Column by Sheila Musgrove
What on earth are the bones of a resume? They are the big-picture structure.
Just like a house, if your resume doesn’t have a solid foundation, it will likely cause problems, and we don’t want that to happen. Good bones give your resume a solid and professional structure.
So, let’s dive in!
1. Resume Length
If you’re fresh out of school or college, one page is absolutely fine. If you’ve got a few years of experience, you’ll want to extend it to two pages, which is ideal. If you’re a seasoned professional you can (and should) go to three, even four pages (yes, I heard you gasp).
2. Chronological & How Far Back?
Your resume should always be in reverse chronological order, which means your most recent job is listed first and then you go backward. Never the opposite. If the first job on your resume starts 10 years ago, it looks like you haven’t worked in a really long time. So, I’ll stop reading and send your resume straight to the recycle bin.
The Rule of 10
Don’t go back to the beginning of time in your resume. Go back 10 years or to high school.
You can go back further if a role falls in the middle of that 10-year mark, but only to a maximum of 15 years. The job you were doing 15 years ago likely isn’t the job you want to be doing next.
3. Education Dates
Once high school is 10 years in the rearview mirror, take the date of graduation off. (If you leave your high school graduation date on your resume, you’re inadvertently sharing your age, and you don’t want to do that!) If you’ve completed post-secondary, remove the dates of graduation once they’re 10 years old.
4. Margins
In my book, Hired! How To Get The Zippy Gig. Insider Secrets From A Top Recruiter, I share a shocking stat:
80% of resumes fail in 11 seconds
(Source: Financial Post)
Yes, that’s all the time your resume may get when the hiring manager is skimming your resume for the first time. Yes, we skim. We don’t read word for word. I know—that tidbit shocks most job seekers. To skim, we need white space on the page. If you’ve extended your margins—top and bottom, left and right—so much that the words are dripping off the page, it’s makes it really hard to skim.
Leave the margins as is when you open a Word doc.
Font Sizes Matter:
Your name should be the largest font on the entire resume. Think a 16 to 20+ point size and bold. Yes, you want your name to stand out!
The resume categories (Target Position, Career History, Education, etc.) should be in a 12-to-14-point size font and BOLD.
The body of your resume should be in a 10-to-12-point size and no smaller. I’ve seen resumes in a 4 point font, which are impossible to read!
5. Best (& Worst) Fonts:
The best fonts are Calibri, Tahoma or Arial.
The font never to use? There are a few! Times New Roman was the default font forever. Loads of job seekers still use it, but it makes your resume blend in with the thousands of others using that old font.
Oh, and never use Comic Sans or Script for your resume. Yes, I’ve seen them both used by job seekers.
I kid you not!
6. What Goes Where?
Your company name and title should align on the left, and the start and end dates of each role aligning on the right.
7. Dates
You should always make your dates complete with month and year. If the month is missing, you’ll be asked about it in the interview, and the less you have to remember in the interview, the better!
One last note about dates: ideally spell out the entire word (e.g. September vs. Sept.).
8. Ditch the Online Templates
Start with a blank Word doc and follow the above rules to get you started. Templates can look visually appealing, but they tend to have shading and text boxes, both of which can tangle with ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) or drain my black ink cartridge—neither scenario is great for you as a job seeker.
Three quick tips NOT to do:
Highlight ANY portion of your resume in black or any colour for that matter. Many hiring managers print resumes. Don’t needlessly waste their ink/toner.
Write the words “email” and “cell” before the email and phone number. We know what they are…you don’t have to label them.
Write “references available upon request.” No need to add that line—it goes without saying.
There you have it! Now, over to you to get to work on the bones of your new resume.
Sheila Musgrove is the founder of TAG Recruitment and author of Hired! How To Get The Zippy Gig. Insider Secrets From A Top Recruiter and Unexpected Mentors. Weird & Creative Ideas To Boost Your Career
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