Be aware with these 10 formatting mistakes you did earlier in you application
Here's a list of mistakes I see most often, and suggestions on how to fix them without having to pay someone else to do it.
1. Choosing a boring fonts
Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, whatever default font your editing program chooses--they're lazy. Find something simple, professional, and less common than a default setting.Not using bold, italic, or underlined text: You don't want to overdo it, but using formatted text can make your document a lot easier to follow (e.g. use bold for your work position titles and the names of the schools you've attended).
2. Improperly aligning text
This is probably the most common mistake people make when using editing programs. Do not use spaces to align text! It looks stupid, it makes it very hard to make changes, and it will never align your content properly. Learn how to use tables, columns, and margins to align text properly. This is easily Googleable.3. Spacing inconsistently
By default, Word adds extra space before and after bulleted/numbered lists and between paragraphs of the same style. You can change this in Word's paragraph settings. There isn't a wrong setting to use; just use it consistently, and make sure extra spacing isn't making your resume look sparse.4. Not using bullets
Remember, you want your resume to be as easy to read as possible. Use bullet points to draw the reader's attention to the beginning of each item on your lists. Ideally, try to fit each bulleted phrase into one line. If you need to use two lines for one bullet point, try to put that one last so it doesn't break the single-space flow of between the other bullets.5. Using awkward categories
Your resume should include sections like: Experience, Achievements, Awards, Community Involvement, Professional Skills, Certifications, and Education (though preferably not all of them). Put Education either first or last (always last unless you're applying for an academic position), and merge other categories whenever possible to simplify the document and save space (e.g. you might be able to list accomplishments under their respective "Experience" positions).6. Adding a profile photo
Unless you're applying for a modeling position, this is just weird. Leave the photo off your resume. If your employer really cares what you look like, they can probably find you on Facebook or LinkedIn.7. Making it too long or too short
I find it's more common for a resume to be too long rather than too short, but I've seen both. It should be a page or two at most, and it should include only the most necessary information without any fluff. You should also make sure that there aren't any gaps in your work history (or to account for them as much as possible) as they could be a red flag for a hiring manager.8. Going way back
That job at the photo developing lab in the 70s probably isn't relevant anymore, even if you were the head honcho. Keep it contemporary. As a general rule, try to keep your work experience to the last decade, but if you did something really noteworthy outside of that time frame, it's still okay to include it--just use your discretion.9. Cramming text to fit everything
Have you ever seen a blog post or comment on a website that's just a huge wall of text? Did you read it? Of course not. Wall-to-wall text is nauseating and hard to follow. Use white space wisely to separate your resume into visually logical sections.10. Sending in Word format
Microsoft Word is notorious for rendering documents differently across platforms. In Word format (doc/docx), your resume will hardly ever look exactly the same on the hiring manager's computer as it does on yours. Use Word's "Save as type: PDF" option or use a PDF printing program (CutePDF is excellent) to generate a stable document.By jobedu
April 14, 2023
April 14, 2023