Resume Formats

Sure, post away. What field are you in?

Some general format tips:

Use a font that is easy to read, commonly accepted, but is not Times New Roman or Arial (too common). Sans Serif fonts are a good choice. Trebuchet, Verdana, or Lucida Sans works well. Calibri is probably okay, but since it's the new Office font I'd probably steer clear.

Stick to a size 11 or 12 font.

Make sure your entire resume is in the same font and is the same size. I've heard over and over that most people hate seeing the size 20 name and a size 12 resume body (I agree, too. I'd hate seeing that).

Bullets are fine.

I'm iffy on an objectives statement on a resume. A lot of people swear by them.

Same goes for activities/fun things I like to do. I don't like it, a lot of people love it (golf, sexual predator catching, etc.)

Reorder - work experience, education with honors, leadership. Forget volunteering unless you've only had one job.


Stick with Arial. Any attempt to look different by varying font will make you look insecure. Omit the objective statement. Omit your hobbies too.

I can see why. I sometimes have it, sometimes I don't, depends on the job, really.

I disagree, obviously. I've heard from many recruiters that after reading a hundred Arial/TNR font resumes that seeing a different one catches their eye. I've never once heard someone think it was because the person was insecure.

Is Centaur too odd for a resume? (I haven't tired it)

http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/agfa/centaur/

I review resumes, interview and hire for my firm. The first question I ask is 'Why would you think that this is an appropriate font for a professional document'. Don't fail that question. If you're not aiming for a white-collar job with a professional firm, feel free to disregard.

I do all of mine in Playbill and print it on papyrus. You'd love it.

I can see the font type mattering, but I don't understand omitting volunteer experience. Granted it related somehow to your position. IE volunteer tax assistance for an accounting job.

I wouldn't put your High School or any info related to that. What is the point if you graduated college? I would also take out the "provide references upon request". I've never understood that on resumes. Of course you would provide references upon request.

My tip is to remember that the resume should just get you in the door, your interview is what they will hire you on. Remember that when writing your resume, it can be pretty thin, don't need an objective or summary, it should(in my mind) show that you are well qualified and that's really it. You should have a second 'mental resume' in your head for the interview...."i did xxx with yyy, I led xxx to yyyy, my weiner is xxx big. etc etc. It might just be me but I don't like the interviewers having an idea of ME before the interview, I just want them to know my qualifications. Makes for a better WOW moment, at least in my mind.

Resumes are over-thought and always over-complicated. When it's all said and done, assuming you follow a sensible format and you don't hand in something with grammatical errors or grease stains, it's going to come down to what's actually written on the resume in terms of experiencing and education.

Strangely, despite reviewing resumes and such, I still think I'm bad at writing them.

Some general points from my experience reviewing:

1) I don't give a shit about font. I'm not some pop-psychologist that thinks I can read into your personality based on your font. As long as you didn't do something really insane like use 24 point font the whole way or italics the whole way, etc I don't give a damn.

2) Skip the objective statement. Your cover letter is your objective statement. Usually the objectives people list on their resumes are lame and do nothing for me; e.g. "I want to advance my career". Ok, great, I want you to advance your career too. . . but that tells me nothing about why you are the best candidate.

3) Put the most relevant section first. I browse resumes quickly until I find a few that look good. Make sure I spot the good stuff immediately after your name. If you graduated university 10 years ago in something unrelated, put it at the bottom, I don't care about that. Make it easy for me to notice you are the right person for the job.

4) The other information debate. . . if it is relevant include it. Professional societies, sitting on the board for the local art museum, publications, etc are all good things to include. That your hobby is posting on a men's clothing forum is not a good thing to include (unless you are trying to get a men's clothing forum job I guess).