Design and Layout Best Practices When Writing a Resume

When you apply for jobs, your resume is your calling card. It’s often the first thing potential employers see, and it needs to make a good first impression. That’s why having a well-designed, visually appealing resume design is so important.

A boring, messy, or hard-to-read resume tells the hiring manager you don’t pay attention to details. It makes you look careless right off the bat. On the other hand, a clean, polished, and professional resume design shows you take pride in your work.

So how do you design a killer resume that makes hiring managers say “wow”? Follow these resume design tips to create a winning resume layout.

Why A Professional Resume Design Matters

Here are some key reasons why a professional, carefully planned resume layout matters:

• It shows you care about quality and details.
• It makes your skills and experience easy to read.
• It shows you put in the effort instead of rushing.
• It creates a positive first impression.
• It separates you from sloppy candidates.

Bottom line: A well-designed resume gets you noticed and helps you get interviews. Hiring managers are instantly drawn to candidates who put thought into their application materials.

Layout Tips for a Winning Resume

There are some key formatting and design tactics that can take your resume from plain and boring to clean, polished, and visually appealing. Use these tips to create an impressive, easy-to-read layout that highlights your background in the best light:

1. Use clear section headings.

Divide your resume into clear sections like “Work Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills.” Use bold, easy-to-spot headings to separate each section so it’s simple for hiring managers to scan. Think about the most logical ordering of sections as well – it often makes sense to put experience first.

2. Pick simple, readable fonts.

Use clean, universally readable fonts like Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman or Helvetica. Make your name a little bigger at the top – around 16-18 pt font. For the rest, stick to 11-12pt font. Avoid fancy, cursive, or hard-to-read fonts at all costs. You want a crisp, clean look.

3. Align text neatly.

Align all your text neatly using a left or right alignment/justification. Don’t fully justify it as that creates ugly gaps between words. Take the time to line everything up nicely for a polished, professional look. You can consider using slight indentations to make sections look tidy as well.

4. Keep formatting consistent.

Use the same formatting styles consistently throughout for things like company names, job titles, dates, locations, bullet points, etc. If you mix and match font sizes, styles, and alignments, it looks sloppy. Consistency makes it look tidy and sharper.

5. Add plenty of white space.

The strategic use of white space makes your resume look clean and easy on the eyes. Use generous margins of at least 0.7″ and line breaks between sections. Don’t cram every bit of space full—that’s overwhelming for readers. The breathing room separates things nicely.

6. Use bullet points strategically.

Rather than big, dense paragraphs, use bullet points to concisely list out your most impressive job duties, achievements, skills, and other key details. Bulleted sections with 2-4 lines per bullet are much easier for hiring managers to quickly scan and digest than walls of text.

7. Keep it to one page.

For most jobs, aim to keep your entire resume to one page. Edit out older, less impressive, or less relevant roles from over 10 years ago. Your most recent and highest-impact experience should take center stage.

8. Consider using columns.

If you have a lot of solid experience to include, consider using columns instead of just one huge block of text. This allows you to conserve space while still including important details about your background and skills. Just don’t go overboard and make it too crowded – stick to two columns max.

Resume Writing Don’ts

Now let’s look at some things you absolutely must avoid when formatting and designing your resume layout:

• Using overly fancy, cursive, script, or hard-to-read fonts
• Using bright colors, graphics, photos, or excessive stylistic elements
• Making any text too small (under 11pt font)
• Making any text too large (over 18pt for your name header)
• Centering all your text across the page
• Using too many different fonts (stick to a maximum of 2)
• Leaving no white space on the page at all
• Writing out responsibilities in long, dense paragraph form
• Putting less important or older experience before recent roles
• Going over one page in length without a very compelling reason

These types of mistakes create a cluttered, confusing, unprofessional, and hard-to-read look that will immediately turn off hiring managers. They signal a lack of attention to detail and poor prioritization.

In addition to clean design and formatting, it’s also crucial to tailor your resume’s content to each specific role. Highlight different aspects of your experience and skill set based on the requirements listed in the job posting. Use the same keywords listed in the posting’s description. This customized approach makes your resume even more powerful and relevant.

Consider adding the following items:

• A resume summary or objective statement at the top
• A core competencies or areas of expertise section
• Certifications, licenses, publications if applicable
• Volunteer experience or community involvement
• Technical skills like software, programs, etc.

Just be sure not to over-clutter your resume – keep these additional sections tight. The most important things are still your basic experience and education sections.

Wrapping It Up

With so many people applying for jobs these days, your resume can’t afford to look sloppy, overcrowded, or boring. You need a polished, professional, and clean design that instantly grabs hiring managers’ attention and shows you’re a cut above other candidates.

Follow these resume writing best practices like using clear section headings, readable fonts, neat text alignment, consistent formatting, judicious use of white space, and bulleted details. Avoid busy visuals, tiny text, dense writing, and sloppy layouts at all costs.

With a well-designed, thoughtfully formatted layout highlighting your most impressive credentials, your resume will shine. Hiring managers will be able to easily read about your background and qualifications. It will leave them excited to call you for an interview.

Explore more resume tips here or browse for open jobs to get started with your career journey with us. If your resume is ready, submit it here to connect with top employers in the industry.