Resume Presentation Tips

Always remember that first impressions count and if your resume looks messy, cluttered, muddled, or there's simply too much information to read, then you won't get very far with it.

Here are some simple guidelines to follow when thinking about the layout of your resume:

1. Your resume must be clean and tidy, and without creases or smudges. If possible, produce it on a PC and print it out on a laser printer. If you must use a typewriter, make sure you type absolutely perfectly; there should be no sign of any correction fluid covering up your mistakes.
2. You should only ever handwrite your resume if the company insists on it. If so, use black ink as it photocopies better. If you are going to handwrite, you should be aware that some employers use handwriting analysts (graphologists), so take your time, and make sure it's nice and neat.
3. Keep it simple, and keep it professional. Select an easy-to-read font, such as Arial, Bookman, Helvetica or Times New Roman. Most resumes have point sizes of 10, 11 or 12. Do not mix fonts or point sizes, stay with one for the entire document. Above all, don't try to do anything too fancy, especially with typefaces.
4. Use bold and italics sparingly. The more you change a font style, even using the same font, the more confused your document becomes.
5. The layout must be clear and neat, so avoid cramped or crowded pages. Keep a reasonable margin down the left-hand side of the page, use simple blocks of text and make sure the text is justified (i.e. aligned to both the left and the right hand margins).
6. Don't try to cram everything on to one page if it simply doesn't fit. Either move to a second page or see if it can be edited or the layout modified to keep to one page.
7. Using bullet points will allow you to pull out the punchy sections and separate your ideas clearly. They look professional on the page and they will help the reader to pick out what is important.
8. Try to have plenty of white space - it makes your resume look appealing and easy to read.
9. It is absolutely essential that you avoid spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Use the spell check and grammar check facility in your word processing software, but don't rely on it - make sure you check it yourself as well.
10. Have at least 2 people proofread your resume to make sure that it is accurate, easy to understand, clear, professional and grammatically correct.