Give your resume a face lift

After avoiding the 7 deadly sins of rsum design, you may be asking, If I cant use
crazy colors, clip art, and other types of decoration, ho do I make my rsum stand out
from the crod!" #ike many things, the anser lies in the details$
%ven if you cant hire a fancy designer and are stuck ith &icrosoft 'ord, a fe teaks
can turn your blas rsum into an elegant and functional shopiece$
(pdate )*ct +,-. As promised, heres a template of the final rsum$ /lease credit this
site, #ife0lever, if you post it elsehere$ 1hanks2
1he typical rsum
3efore starting your rsum makeover, first take a look at a typical one.
#ike most rsums, it as created in &icrosoft 'ord$ It doesnt look horrible, but it
could use improvement$ 4ou can improve almost all rsums ith four steps.
/ick a better typeface
5emove e6tra indentations
&ake it easy to skim
Apply typographic detailing
7$ /ick a better typeface
If youre using 1imes 8e 5oman, 'ords default typeface, change it no$ 1imes
doesnt read ell on9screen and lacks typographic subtleties such as non9lining numbers$
3ecause its available on virtually all computers and designed to be readable on on9
screen, try Georgia instead$
At the same point size, Georgia appears larger than 1imes 8e 5oman, so youll ant to
set the font size a point or to smaller$ :ust dont go belo ; points$
1o improve readability, also increase the line spacing )also called leading- to at least
7+<= of the font size$
1o do this in 'ord.
In the menubar, go to >ormat and select /aragraph$
In the pulldon under #ine ?pacing, choose %6actly and set the line spacing to 7@ points$
*ur e6ample rsum currently uses 1imes 8e 5oman set at a sizeAline spacing of
77ptA7Bpt$ #ets change it to Georgia ith a sizeAline spacing of 7<ptA7@pt$
Ceres a detail of the difference.
8otice ho the Georgias numbers blend in better than 1imes 8e 5oman$
Ceres the full page.
If you cant stand Georgia and arent orried about on9screen legibility, feel free to
choose another appropriate typeface$
+$ 5emove e6tra indentations
8e6t, reduce the number of indentations$ 3etter yet, take them all out$ 'hile useful in
outlines, too many indentations in a rsum ill cause your eyes to Dump all over the
page, destroying page harmony$ 1he goal is to have all te6t align to each other$
After reducing indentations, also hang your bullets$
In 'ord.
5eplace any spaces after a bullet ith a tab character$
?elect the bulleted list$
If you dont see the horizontal ruler, go to the Eie menu and select 5uler$
*n the ruler, drag the >irst #ine Indent marker to left by 7AFth of an inch$
Ceres a detail shoing the rsum before and after removing indentation.
1o align all the cities and dates on the right, use tabs$
Already, you can see a huge improvement$
Also notice that the top margin is no reduced to <$, inches$ 1his helps compensate for
the additional line spacing in step 7$
B$ &ake it easy to skim
1o make the rsum skimmable, you have to create a distinct typographic hierarchy$ 3y
typographic hierarchy, e mean %llen #uptons definition from 1hinking 'ith 1ype.
A typographic hierarchy e6presses an organizational system for content, emphasizing
some data and diminishing others$ A hierarchy helps readers scan a te6t, knoing here
to enter and e6it and ho to pick and choose among its offerings$
*ur e6ample rsum already uses bolds and italics to highlight important information
such as names and Dob titles$ If you arent using them, set them no$
1he headings for the maDor sections, hoever, dont stick out enough$ %ven ith
%ducation", #egal %6perience", and ?kills and 0ertifications" underlined and set in
bold, they look too close to the Dob titles$
1o make these section headings more distinct, use horizontal rules above and belo each
section heading$
In 'ord, select the section heading and go to >ormat in the menubar$ >rom here, youll
make changes in /aragraph, >ont, and 3orders and ?hading$
/aragraph
In the pulldon under #ine ?pacing, choose %6actly if its not already chosen, and set the
line spacing to 7Gpt$
(nder ?pacing, set the 3efore field to Gpt and the After field to Fpt$
>ont
?elect the 0haracter ?pacing tab$
>or /osition, choose 5aised from the pulldon and type 7pt" in the field$
3orders and ?hading
?elect the 3orders tab
(nder ?etting, select 0ustom
>or ?tyle, select a solid line$ >or 0olor, choose black$ >or 'idth, choose BA@"$
In the previe area, click the 1op 3order icon to the left of previe image$
1o add a bottom border, repeat step B using grey for 0olor, and 7A@" for 'eight$
In the previe area, click the 3ottom 3order icon to the left of previe image$
Ceres a detail of the difference.
And no the full page.
1o give more emphasis to Dob descriptions and responsibilities, deemphasize the cities
and dates by setting them in grey$
@$ Apply typographic detailing
*ur rsum makeover is almost done, but it needs some finishing touches.
(se smart Huotes
8ever ever use inch and foot marks )straight Huotes- as Huotation marks and apostrophes$
1hey should alays be curly$ &icrosoft 'ord has automatic curly Huotes turned on by
default$ If not.
In the menubar, go to 1ools and choose Auto0orrect$
0lick the Auto>ormat As 4ou 1ype tab$
(nder 5eplace as you type, click the checkbo6 ne6t to ?traight Huotes" ith smart
Huotes"$
?pace out te6t set in A## 0A/?
In general, avoid setting type in A## 0A/?$ 3ecause the letters start to look the same,
its harder to read$ In small doses, te6t in A## 0A/? is acceptable if you space out the
letters$
1he e6tra spacing beteen letters help makes each letter more distinct and readable.
In 'ord.
?elect the te6t set in A## 0A/?$
In the menubar, go to >ormat and choose >ont$
?elect the 0haracter ?pacingI tab$
In the ?pacing pulldon, choose %6panded" and type in +pt" in the field$
?eparate durations of time ith en dashes
Jurations of time such as ;K,", &ondayK>riday", and *ctober ,KJecember B7"
should alays be separated by en dashes, not hyphens$
*n the &ac, press *ption9Jash to create an en dash$ *n a /0, hold don the Alt key and
press <7,<$
AdDust spacing in phone numbers
1he space after the closing parenthesis in a phone number is often too ide$ 1o reduce
this, select the space and change its font size in half$ ?o if the rest of the te6t is 7<pt,
change it to ,pt$