Page 192 - Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume

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Part 2 ➤ Six Steps to a Perfect Resume

Check out the lines Sean Goodridge used on his resume, and flip through Appendix B,
“Portfolio of Sample Resumes,” to see how others have incorporated shaded bars and lines
into their documents.

Bonus Check
When designing your resume, stay within appropriate boundaries for your profession and
industry. For instance, the CEO for a conservative insurance company should have a
traditional-looking resume. A graphic designer for a greeting-card company could have a
more creative layout that shows off her aesthetic tastes.

Spacing Out

Think of your resume as a valuable piece of Manhattan real estate
where every increment of space must be used. As land is used for
buildings, signs, and pathways, use your resume real estate for
headings, phrases, and lists. And just as landscaping and parks are
appreciated in congested urban areas, white space gives relief to the
Job-Hunt Hint
resume reader’s eye.
In addition to making your
One way to create white space on your resume is to set generous mar-
resume handsome, white space
gins. Here’show:
on your resume may be used by
the interviewer as a place to 1. In your MS Word toolbar, select the File pull-down menu.
make notes (or possibly doodle)
2. Select Page Setup.
during the interview.
3. Click Margins.
4. Set the left and right margins to no less than 1 inch each.
5. Set the top and bottom margins to no less than .5 inch each.

Bonus Check
Ever wonder why newspapers use one-inch columns instead of printing across the full
width of the page? Short lines are quicker to read than long ones. That’s a tip you can
use in formatting your resume. Keep your line lengths short, no more than five inches
across if possible.

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