If you want to land your dream job, you have to make your resume easy to scan. The average hiring manager spends about eight seconds scanning over a resume. In this time, they make an immediate impression about whether you are worth interviewing. Even if you have the best experience and education, you will not be interviewed if your resume is unclear.
Line Things Up
Alignment is important for making a resume easy to scan. In an effective resume, all of the text is aligned on the left. The eye likes to naturally follow the left side of the page, so this is a natural place to put information. Locations and dates should be aligned on the right. This separates the information and makes the important details easy to scan on the left. Whatever you do, do not get creative in how you format the resume. If you cannot fit your resume on one page, do not worry about it. It is better to have a two-page resume than to squeeze everything onto just one page.
Make Clear Sections
If you want to make your resume easy to scan, you need to make sure that there are separate sections. The reader should easily be able to see where one section ends and another begins. Bold or italics can be used to create a break for the reader.
Embrace Bullets
To make your resume easy to scan, you should embrace bullets. These make it easy to read information. They showcase main talking points or your accomplishments.
Include Symbols and Numbers
Numbers and symbols naturally catch the eye. These are items that the employer can easily refer to, so use them to highlight the important information. If you use all caps or bold text, be judicious about how often. Bold text and all caps should rarely be used.
White Space Is Your Friend
When someone is reading a page, their eyes are naturally drawn to the writing. If you have large blocks of text on the page, the reader is not sure of what to focus on. Instead, use white space to make your resume more focused and clear. This technique also helps your resume more appealing and better designed.
Watch Out for the Header
Since your resume will most likely go through filtering software, you have to be cautious. Filtering programs typically ignore footers and headers. If your contact details are in the header, it will be deleted.
Pick the Right Font
Some people go crazy on choosing fancy, ornate fonts. This is one of the most common resume mistakes that hiring managers see. Multiple fonts or ornate writing detracts from the overall message. Your resume will most likely be sent through an applicant tracking system. These systems cannot pick up the font, so your resume might not even make it to the hiring manager. Even if it does get to the hiring manager, using too many fonts or fancy writing makes it hard to read. Instead, try to stick to classic fonts and plain writing styles.
It’s important to make your resume easy to scan to increase your chances of getting noticed. If you are having trouble, considering seeking expert advice. Career coaches and resume writing experts can help make your resume easy to scan, include key words and show off your skills.