Résumé Design

17 October 2016

Documents have personality, they are warm and inviting, they are cool and aloof, they draw you in, or they scare you off, they epitomize professional, they can look creative. You want your résumé to be a document that others want to read, not just because the information contained in it is interesting and relevant, but because the document itself invites reading.

The résumé is a genre that has conventions and rules that readers expect to see. When you shift from that convention you may unsettle the reader. You would only do this very carefully. The résumé is a place to stay safe when it comes to design (unless it is a résumé for a designer), but that does not mean the document needs to be boring. Good design elements will reassure the reader and give them confidence in you.

It is important to make your résumé a document that is easy for readers to navigate and find things. If the design elements are sloppily used and confusing, the reader will put less effort in and come away from trying to read your résumé with just a slight sense of unease – not something we want. To ensure this doesn’t happen use elements of good design.

Three key elements that designers talk about are especially important in the design of a résumé. These are alignment, repetition, and contrast. While some of the points I make below may seem basic, I see them done poorly again and again in résumés. Pull yours out and do a double check for simple mistakes you can easily fix, because you never know when you may need to send your résumé out.

Alignment

This is about making it neat. The same sorts of things need to align, e.g. headings all start on the same vertical alignment, dot points all line up. Don’t centre things in your résumé. Keep it right justified (this does not mean all things on the right margin, tabs and indents add interest and ease of reading). Fully justified text is something to avoid in all areas of your written application, but especially the resume (full justification is only for books). Make sure you have even gaps between full stops and the next points. Be careful using text boxes as these need care to ensure they align with the rest of the document.

Repetition

Repeat design elements to display consistency and safety. Readers very quickly discern the pattern of elements in a document and come to expect to see that pattern. Consistently repeat elements such as heading size, space after a heading, fonts, and indents. Repeat the same design elements you use in your résumé through into other documents you use when applying for a job (e.g. cover letter and your addressing of selection criteria).

Contrast

Use contrasting elements to focus attention and to keep the résumé from becoming boring. Designers say that elements need to be the same, or if they are going to be different they need to be very different as being just a bit different only confuses the reader. Careful use of contrast adds surprise and interest, but the contrast you use needs to be obvious e.g. thick and thin, big and small, classic and contemporary, black and white.

One of the best contrasting elements is to get a good balance between areas of text and areas of white space. A good amount (at least a third) of white space on the page adds visual interest. Step back from your résumé and see the white space as a shape, then see the typed areas as a shape, then ask yourself if these shapes work together in balance.

Another good contrasting element is the use of font size to highlight elements. Rather than the use of bold or underline make the font size of headings larger. Use the size of the font to indicate hierarchy of information e.g. make the most important elements, such as your name, bigger.

Tips:

Here are some additional tips for good design of a résumé in an Australian context:

Put your name in the header section, using at least a 25 point font size, so it appears on every page.
Put your contact details (address, mobile number, email) in the footer of the document, using a font point size of 10 or under, taking up no more than 2 lines, again so it appears on every page.
Hang dates out to the side of your text so someone can easily run their eye down and see the chronology.
Highlight your role more than you highlight your employer. Your role is the element we want the reader to be able to see easily.
Use dot points wherever possible.
Don’t turn sentences into dot points, aim for dot points no longer than one line.
Don’t waste space explaining obvious information e.g. no need to say the word Résumé, or to say Duties, usually it is self evident.
Don’t, I repeat, don’t, have dense blocks of text.
Never have more than three (3) lines together – get succinct and specific.
Avoid colour as you cannot predict how it come out on their printer.
For visual contrast use shades of grey rather than colour.
Don’t mess with margins, narrow margins appear mean and unbalanced.
Stick with fonts from the same family i.e. serif or sans-serif, not a mixture.
Avoid using all CAPITALS and italics as these are difficult to read.
Carefully choose the font, or fonts, you use to ensure they reflect your personal style.
Don’t use times new roman text unless you are intentionally trying to appear like an old ‘fuddy duddy’.

Here are some other common mistakes I see in résumés that are easy to fix:

In employment history represent dates down to the month e.g. 09/2014 to 11/2016
Order dates in descending order from most recent to oldest
Only ever send your résumé (and other application documentation) as a .pdf document so it appears on the receiver’s screen the way it appears on yours

Your résumé does not need to be fancy. It just needs to be reliable, easy to navigate, neat and consistent, supporting the reader to engage with the words rather than be distracted by the design, or lack thereof.