Step 11: Formatting

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In this step, you will learn how to format your resume for a professional look.

How long should your resume be?
Despite what you may have been told, you do not need to keep your resume to one page unless the submissions guidelines state otherwise. However, you may lose their interest after the first few pages. A good rule of thumb is to have no more than three pages and make sure the pages are full with minimal white space. You can always adjust the font and margins to fit the resume into three pages so long as you don’t make the font size so small that your prospective employer needs a magnifying glass to read it.

What is the basic page setup for each resume?

• Margins should be set to 0.5” up to 1.0” top, bottom, left and right
• Times New Roman or Arial font with either a 10 or 12-point pitch are your best choices. Avoid fancy fonts. They can be difficult to read especially since employers use different computer platforms
• Stick with black for your font color no matter how creative the job may be
• Headings can be bolded or underscored for emphasis but do not put the whole resume in bold. Also, avoid highlighting text in various colors or any color for that matter
• Bullets are great for listing your credentials and experience.
• Templates from word processing programs are fine for style but remember that the content is the most important part of the resume. What’s in the resume is what will get you hired
• Don’t be clever by changing the background color to anything but white or changing the orientation to landscape.  Show your creativity in your words or your portfolio – not in your formatting!
• Save your resume using this naming convention “Your Name Resume.”  For example, my resume name is Connie Schlosberg Resume (connieschlosbergresume.doc).