as a qualification, such as “Two years experience using MS Office software”. They can also be used to prove or demonstrate a character trait that, on its own, would simply be an opinion. For example, “Reliable and Punctual – school attendance records show no missed days in two years, copy available upon request”. Can you see how powerful that statement is, compared to simply stating the opinion that you are “reliable”? In the examples above, Candidate #2 has provided that proof and therefore makes much more of an impact than Candidate #1.
ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
There are an unlimited number of things that could be considered qualifications for a job. Include work experience and education, but dig deeper and consider other parts of your background that may help prove you are the best person for the job. For example:
Travelled throughout Europe and South-East Asia. Employers in hospitality & tourism, or where cultural sensitivity is important, may be interested in knowing if you have extensive travel experience.
Bilingual – fluent in English and German. Most employers can benefit from having bilingual staff, but especially those that interact with the public or deal with customers or co-workers in an overseas office.
Physically fit – exercise three times/week using free weights, yoga and kickboxing. Many jobs require extensive physical activity and employers want to ensure their staff can handle those types of demands.
Hold a clean driver’s licence and have access to a reliable vehicle. Some jobs require a driver’s licence and a vehicle. Even if this isn’t the case, including this qualification may convince an employer that you won’t have any trouble getting to work.
Elected captain of my hockey team two years in a row. This type of qualification demonstrates leadership skills and may be important to include for any position.
Available to work any day or shift needed, including weekends and holidays. Employee availability is important to businesses like restaurants or stores that are open long hours.
Acted in a theatre production in front of an audience of over 500 people. This may provide proof that you can handle stressful situations, be outgoing and “play the part” that is required of you.
HANDLING “NEGATIVES” ON A RESUME
Most people have parts of their background that they would prefer the employer didn’t know about. Listed below are common “negatives” and suggestions for handling them:
Job Hopper
Employers will assume someone with several short-term jobs on their resume is a job hopper, meaning someone who is unable to hold a job for a reasonable length of time. Regardless of whether it’s due to quitting, being fired or getting laid off, it raises a warning sign to a hiring manager and they will be concerned about interviewing you. To erase this perception, try to do two things – consider what jobs you include and which ones you don’t, and provide explanations for any short-term jobs that you can.
When deciding what jobs to include, look at which ones are most relevant. Say you’ve had four jobs, each of which lasted less than three months. Perhaps one of them is very relevant to the job you are applying for, two are somewhat relevant, and one is not relevant at all. It may be beneficial to leave off the irrelevant job because it will lessen the risk of being considered a job hopper, and it will make the overall resume appear more targeted.
Explanations can easily be provided for short-term jobs, as long as they’re not negative. For example, if you left a job after one month to move to a different city, include your employer’s locations on your resume and the reader will realize that’s why you left. If you were hired for a contract or temporary job, indicate that on your resume so the employer doesn’t assume you quit or were terminated. If you were transferred to another division or department, make it clear on your resume that you were still employed by the same company. Finally, if you quit because you were returning to school, indicating that might prevent the employer from assuming you were fired or quit because you couldn’t handle it.
Termination
Being fired is nothing to be ashamed of – it’s a learning experience and happens to many people – but if you have been fired you do need to consider whether you want to include that job on your resume. Although you would never actually state on your resume that you were terminated, expect an interviewer to ask why you left every job that you do have on there. Therefore, if you include a job you were fired from, be prepared to explain the details.
Basically you need to ask yourself whether the upside of the employer knowing you have that experience outweighs the downside of having to explain the circumstances of your departure. For example, if you have had three short-term jobs and you were fired from one, and it wasn’t relevant to the job you’re applying for anyway, it may be best to leave it off. The interviewer will see that you have more relevant experience, and you can avoid talking about why you were terminated. However, if you were fired from your only job and you were there two years, leaving it off would be detrimental. You would appear to have no experience at all, and you’d have a difficult time “selling” your skills when you can’t say where you developed them.
Remember that resumes are not the same as application forms. Resumes are a job-seeker’s tool used to advertise qualifications in the hope of obtaining an interview. That means you choose what to include and what not to – whatever shows you in the best light. Application forms are an employer’s tool used to bring consistency to their hiring practices. On an application form you need to sign the bottom stating all the information is complete, so in that case you do need to include all previous employment.
Deciding whether to include a terminated job on your resume is a difficult decision and there is no right or wrong answer. Just remember that you have nothing to be ashamed about and don’t automatically feel like you have to hide it or no one will hire you. Just focus on proving to your next employer that you learned from your mistakes and you’ll do everything you can to not let them happen again.
Early School Dropout / Failure to Graduate
The majority of employers would not consider dropping out of school a positive, unless you gained valuable experience in the meantime and the company didn’t care about education. So what do you do if you should be graduating this year but left high school in grade nine?
If you have nothing positive to include from your time in school, in other words no achievements, awards, skills or experience, then you can leave off the “Education” section entirely. It may cause suspicion but if you have nothing to report other than dropping out in grade nine, then it’s probably best to leave it off and hope you get called for an interview. The employer will most likely ask you about it, but it will be easier to explain in person than on your resume anyway.
If you have accomplishments from school that you want to include, but don’t want to mention that you dropped out, then do just that. Have an “Education” section and include all your positive qualifications that belong there, but don’t include what level you reached. Again, you may be asked about it in an interview, but it will be easier to explain in person.
If you have completed all your high school courses but didn’t graduate, never lie and say you have a high school diploma. However, you will most likely have a lot of other qualifications from school that you would want to include, and would want an “Education” section on your resume. If you’re re-taking the courses you need to graduate, then you could say “Currently completing the few remaining credits required for high school graduation.” If you decided not to do that, then it may be best to leave off any statement that refers to the level attained, and just focus on your skills, courses, achievements, awards, etc.
No Experience
Every single person starts off their working life with no experience. Therefore, this category isn’t so much a negative as it is a fact of life. If you are getting frustrated with your job search because you’re not being hired due to lack of experience, it’s not a negative aspect of your background. It simply means you’re applying for jobs that employers require experience for. You just need to aim a bit lower and you will find success.
You shouldn’t worry if you don’t have work or volunteer experience to put on your resume. You have many more qualifications in your background to draw from. You simply need to focus on those. There are several resume samples in this book from job-seekers with no experience. Instead of having sections like “Work Experience,” “Employment History” or “Volunteer Experience,” be creative and come up with unique subject headings that will describe the qualifications you do possess. Browsing the samples in this book, you will find headings like the following:
Knowledge of Books & Literature Personal Tattoo Collection Gymnastics Accomplishments Community Involvement Statement of Interest Sports Background Computer Skills Wilderness Experience Travel Experience Availability Mechanical Skills Characteristics
There are many other creative ideas you can gather from the sample resumes in this book, some of which don’t contain any headings at all. Whether it’s designing a letter-style resume, or creating a resume that reads like a job interview, there are several ways of presenting your qualifications, character, desire and professionalism on paper. Don’t feel like you need to design a resume that looks exactly like someone with much more experience than you.
RESUME HEADINGS
Most people design resumes backwards. They use the common headings, such as “Employment History”, “Education”, “Volunteer Experience” and “Interests & Hobbies”, and then try to fit their qualifications under those headings. However, since every single person is unique, their qualifications are also unique and shouldn’t be squished into pre-determined categories. That doesn’t mean you can’t have those common headings on your resume. All it means is you don’t HAVE to if it’s not best for your situation.
Look at the following example of two job-seekers applying for a job in a video store. The first candidate uses the standard heading of “Interests and Hobbies”, while the second takes a more creative approach:
CANDIDATE #1
INTERESTS & HOBBIES
Movies Music Mountain Biking Camping Travelling Rafting
CANDIDATE #2
MOVIE KNOWLEDGE
Personal movie collection contains over 250 DVD’s, including all genres and eras.
Extensive knowledge of drama, crime, thriller and suspense, with a particular emphasis on 1960–1990.
Advanced level knowledge of actors, directors, producers, box office records and movie awards.
Highly skilled at online research of the film and video industry.
Candidate #2 clearly appears to possess greater skill and knowledge for the position. However, Candidate #1 may possess the same but because they chose to use standard headings, they couldn’t describe that knowledge since it didn’t fit anywhere. Plus the heading itself, “Movie Knowledge,” will be much more eye-catching to a video store manager than “Interests & Hobbies.”
Unique, targeted and prioritized headings can make your resume more effective. Employers will expect to see the common ones, as they do on everyone else’s resume, but having headings that actually mean something special to the reader will make more of an impact. Therefore, think about what they want, compare it to what you have, and then decide what headings to use.
JOB TITLE
Whenever possible, use a Job Title on your resume instead of a Job Objective. An objective, by definition, states what YOU want. However, employers don’t care what you want; they want to know how you can help them. As an example, instead of telling them you WANT to be a cashier, tell them you ARE a cashier:
Job Objective:CHERYL MORGANObjective – to get a job as a grocery store cashier Job Title:CHERYL MORGANGrocery Store Cashier
Using a Job Title helps target your resume and shows self-confidence. Rather than someone who simply wants a job as a cashier, which doesn’t imply you’re qualified, stating you ARE a cashier who is just looking for an employer implies that you are qualified for the job. Of course it works best when you have at least some experience or qualifications for the job. For example, stating you are an accountant when you have absolutely no training would appear presumptuous.
CREATIVITY
Most experts say you shouldn’t get too creative with your resume. In other words, they preach conventionality. For some reason, they want you to blend in with the competition, not stand out. In all fairness, I understand why they recommend staying conservative – they don’t want you to be viewed as unprofessional. And I agree that a professional image is important. However, who says adding a graphic to your resume, for example, automatically makes it unprofessional? Many business cards have graphics don’t they? Aren’t they an accepted marketing tool? I highly doubt that business people around the world are regularly distributing business cards that everyone views as tacky or unprofessional.
Why do you need to be creative?
There are two aspects to a resume, content and appearance. If your content, meaning your qualifications, is so outstanding that you just know the employer will be dying to meet you, then you may not need to be creative with your appearance at all. That’s assuming, of course, that the employer gives your resume enough attention to actually notice your qualifications. If they just glance over it quickly, they may not even notice. And remember as well, just because you believe your qualifications are outstanding, you won’t know how they rank against other candidates for the same job. It’s a competition, and it’s possible you could be qualified for something and still not get called because someone else was more qualified.
If you know your qualifications aren’t going to excite anyone, then you could benefit from some creativity on your resume. Many positive results could happen. The employer may be impressed by your effort in designing a unique resume targeted just to them, they may believe you have artistic skills that would be helpful in that position, or they may view you as a creative problem-solver. At the very least, your resume will have a better chance of getting noticed.
Know Your Reader
When deciding how creative to be, it is very important that you know your audience. As a general rule, the more casual, down-to-earth, creative or youth-friendly the business is, the more likely the hiring manager will be receptive to a creative resume. Alternatively, the more conservative or traditional the business, the less likely it will be received positively. In other words, the manager at the music store would probably be more open to it than a unionized warehouse supervisor.
However, you’re still competing against other job applicants for every opportunity. So if you have been using the same standard resume format and it hasn’t resulted in interviews, then try to use more creativity, even if it’s not that type of employer. What do you have to lose?
Distribution Method
When deciding how creative to be with your resume, always keep in mind how you’re going to get it to the employer. The resumes designed in this book work best when mailing or dropping off printed copies. Therefore, be careful when faxing or emailing creative resumes such as these because they may not always come through smoothly on the other end. For example:
WordArt has been used in MS Word to enhance the look of some names and headings. If emailing a resume that uses WordArt, be aware that older versions of Word could encounter problems reading it.
Shading has also been used on some resumes for appearance purposes. However, faxing a document with heavy shading can possibly make it difficult for the receiver to read.
Mixing creativity with technology can pose a risk. Therefore, it’s always best to sacrifice some elements of creativity, if needed, to ensure the message of your resume doesn’t get lost.
RESUME LENGTH
For the following reasons, almost all resumes can and should fit on one page, especially for young people starting out on their careers:
A resume is advertising. It’s no different than a brochure, business card or flyer. Do you ever see brochures that are three inches longer than most because the owner couldn’t fit everything on the standard size? Do you see business cards that are an inch too wide? Do you see advertising flyers that are two pages with a staple in the corner? No. Your resume is a carefully crafted advertisement designed to persuade the reader to contact you. Therefore, there is no reason to go beyond one page.
At a glance. It is highly preferable to view an entire resume at a glance. In other words, no flipping back and forth from the first page to the second, and back again. It’s simply a lot easier to get a sense of the chronology and organization when your eye can see the entire document at once.
Brief is best. Most hiring managers don’t have the time or desire to read a lengthy document detailing every nuance of your background. They typically have many resumes to sift through, so they want to be able to scan it easily and form an opinion quickly.
Keep in mind the purpose of a resume is to get an interview, not necessarily a job. Therefore, expect that the hiring manager will use the resume to decide whether to call you, and then dig deeper in the interview before deciding whether to hire you.
RESUME FORMATTING
Once you know exactly what you want to say on your resume, it’s time to decide how to make it look good on paper. It needs to be visually-appealing, organized and easy-to-read. The following are some aspects to consider when designing your page:
White Space
White space, while it doesn’t have to include a huge 1½ inch margin that some believe, should be consistent around the page. Think of symmetry. For example, you don’t want a section of short, choppy sentences aligned to the left if it’s going to leave a big white hole on the right side of the page. In a case like that, it may be better to use tables and have sections beside each other so the page appears fuller. Have a look at the resumes in this book for examples of how to make your page look balanced.
Paragraphs / Bullets
Long paragraphs can be intimidating for a reader. When they want to quickly review a resume, the last thing they want to see are huge chunks of text that will take too long to read. Bulleted lists are usually better because they’re easier for a reader to navigate. Paragraphs can be used if needed, but keep them short and make effective use of your section headings to make them easier to read.
Check out the sample resumes in this book and try a test. Before you look at one, close your eyes and hold the resume in front of you. Quickly open your eyes for just a couple of seconds and then close them again. You most likely didn’t have time to notice anything but the appearance. Did the page look visually appealing? Balanced? Easy to read? When you finish your own resume, perform the same test and make sure it passes.
FONTS
You can easily experiment with font types and sizes to improve the appearance of your resume. For example, if you are running out of room on your page, try a smaller size of the same font or a smaller font altogether and you’ll create space. Conversely, if you have everything you want on your resume but there’s a bit of extra room left at the bottom, try a larger font so the page appears full and complete.
There are many different font types you can use, and definitely many you wouldn’t want to. Stick to clean, simple, easy-to-read fonts such as Tahoma, Arial, Eurostile, Century, Franklin Gothic, Georgia, Book Antiqua, Verdana, Comic Sans MS or Maiandra GD. Stay away from anything that’s too hard to read or may be distracting. A fancy font can add to the appeal of the resume, but if the reader is still thinking about the font type more than a few seconds into reading the resume, it’s probably too distracting.
Font sizes are not all the same either. For example, Tahoma is a larger font than Poor Richard. Therefore, print your resume and make sure the text size is appropriate before sending it off. You don’t want the reader straining with a size 8 font, or perceiving it as childish with a 13. It’s best to stay between 10 and 12, although I often go as low as 9 on certain fonts, such as Tahoma, when needed.
TEXT ENHANCEMENTS
When you want to draw attention to a heading, word, name, title or phrase, these can help. Bold is generally the best because it makes it easier to read. Italics are more difficult to read so use them with caution. Underlining is okay but if you have other lines on the page, such as borders or between sections, it may get confusing to the eye. Upper-case is regarded as more difficult to read than lower-case, so exercise caution when using that feature as well.
Remember that you only want to use these features to make it easier on the reader or to draw their eye somewhere. They can be useful for dividing the page into sections that the reader can easily find, or making key qualifications or attributes stand out from the rest. However, overusing these features can backfire. If there are bolds, italics, underlines and capitals all over the page, it will appear very confusing and distracting, and nothing will stand out.
GRAPHICS
Using graphics on your resume is one way to get the reader’s attention. Designs or pictures are often used on business cards and letterhead to help promote a desired image. The same can be done on a resume.
In most cases, carefully-chosen graphics should be subtle and support the overall message of the resume, not overpower it. One way this can be done is with a simple graphic next to your name and job title. Similar to a business card, it projects an image of competence and can raise the reader’s confidence in your skills. An employer would rather hire someone who they perceive to be a skilled and experienced landscaper who is out of work, for example, than someone who simply wishes they were a landscaper.
Another subtle way of adding graphics to your resume is with a background. Having the text of your resume on top of an image that has been sufficiently lightened can produce the same benefits as above. This method has the potential to be distracting for the reader however, so care should be taken with how it’s done. Perhaps getting other opinions before submitting it would be helpful.
There are several resume samples in this book that have graphics, and for the most part they’re reserved for those types of businesses that would be most receptive to it. Certainly some of them work better than others. It’s not my intent to suggest that graphics should be a “must-have” on any resume, but I certainly feel that if properly done they can make a positive impression. The best thing to do is design your resume, and then print off two copies – one with the graphic and one without – so you can compare the effect.
It’s best to target your resume to one position, company or type of job. This will give you more success than designing a “one-resume-fits-all”. There are two common types of jobs for teens: customer service and manual labour. One involves working mostly with people, while the other involves working mostly with your hands. Obviously not everything falls into these two categories, but they are the most common. If you don’t wish to target your resume to an exact position or company, at least focus it on one type of job, such as service or labour, because they are quite different in their expectations.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Working with customers involves working with people, usually in person but also on the phone or online. These types of jobs can be found in department stores, mall stores, big box retailers, video stores, fast food restaurants, full service restaurants, movie theatres, financial institutions, telemarketing companies, libraries, gas stations and many more. These are some of the qualifications desired by these employers:
Availability. These employers are often open long hours and seven days a week. Therefore they need staff who can work weekdays, weeknights, weekends and holidays. If you believe you have better scheduling availability than most of your competitors, include it on your resume.
Reliability. If employees are late or don’t show up for work, customers will be left waiting. Therefore, dependability and punctuality are very important in this field. Reliability can be proven through past performance evaluations from employers, school attendance records, letters of recommendation, and telephone references.
Flexibility. Scheduling and shift changes are common with these businesses and managers want employees that are flexible. This includes staying late, coming in early, working on scheduled days off, or working at other locations. Demonstrate your flexibility through references, acknowledging the importance of it, and providing examples from your past.
MANUAL LABOUR
These relatively unskilled jobs often fall to young adults. Positions can be found in roofing, construction, warehousing, landscaping, maintenance, painting, factories, concrete, stock rooms, rubbish removers and many others. It can be physically demanding work and employers may look for these qualifications:
Physically Fit. These jobs may require great strength or endurance, whether it’s frequent heavy lifting, standing, walking or moving all day, working at heights or in all weather conditions, or operating heavy machinery. Demonstrating your ability to handle these conditions may move your resume to the top.
Safety. These jobs can be dangerous and require employees who are safety-oriented. Previous training in first aid, workplace safety or handling hazardous materials can be important qualifications. Employers may also want you to supply your own hardhat, gloves, steel-toe footwear or other safety equipment.
Transportation. Reliable transportation is commonly required by employers. Often these jobs are not found in residential areas or on bus routes, and sometimes may involve working at different sites or delivering supplies. If you have a driver’s licence and regular access to a reliable vehicle, this also may be important to include on your resume.
Understanding what an employer looks for when hiring is important in job searching. Scanning the classifieds and noting what employers want will help you when designing your resume, especially when applying for jobs not advertised. Then make it easy on them. Job-seekers who clearly state they meet or exceed the required qualifications have the best chance of getting called. Employers don’t have time to call every applicant to ask if they have a reliable car or great availability, so tell them up front that YOU DO!
THE PURPOSE OF A RESUME
Do you ever get flyers in your mailbox? Maybe it’s the landscaper down the road who wants to trim your hedges, or a real estate agent looking for listings? Why do they send you this stuff? Good question. The answer, of course, is to advertise their services. Or, to be more exact, they are sending you their flyers to persuade you to call them about doing business.
Is this any different than your resume? Why do you drop it off at places you want to work? Because you want to persuade the hiring manager to call you for an interview. Right? It’s important to realize that your resume is advertising. It’s your flyer, your brochure, your commercial – designed to convince the receiver to take action by contacting you.
There is a concept used in advertising that may help you understand what steps a reader needs to climb in order to take the action that the writer wants:
A – ATTENTION
I – INTEREST
D – DESIRE
A – ACTION
In other words, the purpose of any advertising should be to:
1. Get the receiver’s attention. When managers have a stack of resumes to go through, they typically scan each one for only a few seconds before making a decision. It will either go in an ‘A’ pile to look at closer, a ‘B’ pile in case none make the ‘A’ pile, or a ‘C’ pile which is essentially the garbage. Your resume has to somehow grab their attention in order to avoid the ‘C’ pile. What will make it stand out from the hundreds of other resumes they have? The appearance plays a big part.
2. Get the receiver’s interest. Once it has caught their eye, something on your resume needs to encourage them to read the entire page, because most don’t. While the appearance will get their attention, the framework and structure will determine the level of interest. Is it targeted to their industry? Does it have clear and applicable section headings? A relevant job title? Are the most important qualifications near the top?
3. Elevate the receiver’s interest to a level of desire. As they are reading your resume, you want their casual interest to escalate to desire so that they really want to meet you. To do this, your resume has to give the reader some reason to think you can benefit their business. They won’t call you just because they get the impression you’re a nice person, but they might if they feel you could be a valuable addition to their staff.
4. Entice the receiver to take action. Once they have that strong desire to meet you, they will take action by picking up the phone and calling you for an interview. At that point, your resume has worked.
This concept shows why appearance, not only content, is so important on a resume. Those first few seconds are the only opportunity it has to grab the reader’s attention. An applicant may have desirable qualifications but if the resume is unappealing, cluttered, unorganized, vague, hard-to-read, too full or too bare, too long or too short, it could easily get rejected and interest, let alone desire, will never develop.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION is a very important section on a resume, however most of the time it’s not used properly. Most employers are not only interested in what level you’re at, but also what else you were involved in at school. All of the following qualifications could be included on your resume:
DIPLOMA/CERTIFICATE. Did you graduate? What is the name of your certificate or diploma?
VOLUNTEERING. Did you volunteer in the library, cafeteria or computer lab? Were you a member of the Grad Committee? Did you get involved with student government? Work on the yearbook?
WORK PLACEMENTS. Did you complete any internships or work experience placements, where you go to work with an employer to develop skills?
SPORTS/ACADEMIC INVOLVEMENT. Were you on the basketball team? Swim team? In the Chess Club? How many years? Include these and point out that this demonstrates teamwork skills, a strong work ethic and self-discipline. Add any championships or medals won. Also mention any time you played a leadership role, such as team captain or coach.
AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Did you receive a Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Attendance? Or for leadership? Or for volunteering at the school? Did you achieve academic standing? These accomplishments can offer “proof” to an employer of your character, dependability and work ethic.
SPECIFIC COURSES. Did you take any individual courses that are relevant to the job you are applying for? Also think about courses that may not be relevant but may provide “proof” of your skills, such as Peer Tutoring or Entrepreneurship. Also mention any high grades or special projects completed.
WORKPLACE TRAINING. Did you earn any workplace training certificates such as SuperHost, First Aid, Food Safe, WHMIS, Workplace Safety or Conflict Resolution?
COMPUTER TRAINING. Did you take any computer courses? Include specific courses you completed, software & operating systems you know, and even keyboard speed if it’s a selling feature.
NIGHT SCHOOL. Did you take any night school, continuing/adult education, workshops or other part-time courses? These could also be viewed as important by potential employers.
WORK EXPERIENCE is also an underutilized section. Many resumes just list the job title and duties under each employer. While that may be okay, sometimes it’s already understood what the position involves. Instead of just talking about what job you did, talk about how well you did it, and provide proof:
PROMOTIONS. Did you get promoted? From what to what? After how long? Did you beat out other staff members for the promotion?
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS. Did you get a written evaluation of your work? Did you achieve high scores or receive positive comments?
AWARDS & RECOGNITION. Did you earn Employee of the Month? Were you publicly or privately recognized for doing a great job? Did you receive any thank you letters from customers or clients?
PRODUCTIVITY. Did you achieve or surpass specific performance goals? Did you earn any rewards, bonuses, commissions for your outstanding productivity?
COMPANY INVOLVEMENT. Did you belong to the Health & Safety or Social Committees? What was your role? What did you accomplish? Did you volunteer to help the company in some way?
ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Did you go above and beyond in your job? Did you cover for your supervisor while they were away? Did you work overtime when asked? Did you come in to work on short notice?
PROVE YOUR WORTH
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS [Candidate #1]
Leadership Skills Physically Fit Mechanically-Inclined
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS [Candidate #2]
Leadership Skills – elected captain of my ice hockey team two seasons in a row; completed two leadership courses in grades eleven and twelve.
Physically Fit – played organized soccer for three seasons; former member of high school wrestling team; competed in Earl Davidson Marathon in 20XX.
Mechanically-Inclined – completed high school courses in metalwork and woodwork; completely rebuilt an automobile; comfortable with both hand and power tools.
One common problem found on teen resumes is a “Summary of Qualifications” section similar to Candidate #1. Other qualifications frequently seen are “hard-working”, “self-motivated” and “reliable”. Unfortunately, none of those are actually qualifications on their own. They’re not even facts. They are simply opinions that employers have no reason to believe. You, past supervisors and even teachers may believe they’re true, but listed on their own like that will not get a hiring manager interested.
Always try to focus on the facts. These can be used on their own as a qualification, such as “Two years experience using MS Office software”. They can also be used to prove or demonstrate a character trait that, on its own, would simply be an opinion. For example, “Reliable and Punctual – school attendance records show no missed days in two years, copy available upon request”. Can you see how powerful that statement is, compared to simply stating the opinion that you are “reliable”? In the examples above, Candidate #2 has provided that proof and therefore makes much more of an impact than Candidate #1.
ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
There are an unlimited number of things that could be considered qualifications for a job. Include work experience and education, but dig deeper and consider other parts of your background that may help prove you are the best person for the job. For example:
Travelled throughout Europe and South-East Asia. Employers in hospitality & tourism, or where cultural sensitivity is important, may be interested in knowing if you have extensive travel experience.
Bilingual – fluent in English and German. Most employers can benefit from having bilingual staff, but especially those that interact with the public or deal with customers or co-workers in an overseas office.
Physically fit – exercise three times/week using free weights, yoga and kickboxing. Many jobs require extensive physical activity and employers want to ensure their staff can handle those types of demands.
Hold a clean driver’s licence and have access to a reliable vehicle. Some jobs require a driver’s licence and a vehicle. Even if this isn’t the case, including this qualification may convince an employer that you won’t have any trouble getting to work.
Elected captain of my hockey team two years in a row. This type of qualification demonstrates leadership skills and may be important to include for any position.
Available to work any day or shift needed, including weekends and holidays. Employee availability is important to businesses like restaurants or stores that are open long hours.
Acted in a theatre production in front of an audience of over 500 people. This may provide proof that you can handle stressful situations, be outgoing and “play the part” that is required of you.
HANDLING “NEGATIVES” ON A RESUME
Most people have parts of their background that they would prefer the employer didn’t know about. Listed below are common “negatives” and suggestions for handling them:
Job Hopper
Employers will assume someone with several short-term jobs on their resume is a job hopper, meaning someone who is unable to hold a job for a reasonable length of time. Regardless of whether it’s due to quitting, being fired or getting laid off, it raises a warning sign to a hiring manager and they will be concerned about interviewing you. To erase this perception, try to do two things – consider what jobs you include and which ones you don’t, and provide explanations for any short-term jobs that you can.
When deciding what jobs to include, look at which ones are most relevant. Say you’ve had four jobs, each of which lasted less than three months. Perhaps one of them is very relevant to the job you are applying for, two are somewhat relevant, and one is not relevant at all. It may be beneficial to leave off the irrelevant job because it will lessen the risk of being considered a job hopper, and it will make the overall resume appear more targeted.
Explanations can easily be provided for short-term jobs, as long as they’re not negative. For example, if you left a job after one month to move to a different city, include your employer’s locations on your resume and the reader will realize that’s why you left. If you were hired for a contract or temporary job, indicate that on your resume so the employer doesn’t assume you quit or were terminated. If you were transferred to another division or department, make it clear on your resume that you were still employed by the same company. Finally, if you quit because you were returning to school, indicating that might prevent the employer from assuming you were fired or quit because you couldn’t handle it.
Termination
Being fired is nothing to be ashamed of – it’s a learning experience and happens to many people – but if you have been fired you do need to consider whether you want to include that job on your resume. Although you would never actually state on your resume that you were terminated, expect an interviewer to ask why you left every job that you do have on there. Therefore, if you include a job you were fired from, be prepared to explain the details.
Basically you need to ask yourself whether the upside of the employer knowing you have that experience outweighs the downside of having to explain the circumstances of your departure. For example, if you have had three short-term jobs and you were fired from one, and it wasn’t relevant to the job you’re applying for anyway, it may be best to leave it off. The interviewer will see that you have more relevant experience, and you can avoid talking about why you were terminated. However, if you were fired from your only job and you were there two years, leaving it off would be detrimental. You would appear to have no experience at all, and you’d have a difficult time “selling” your skills when you can’t say where you developed them.
Remember that resumes are not the same as application forms. Resumes are a job-seeker’s tool used to advertise qualifications in the hope of obtaining an interview. That means you choose what to include and what not to – whatever shows you in the best light. Application forms are an employer’s tool used to bring consistency to their hiring practices. On an application form you need to sign the bottom stating all the information is complete, so in that case you do need to include all previous employment.
Deciding whether to include a terminated job on your resume is a difficult decision and there is no right or wrong answer. Just remember that you have nothing to be ashamed about and don’t automatically feel like you have to hide it or no one will hire you. Just focus on proving to your next employer that you learned from your mistakes and you’ll do everything you can to not let them happen again.
Early School Dropout / Failure to Graduate
The majority of employers would not consider dropping out of school a positive, unless you gained valuable experience in the meantime and the company didn’t care about education. So what do you do if you should be graduating this year but left high school in grade nine?
If you have nothing positive to include from your time in school, in other words no achievements, awards, skills or experience, then you can leave off the “Education” section entirely. It may cause suspicion but if you have nothing to report other than dropping out in grade nine, then it’s probably best to leave it off and hope you get called for an interview. The employer will most likely ask you about it, but it will be easier to explain in person than on your resume anyway.
If you have accomplishments from school that you want to include, but don’t want to mention that you dropped out, then do just that. Have an “Education” section and include all your positive qualifications that belong there, but don’t include what level you reached. Again, you may be asked about it in an interview, but it will be easier to explain in person.
If you have completed all your high school courses but didn’t graduate, never lie and say you have a high school diploma. However, you will most likely have a lot of other qualifications from school that you would want to include, and would want an “Education” section on your resume. If you’re re-taking the courses you need to graduate, then you could say “Currently completing the few remaining credits required for high school graduation.” If you decided not to do that, then it may be best to leave off any statement that refers to the level attained, and just focus on your skills, courses, achievements, awards, etc.
No Experience
Every single person starts off their working life with no experience. Therefore, this category isn’t so much a negative as it is a fact of life. If you are getting frustrated with your job search because you’re not being hired due to lack of experience, it’s not a negative aspect of your background. It simply means you’re applying for jobs that employers require experience for. You just need to aim a bit lower and you will find success.
You shouldn’t worry if you don’t have work or volunteer experience to put on your resume. You have many more qualifications in your background to draw from. You simply need to focus on those. There are several resume samples in this book from job-seekers with no experience. Instead of having sections like “Work Experience,” “Employment History” or “Volunteer Experience,” be creative and come up with unique subject headings that will describe the qualifications you do possess. Browsing the samples in this book, you will find headings like the following:
Knowledge of Books & Literature Personal Tattoo Collection Gymnastics Accomplishments Community Involvement Statement of Interest Sports Background Computer Skills Wilderness Experience Travel Experience Availability Mechanical Skills Characteristics
There are many other creative ideas you can gather from the sample resumes in this book, some of which don’t contain any headings at all. Whether it’s designing a letter-style resume, or creating a resume that reads like a job interview, there are several ways of presenting your qualifications, character, desire and professionalism on paper. Don’t feel like you need to design a resume that looks exactly like someone with much more experience than you.
RESUME HEADINGS
Most people design resumes backwards. They use the common headings, such as “Employment History”, “Education”, “Volunteer Experience” and “Interests & Hobbies”, and then try to fit their qualifications under those headings. However, since every single person is unique, their qualifications are also unique and shouldn’t be squished into pre-determined categories. That doesn’t mean you can’t have those common headings on your resume. All it means is you don’t HAVE to if it’s not best for your situation.
Look at the following example of two job-seekers applying for a job in a video store. The first candidate uses the standard heading of “Interests and Hobbies”, while the second takes a more creative approach:
CANDIDATE #1
INTERESTS & HOBBIES
Movies Music Mountain Biking Camping Travelling Rafting
CANDIDATE #2
MOVIE KNOWLEDGE
Personal movie collection contains over 250 DVD’s, including all genres and eras.
Extensive knowledge of drama, crime, thriller and suspense, with a particular emphasis on 1960–1990.
Advanced level knowledge of actors, directors, producers, box office records and movie awards.
Highly skilled at online research of the film and video industry.
Candidate #2 clearly appears to possess greater skill and knowledge for the position. However, Candidate #1 may possess the same but because they chose to use standard headings, they couldn’t describe that knowledge since it didn’t fit anywhere. Plus the heading itself, “Movie Knowledge,” will be much more eye-catching to a video store manager than “Interests & Hobbies.”
Unique, targeted and prioritized headings can make your resume more effective. Employers will expect to see the common ones, as they do on everyone else’s resume, but having headings that actually mean something special to the reader will make more of an impact. Therefore, think about what they want, compare it to what you have, and then decide what headings to use.
JOB TITLE
Whenever possible, use a Job Title on your resume instead of a Job Objective. An objective, by definition, states what YOU want. However, employers don’t care what you want; they want to know how you can help them. As an example, instead of telling them you WANT to be a cashier, tell them you ARE a cashier:
Job Objective:CHERYL MORGANObjective – to get a job as a grocery store cashier Job Title:CHERYL MORGANGrocery Store Cashier
Using a Job Title helps target your resume and shows self-confidence. Rather than someone who simply wants a job as a cashier, which doesn’t imply you’re qualified, stating you ARE a cashier who is just looking for an employer implies that you are qualified for the job. Of course it works best when you have at least some experience or qualifications for the job. For example, stating you are an accountant when you have absolutely no training would appear presumptuous.
CREATIVITY
Most experts say you shouldn’t get too creative with your resume. In other words, they preach conventionality. For some reason, they want you to blend in with the competition, not stand out. In all fairness, I understand why they recommend staying conservative – they don’t want you to be viewed as unprofessional. And I agree that a professional image is important. However, who says adding a graphic to your resume, for example, automatically makes it unprofessional? Many business cards have graphics don’t they? Aren’t they an accepted marketing tool? I highly doubt that business people around the world are regularly distributing business cards that everyone views as tacky or unprofessional.
Why do you need to be creative?
There are two aspects to a resume, content and appearance. If your content, meaning your qualifications, is so outstanding that you just know the employer will be dying to meet you, then you may not need to be creative with your appearance at all. That’s assuming, of course, that the employer gives your resume enough attention to actually notice your qualifications. If they just glance over it quickly, they may not even notice. And remember as well, just because you believe your qualifications are outstanding, you won’t know how they rank against other candidates for the same job. It’s a competition, and it’s possible you could be qualified for something and still not get called because someone else was more qualified.
If you know your qualifications aren’t going to excite anyone, then you could benefit from some creativity on your resume. Many positive results could happen. The employer may be impressed by your effort in designing a unique resume targeted just to them, they may believe you have artistic skills that would be helpful in that position, or they may view you as a creative problem-solver. At the very least, your resume will have a better chance of getting noticed.
Know Your Reader
When deciding how creative to be, it is very important that you know your audience. As a general rule, the more casual, down-to-earth, creative or youth-friendly the business is, the more likely the hiring manager will be receptive to a creative resume. Alternatively, the more conservative or traditional the business, the less likely it will be received positively. In other words, the manager at the music store would probably be more open to it than a unionized warehouse supervisor.
However, you’re still competing against other job applicants for every opportunity. So if you have been using the same standard resume format and it hasn’t resulted in interviews, then try to use more creativity, even if it’s not that type of employer. What do you have to lose?
Distribution Method
When deciding how creative to be with your resume, always keep in mind how you’re going to get it to the employer. The resumes designed in this book work best when mailing or dropping off printed copies. Therefore, be careful when faxing or emailing creative resumes such as these because they may not always come through smoothly on the other end. For example:
WordArt has been used in MS Word to enhance the look of some names and headings. If emailing a resume that uses WordArt, be aware that older versions of Word could encounter problems reading it.
Shading has also been used on some resumes for appearance purposes. However, faxing a document with heavy shading can possibly make it difficult for the receiver to read.
Mixing creativity with technology can pose a risk. Therefore, it’s always best to sacrifice some elements of creativity, if needed, to ensure the message of your resume doesn’t get lost.
RESUME LENGTH
For the following reasons, almost all resumes can and should fit on one page, especially for young people starting out on their careers:
A resume is advertising. It’s no different than a brochure, business card or flyer. Do you ever see brochures that are three inches longer than most because the owner couldn’t fit everything on the standard size? Do you see business cards that are an inch too wide? Do you see advertising flyers that are two pages with a staple in the corner? No. Your resume is a carefully crafted advertisement designed to persuade the reader to contact you. Therefore, there is no reason to go beyond one page.
At a glance. It is highly preferable to view an entire resume at a glance. In other words, no flipping back and forth from the first page to the second, and back again. It’s simply a lot easier to get a sense of the chronology and organization when your eye can see the entire document at once.
Brief is best. Most hiring managers don’t have the time or desire to read a lengthy document detailing every nuance of your background. They typically have many resumes to sift through, so they want to be able to scan it easily and form an opinion quickly.
Keep in mind the purpose of a resume is to get an interview, not necessarily a job. Therefore, expect that the hiring manager will use the resume to decide whether to call you, and then dig deeper in the interview before deciding whether to hire you.
RESUME FORMATTING
Once you know exactly what you want to say on your resume, it’s time to decide how to make it look good on paper. It needs to be visually-appealing, organized and easy-to-read. The following are some aspects to consider when designing your page:
White Space
White space, while it doesn’t have to include a huge 1½ inch margin that some believe, should be consistent around the page. Think of symmetry. For example, you don’t want a section of short, choppy sentences aligned to the left if it’s going to leave a big white hole on the right side of the page. In a case like that, it may be better to use tables and have sections beside each other so the page appears fuller. Have a look at the resumes in this book for examples of how to make your page look balanced.
Paragraphs / Bullets
Long paragraphs can be intimidating for a reader. When they want to quickly review a resume, the last thing they want to see are huge chunks of text that will take too long to read. Bulleted lists are usually better because they’re easier for a reader to navigate. Paragraphs can be used if needed, but keep them short and make effective use of your section headings to make them easier to read.
Check out the sample resumes in this book and try a test. Before you look at one, close your eyes and hold the resume in front of you. Quickly open your eyes for just a couple of seconds and then close them again. You most likely didn’t have time to notice anything but the appearance. Did the page look visually appealing? Balanced? Easy to read? When you finish your own resume, perform the same test and make sure it passes.
FONTS
You can easily experiment with font types and sizes to improve the appearance of your resume. For example, if you are running out of room on your page, try a smaller size of the same font or a smaller font altogether and you’ll create space. Conversely, if you have everything you want on your resume but there’s a bit of extra room left at the bottom, try a larger font so the page appears full and complete.
There are many different font types you can use, and definitely many you wouldn’t want to. Stick to clean, simple, easy-to-read fonts such as Tahoma, Arial, Eurostile, Century, Franklin Gothic, Georgia, Book Antiqua, Verdana, Comic Sans MS or Maiandra GD. Stay away from anything that’s too hard to read or may be distracting. A fancy font can add to the appeal of the resume, but if the reader is still thinking about the font type more than a few seconds into reading the resume, it’s probably too distracting.
Font sizes are not all the same either. For example, Tahoma is a larger font than Poor Richard. Therefore, print your resume and make sure the text size is appropriate before sending it off. You don’t want the reader straining with a size 8 font, or perceiving it as childish with a 13. It’s best to stay between 10 and 12, although I often go as low as 9 on certain fonts, such as Tahoma, when needed.
TEXT ENHANCEMENTS
When you want to draw attention to a heading, word, name, title or phrase, these can help. Bold is generally the best because it makes it easier to read. Italics are more difficult to read so use them with caution. Underlining is okay but if you have other lines on the page, such as borders or between sections, it may get confusing to the eye. Upper-case is regarded as more difficult to read than lower-case, so exercise caution when using that feature as well.
Remember that you only want to use these features to make it easier on the reader or to draw their eye somewhere. They can be useful for dividing the page into sections that the reader can easily find, or making key qualifications or attributes stand out from the rest. However, overusing these features can backfire. If there are bolds, italics, underlines and capitals all over the page, it will appear very confusing and distracting, and nothing will stand out.
GRAPHICS
Using graphics on your resume is one way to get the reader’s attention. Designs or pictures are often used on business cards and letterhead to help promote a desired image. The same can be done on a resume.
In most cases, carefully-chosen graphics should be subtle and support the overall message of the resume, not overpower it. One way this can be done is with a simple graphic next to your name and job title. Similar to a business card, it projects an image of competence and can raise the reader’s confidence in your skills. An employer would rather hire someone who they perceive to be a skilled and experienced landscaper who is out of work, for example, than someone who simply wishes they were a landscaper.
Another subtle way of adding graphics to your resume is with a background. Having the text of your resume on top of an image that has been sufficiently lightened can produce the same benefits as above. This method has the potential to be distracting for the reader however, so care should be taken with how it’s done. Perhaps getting other opinions before submitting it would be helpful.
There are several resume samples in this book that have graphics, and for the most part they’re reserved for those types of businesses that would be most receptive to it. Certainly some of them work better than others. It’s not my intent to suggest that graphics should be a “must-have” on any resume, but I certainly feel that if properly done they can make a positive impression. The best thing to do is design your resume, and then print off two copies – one with the graphic and one without – so you can compare the effect.