The Importance of Resume Aesthetics
Before we get into the importance of resume aesthetics, I think it is makes sense to define exactly what the term aesthetics means. Aesthetics is classified by merriamwebster.com as a pleasing appearance or effect.
On many occasions I meet with clients who forget how important the appearance of the resume is. Perhaps they don’t know some of the special things that can be done with MS Word or they don’t understand fully why aesthetic appeal is so critical.
Whatever the reason, a resume should be attractive and easy to look at, in addition to providing outstanding content. Both substance and beauty are necessary to attract hiring managers. Your resume is a marketing piece and should represent your brand.
Just as you would not go on an interview wearing an old pair of sweatpants and a ripped tee shirt, you should not be sending your resume anywhere without first dressing it up. Here are a few tips and tricks to beautify your resume and make it more attractive to recruiters and hiring managers.
- Fonts – choose standard fonts to avoid variations from computer to computer. Do not use more than one or two font types; otherwise your resume may look too busy and become difficult to read. Avoid heavy bold fonts that are hard on the eyes, script fonts or too much italicizing.
- White Space – Leave some margin space around the borders of your resume. If you can’t fit all of the content on one page, it is better to build a two-page resume. Squeezing the information into one page will likely not yield the desired results.
- Sectioning – There are numerous things that you can do in MS Word to create aesthetic appeal and clearly identify various parts of your resume. Line borders can be modified to add a pleasant and professional look to your resume. Blocks of text can also be used strategically to create a focused visual effect that will draw attention to certain sections.
- Color – Depending upon your line of work, adding an accent color to a resume can enhance the overall look. For readability, certain colors are better than others. As a general rule, one additional color (after black) is sufficient to draw the desired amount of attention.
Creating aesthetic appeal should be part of what you try to achieve – along with impressive content, of course! Set a positive tone with a clear message and present a stellar looking document to get the best results.
This blog's author, Debra Wheatman of Careers Done Write, provides executive career services including resume and cover letter preparation, job search / interviewing strategies and professional branding including how to effectively use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media in your career.
Visit CareersDoneWrite.com to learn more about how we can put your career in gear with interview catching resumes and professionally written career documents.