- Use the Same Resume for Everything:
- One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to writing your resume is that once it’s finished you can wash your hands of it. Your resume is like you, always changing! Especially when you are trying to present yourself as the one for the job!
- It is not a bad thing to tailor your resume to the job that you are applying for; rather, it will be key in setting you apart from other candidates. When looking
over the description of the responsibilities, think back to all of your previous experience and include duties where you have already had success.
- The Longer the Resume the Better:
- While there may not be a hard and fast rule of how long a resume should be, there is a point when having more on a resume is actually a hinderance. This is when the role one is applying for and experience one has must be considered. Cutting down your resume should not be a cause for panic as it creates opportunity during the interview, for you to illustrate how you have the applicable experience the company is seeking.
- Know Your Audience, Pretty Doesn’t Mean Perfect:
- A new trend has emerged with intricate resumes that display a heavy-handed graphic design feel. While they are very pleasing to the eye, the attention grabber should not be the formatting of your resume but the content within. That is not to say that there is never a time for the “pretty” resume, but it is more about knowing your audience!
- If you are a graphic design, marketing or advertising candidate pursuing a role with creative duties then it would make sense to display some of those capabilities in the formatting of your resume. However; as a corporate salesman it would not be necessary to demonstrate those skills, but rather focus more on including the duties and metrics that show you are a qualified applicant.
- Formatting:
- When it comes to formatting, we can touch on some of our tips for creating a professional and clean-cut resume.
- Margins: These will be heavily dependent on the length of your resume as a longer resume will require smaller margins to assist with keeping it to one page (or as few as we
can if one page is not possible). Our advice would be:
- Header: .1, Footer: 0, Top: .5, Bottom: .5
- Spacing: Squeezing years of experience into as few pages as possible can seem like a daunting task; however, people frequently overlook a simple trick: your line spacing! For your resume you should keep your spacing to single space, in order to keep as much room as possible for your work experience and skills.
- Fonts: The first misconception here is the sizing of fonts, keeping the size to 11-12 will ensure that employers can read the resume while allowing as much space as possible to display your skills! Secondly, we sort out which fonts to use? While there isn’t a concrete rule for which one to use, we find that Calibri or Arial present a very professional look!
- Margins: These will be heavily dependent on the length of your resume as a longer resume will require smaller margins to assist with keeping it to one page (or as few as we
- When it comes to formatting, we can touch on some of our tips for creating a professional and clean-cut resume.
over the description of the responsibilities, think back to all of your previous experience and include duties where you have already had success.
can if one page is not possible). Our advice would be:
It is understandable that updating or creating your resume can seem time consuming and stressful. We hope that clearing up some of these misconceptions regarding resume building can help to make the process a little easier.
When you finish writing your resume, be sure to submit it to our portal, so that we can help make your job search even easier!
