| Many job searchers aren't aware that the | | | | to use bullets at all if you're only putting two |
| formatting on a resume is nearly as important as | | | | points down), and if you use too many, you'll |
| the resume's content. In other words, if you don't | | | | lessen their effectiveness; take a moderate |
| have a decent setup, many hiring managers won't | | | | approach. |
| give your resume a second look. | | | | Watch Your Font Size |
| Is there anything that job seekers can do? Really, | | | | Sometimes it may seem fun to try different font |
| there are quite a few ways to take advantage of | | | | styles and sizes to make your resume standout, |
| formatting in your resume. It's just a matter of | | | | but there can easily be a fine line between it being |
| making some necessary tweaks to your resume | | | | unique and cartoonish. The better route to go |
| to move it above your competition. | | | | when using fonts is to stick to 10-point font for |
| Make Sure Your Contact Information is at the | | | | most styles (usually Arial or Tahoma) and 11-point |
| Top | | | | for Times New Roman. |
| This may seem like a no-brainer to some, but it is | | | | Keep the Appropriate Margins |
| important that you place your contact information | | | | Margins are important when formatting your |
| at the top of your resume. But not just on the | | | | resume because they ensure that it doesn't look |
| first page - on every page. The main reason is | | | | too crowded or look as though the words will spill |
| because your resume will most likely be mixed in | | | | off the page. The recommended margin width is |
| with other resumes, so by having your contact | | | | usually between one-half and one inch. This is |
| information as a header, there will be no doubt | | | | because it's great to maintain plenty of white |
| that the hiring manager is looking at yours. | | | | space, something adding margin space can do. |
| Keep Your Paragraphs Brief | | | | Use Bold, Underlining and Italics Consistently |
| One major turnoff for hiring managers is to see | | | | Using word-formatting options such as bold, |
| extremely dense paragraphs on a resume. If you | | | | underling and italics can be a great way to make |
| have paragraphs that are longer than four to five | | | | certain details of your resume "pop" or stand out. |
| lines, there's a good chance that you won't hear | | | | However, there is a such thing as using these |
| anything back from the company. Looking through | | | | formatting tools to often or not enough. A good |
| resumes is already a tedious job for hiring | | | | rule of thumb to follow is to use them only under |
| managers. It certainly doesn't need to be | | | | certain conditions (i.e. bolding a job title or italicizing |
| complicated with long explanations. | | | | companies you've worked for). This helps the |
| Don't Use Too Many Bullets | | | | person looking at the resume figure out where |
| While using bullets is popular on resumes because | | | | certain bits of information are located, and serves |
| it helps to highlight certain aspects of your career, | | | | as a sort of simple categorization tool. |
| there is a such thing as using too many. | | | | Now are you clear on how to format your |
| Remember that not every section needs bullet | | | | resume? Well, then, get to work; by taking the |
| points, and the ones that do only need about 4-6 | | | | time to format your resume properly, you'll |
| per section. If your resume uses too few bullets, | | | | greatly improve your chances of getting the job |
| it will appear disorganized (since there's no reason | | | | of your dreams. |