Career Advice

3 Things To Consider If You Want A Beautifully Crafted Resume

posted on February 21, 2019 | by Michele Lando

As a certified professional resume writer, I’m always trying to ensure that I’m aware of current trends in hiring patterns and resume writing. A lot of people reach out to me asking for flashy resumes that they’ve seen on Pinterest. However, the truth is that a flashy resume won’t get you the job. A lot of the templates online don’t include the information needed on a resume, so I wanted to talk about 3 things to consider if you want a beautifully crafted resume. Regardless of how pretty your document is, if the content isn’t there, the pretty resume won’t do you any good.

Let’s get into those 3 things.

Resumes must be balanced

Everything on your resume should be balanced. Balance between an aesthetically pleasing document and a document that has the information you need; balance between text and white space; balance between creating a document that will get you through an applicant tracking system and a document that will engage a real person. Your resume might be eye catching, but it doesn’t mean that it’s effective; this is why an online resume template likely won’t work that well to highlight your value.

Use the right template (for you)

First of all, it’s important to note that most of the resume templates you see online are created by designers who have no background in resume writing, recruiting, or hiring. They are coming from a completely visual background. A lot of the resume templates circulating the internet right now are minimalistic, eye catching, and appear more like a work of art than a resume, but the truth is that most of these minimal templates have no real information on them. This is why they look so clean and simple. Once you add the right information onto your resume, the template will likely look a lot different or simply won’t allow the space needed to add on the necessary information.

Infographics are another popular style of resume known for their flashy and colorful nature. While these documents may look like there’s a lot of information on them, I have yet to see an infographic resume that actually contains the necessary information needed on a resume. Additionally, many recruiters agree that infographic resumes rarely work when applying for corporate jobs. (They likely won’t pass an applicant tracking system.)

Get rid of the fluff

A resume alone will not get you a job. A resume is tool that will help you get an interview. Your resume, interview, personal brand, connections, and a whole lot of other factors will help you get a job. It doesn’t just come down to your resume.

In order to create an effective resume that will help you in your job search, you should make sure that you document meets the following requirements:

-It highlights your value and gives concrete metrics and achievements to show what you’ve done
-It is accomplishment based and NOT responsibility based
-It is catered to the specific job you’re applying for
-It is free from spelling and punctuation errors
-It is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read

Hope this was helpful!