5 Things to Consider When Formatting Your Resume

Resume defines the entire professional character of an individual within a single document. While it is important to have a Resume, it is equally important to have it in a neat format as properly formatted resumes hold a higher value. Here are a few tips that will help you have a decently formatted resume.

Resume Layout:

Try and keep the resume as brief as possible. One page resumes convey the best impression. An equal and appropriate margin, and line spacing are must have attributes of a well prepared resume. Further, using of bullets for listing points makes your resume look neater.

Font:

A professional recruiter takes only 6 seconds to ideally scan your resume; therefore correct usage of font is essential to attract the reader. Following two factors should be considered while formatting a resume:

●     Font style: The typeface of the font should be such which is easy to eyes. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Cambria, Georgia, Garamond, Avenir Next, Muna are some of recruiter-approved font styles, with clear letters and an apt text space.

●     Font size: A size ranging from 10 to 2 pts is deemed suitable for the Resume content. However, this size can be increased for headings. One can also use Bold and Italics, in headings and subheadings to gives the resume an attractive appearance.

Sections:

A standard resume is formulated through various sections, which helps the recruiter comfortably look at the relevant details first. Following are the essential Resume components and the manner in which these should be listed:

●     Introduction: Name and contact

●     Summary: Brief about yourself and your objectives

●     Experience: Jobs, Internships, Projects done in the past

●     Education: Educational qualifications along with Institute

●     Skills: Unique abilities you possess

●     Additional: Sections like Volunteering, Positions of responsibility etc. as per your need

Format Type:

Not all Resumes are made for the same purpose; different profiles demand different resume formats. There are three types of format and their appropriate uses are mentioned below:

●     Chronological Resume: This is the most common type of Resume format. It requires listing of all the necessary details in reverse chronological order. Companies usually prefer this owing to its easy to scan character.

●     Functional Resume: This is a skill-based type format which comes into action when the chronological type is ineffective, or where the candidate needs to change the job role. It can also be used by a fresher having no prior experience in that field, or when there has been a frequent change in jobs.

●     Chrono-Functional/ Combined Resume: This is a proper blend of both the format types and is accepted by most of the recruiters It is used when applying for a higher post, or even while changing jobs.

ATS Friendly:

Applicant Tracking System or ATS is a tool used to roll out inefficient candidates and rank the remaining candidates from top to bottom. Often, good resumes fail this test owing to their incorrect format. Following points must be considered while making a resume ATS friendly:

●     File Type: Use PDF file while uploading your resume. Other file types may go undetected.

●     Keywords: Fill in your resume with appropriate formal keywords. Using heavy or unprofessional words might not be scanned by the ATS

●     Images: Don’t use any chart, graphs or images in your resume.

●     Bullets: Make use of simple bullets for listing

To check whether a resume format suffices the need of an ATS, copy the entire content and paste it onto a plain text document. If any detail or point looks disorganized or goes missing, then a revisit of the format should be made.

Websites such as Resumod.in enable you to access many pre developed professional resume formats at absolutely no cost. This avoids the need to consider all the above mentioned details yourself and provides an attractive resume, devoid of errors, in no time.