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How to Format Your Resume?

It is as equally as important to have a well formated CV as it is to have a well written CV. When you submit a resume, you need to remember that you are going to be one in a stack of resumes. Employers and potential employers scan the CV, often looking for keywords, before they decide if they want to consider you as a serious candidate for a job. What stands out the most about your curriculum vitae is its format,in addition to key words. It is essentially the first thing people will notice and there are a number of rules you should keep in mind when formatting your CV.

Rule #1 is not to use a Microsoft word template, these templates are out dated so making you look like you don’t care about the layout of your CV. Also, these templates which are laid out correctly within Microsoft Word they do not translate within emails or when uploaded onto search engine job sites. There are plenty of free templates on the Internet so that would be a good place to start.

A CV should consist of one page but if you have a lot of experience, you can write up to two pages. It is also beneficial to list only your skills for that job. Even if you are applying for a job in a creative field, do not insert images or pictures into it. If you are looking to show off your creativity, you can do so in a separate portfolio of your work.

The page should have one inch margins, top and bottom, right and left, using left justification only and as a rule, do not center the content of your CV with the font and font size, consistent. Your name plus any headlines in your CV should be displayed in the same manner and typically, the headlines will be in bold caps. Your name should be bolded with any other headlines written in the same text and style. Try not to underline any of the details because in the world of Internet driven job applications, underlining in a document implies a web link. A headers font size should be no more than 14 points with the rest of the text being no more than 12 points.

When trying to align your curriculum vitae, be ware of spacing and tabbing so stay consistent in the way that you are spacing out the information on the page, using tabs, rather than spaces. It is possible that the margins will reset, paragraphs will shift, bullet points will change shape and etc., in case you always have to anticipate that the person you are sending your resume to may have a different version of the software than you and thus may not see the exactly the same CV you are sending. You will want to keep you bullets, fonts and spacing as basic and consistent as possible.

As a last formatting check point, ask your friends or your family for help in reviewing your curriculum vitae, sending it as a file via email to a few of your friends – asking them to make sure nothing seems out of place. Bearing in mind that as far as your curriculum vitae is concerned; great writing and a sleek and simple appearance will get you the job you’re seeking, so ensure that the margins are correctly set and that the content is not crowded on the page by printing it out and reviewing it.