Resume Layout

How to design the perfect Resume layout and get your target job

Attracting the interest of recruiters is not easy in today's job market.  One way to increase your rate of success is to ensure that your resume is perfectly presented.

With the job market of a former recruiter, the best advice is to keep the presentation simple, stylish and uncluttered.  Here are a few tips to ensure that your CV's layout is perfect and creates the best impression at first glance.  This article offers a few tips .. .

Length of the Resume

• generally speaking, recruiters don't want to read a life story so limit your writing to two pages of qualifications, examples of achievements and career history
• there are exceptions to the rule; for example, if you are a professor who has written dozens of papers, more than two pages would be necessary

Resume font and line spacing

• keep to one font such as Calibri 10.5 to achieve a streamlined 'look'
• select 1.15 line spacing to create a spacious, visually appealing 'look'
• colour paragraph headings in 'navy blue' separate the sections

Resume layout marketing strategy

• place the most impactful information above the half-way fold - this is 'prime' space and gets read first

Section 1 : Contact details

• commende with your name, phone number(s), Skype and email
• if on LinkedIn, include your profile address
• it is no longer necessary to include a full postal address

Section 2 : Profile

• write a keyword rich Profile to position you in your target market and highlight your areas of expertise, market sector and geographical span of operation

Section 3 : Specialties

• highlight 8 key areas of expertise in two neat lines (this helps the recruiter to quickly see how well you match their job profile

Section 4 : Career / Work Experience

• provide the start and finish dates of each employment
• start with current job and work backwards - becoming briefer
• set the scene with the company name, town, business, website
• provide your job title but not a job description - the recruiter already knows what the job involves from the job title
• be selective and write explicitly, yet succinctly
• importantly - include achievements, initiatives, results achieved

Section 5 : Qualifications & Training

• start with the most recent and work backwards
• only include course modules and projects if you are a recent graduate

Section 6 : Additional skills

• this is where you can add IT or Language skills
• add interests if they illustrate a skill, team activity or personality traits

Section 7 : Testimonials or Referees

• if you are on LinkedIn and have Testimonials then this is the perfect place to provide extracts or a link to your Profile
• Referees add credibility at an early stage of the selection process

If you would like a free appraisal GET IN TOUCH - attach your Resume and indicate your job target.

 

Author: Helga Edge MBA is a sought-after Resume and LinkedIn Profile writer. Since 1990, she has helped many thousands of clients find not just a job but a rewarding, fulfiling career through her site www.aperfectcareer.co.uk.  Helga can be reached at .. .. helga@aperfectcareer.co.uk

This article or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the writer.