Once upon a time, curating a clear and easy-to-read resume was mainly about making things easier on the human being who’d be reviewing this information right from the start. Nowadays, however, candidates must have a resume that’s easy to read and written correctly to make sure that it will make it past an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) before it's even given the opportunity to be read by someone.
So, what catches the human eye vs what formatting choices that’ll be clearly read by an ATS? How do you highlight all of your strengths without running out of space on the page?
Let’s find out!
This first tip might seem a little obvious — of course, everyone wants to have a resume with these characteristics, but the question is how?
Well, for starters, you should avoid using templates that are too busy or colorful, and opt only for professional fonts (like Arial and Times New Roman). Make sure to organize your experience in reverse-chronological order and try to keep in mind that the average time someone spends reading through a resume is only seven seconds.
Other than that, you want to use black text against a white page, don’t include a photograph or any hyperlinks, and have your contact information (email and phone number — no physical address) at the top of the page so it’s easy to find.
Most experts agree that it’s better to organize your resume using lists and bullet points instead of large paragraphs. Not only do large paragraphs overwhelm the reader, but they can also look unprofessional. There’s generally no need to go into great detail regarding your past job titles/duties, so if you find yourself including enough information to fill a short essay, it’s time to pare it down.
It’s also important that you tailor each resume to the job you are applying to. Having lists will make this easier. If your education and experience are listed out in clear and focused bullet points, it’s likely that the information will be universal across most applications.
Headings are a straightforward way of organizing the information on the page and helping readers navigate. If there is information they’re most interested in reviewing, headings will ensure that they can find those sections right away. Headings will also create some natural white space, which experts agree is key to delivering a visually pleasing reading experience.
The average resume length is around 500 words, but instead of getting bogged down by concerns of exact word count, it’s much more important that your resume doesn’t look crowded. A resume needs to be informative but not impenetrable. If your font is too small or it’s otherwise obvious that you have crammed in more information than is necessary, it will be very unappealing to the eye.
When we say you should seek help from editors, we don’t strictly mean professional resume writers. You can also ask for help from your coworkers, friends, or anyone who works in your field or has an impressive professional background. If you know anyone who works in hiring, such as recruiters, that’s even better! Their advice is going to be invaluable.
Send your resume to as many people as you think will actually give it a thoughtful review, asking them specifically for tips on how to make your language more concise, punchy, and/or make the formatting engaging but not distracting.
While adding images or graphics to your resume might be tempting to make it stand out, it's important to remember that many companies often use an ATS to screen resumes. These systems are designed to read text, not images. Including images, logos, or other graphical elements can confuse the ATS, leading to important information being overlooked or misinterpreted. Stick to a clean, text-based format to ensure that your resume is accurately read and evaluated by both the ATS and the recruiter or hiring manager.
An easy to read resume is a really great place to kickstart your job search. That said, a stellar resume is only going to help after you’ve found the right opportunities to apply for.
So how do you find those opportunities?
Consistently checking job boards and making sure your professional pages are fully up to date is always a good idea. You should also let everyone in your network know you are looking for a new job. Lastly, if you still don’t feel like you’re getting matched with the right openings, it might be time to enlist the services of a professional recruitment firm.
At CyberCoders, our expert recruiters are not only dedicated to helping you find your best fit, but we also go to great lengths to ensure you are receiving salary offers that actually reflect your worth. To learn more about our services or just to search through our carefully curated job board, go to our website today!
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