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You can't put it off any longer. It is time to settle into thinking about resume design. But now you should be ready to do so. There are six parts to that process.
Research resume designs
Follow some general guidelines
Think visually
Go online
Think professionally
Identify what is next
(Note: This page is set up with anchor links, so you can click down to the section you want and return from it to this table of contents for the Designing Resumes section.)
There are many resources out there that talk about designing resumes. Some are current, some are not. Look at publication dates. Use your head. if you think the sample resumes look crummy, don't model yours after them. If you suspect the advice offered is not current, check with other sources. Be a critical consumer of information. Don't take one source as the only source. (That includes me and this site.)
It isn't easy to wade through the sea of resources and expertise demanding your money. I say look to free stuff first. Look to the web, for example. Most stuff I have encountered is relatively recent (the web has not existed for long, at least not as we currently know it). Look at the campus Career Planning and Placement. Look at other campus career centers. Look to online job search services. I provide a basic list of resources below. Start there and keep looking.
free resources
Purdue OWL. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab has some quality advice. Look under "Student and Teacher Handouts."
Taos.com echoes the suggestions I offer below.
job-service resources
Monster.com. Monster has some good advice for designing resumes. Check other online job services as well. See careerbuilder.com, hotjobs.com, and techies.com for starters.
commercial resources
Books. Again, check the publication dates. How old is the info? Pre-1990? Maybe that one won't be so helpful. A recent one that I think is pretty solid is Resumes for Dummies. Look to technical or business writing textbooks as other possibilities. If you have one from a class, start there.
Barcharts.com. I have been very pleased with the materials I have seen by Bar Charts, Inc. They have guides on Resumes and Interviews, Technical and Business Writing, English Grammar, English Composition and Style, and HTML that I think are very well done. (These are available locally at the University Book and Supply. Use the link in this entry to the Barcharts.com website if you can't get things here.)
My general advice about resume design involves common sense. Hopefully when you look to the list here, you'll see the sense in them.
Think clearly, write clearly. Give people the information they need as directly, clearly, and quickly as you can. Don't use big words or complicated sentences to make yourself sound important; it doesn't work. If it doesn't sound good when you read it out loud, work on it until it does.
Make every word count. Just what I said. Choose your words carefully. Don't embellish, or add in fluff words. (For example, you rarely need the word very anywhere in a resume, although you see it all the time.) Don't repeat information. If you have overlapping knowledge or skills from different experiences, then use each entry as a vehicle to say something specific about yourself and your abilities. Give readers an overall sense of your abilities. Don't tell readers things they already know, such as "References available upon request." (They know that. If they request your references, and you fail to comply, the employer will drop you from consideration.)
Provide concrete, descriptive detail. Use active, descriptive language and numbers to give people a clear sense of what you've accomplished. "Managed 23 people working on 3+ concurrent projects," says more than "Was a manager" or "Had management responsibilities."
Think subtle, think conservative. Most employers think of resumes as conservative documents. They usually don't want the resume to dance for them; they want to read it quickly. Help them do that. Don't use weird colors, or illegible fonts, or humor, or anything that will make you appear less professional. Despite what people say about using a paper color that stands out, I strongly advise against such thinking. Think about the realities of the HR department. Will they need to photocopy or scan your resume? Can they do that if it is printed on neon yellow? or dark grey? (Just in case you wondered, the answer to both is no.)
Think professional. Evaluate your documents as they develop as representations of a working professional. If you don't think of yourself (and represent yourself) as someone who deserves a position in your own field, go back to class. If you've taken them all, change your thinking. If your resume does not look and feel professional to you, you need to figure out why and keep working at it.
Chek yoor seplling grammar and. (Yes, a cheap laugh. Haha.) Like it or not, people judge us harshly for our grammatical transgressions. This is another reason for the first point above. If you focus on being simple and direct, you are far less likely to run into trouble with sentence mechanics and spelling. (I actually have seen resumes where people misspelled their own names.)
Make sure you can back it up. If you provide information about yourself, make sure you can back it up, if necessary, with names of contact people, examples of your work, or at least additional anecdotal information. Honesty still is the best policy.
Use two pages if you need two pages. Some people will tell you adamantly that you cannot exceed one page in a resume under any circumstances. That is simply not true. If you have done a lot of things, you need to explain them. If you are going for a position that requires significant experience, many employers will be disappointed if you cannot provide two pages of information. Keep two things in mind, however. (1) If you start a page, use a page. Don't leave empty space. (2) If you use two pages, use them well. Don't incorporate information that is redundant or irrelevant to the job you're applying for.
Show your resume to someone you trust. Feedback is usually a good thing. Adopt suggestions critically, but do seek the advice of others. (And again, be wary of people who claim to know everything.)
People generally suggest that employers read resumes quickly first, and more slowly later. Let that knowledge be your guide as you design. What does that mean? Read on.
Design top-down, left-right. Americans read top-down, left-right. Your resume should not make them do otherwise. That means that information should flow in order of significance in those directions; put the most important stuff (headings, titles) at the top and the left. Let them flow down and to the right to get more information if they are interested. (Note: If you are applying for jobs in other countries, you better do some research to find out what might be different.)
Prioritize visually. Make important information stand out. Use white space (unused space) to set off headings, job titles, and other important information. Use boldface and italics sparingly to draw attention to key words and phrases. Use bullets to show subordination of information (that is, lists usually add information to a more-important topic). Remember that any effect you use too much is an effect that is rendered ineffective. If everything is in bold, then nothing is bold, effectively.
Use your resume letterhead for your letters. However you present your name, address, and such at the top of your resume, use that configuration for all pages of all your documents (e.g., resume, letters, references). When people see the same words written the same way repeatedly, they remember them more easily. (Don't believe me? Ask some two-year old who can't read yet where McDonalds is. I bet they can point it out.)
Be consistent. Don't change the appearance of your categories, text , etc. from section to section. Stick to one or two conservative, legible fonts. Develop professional-looking visual patterns and stick to them.
Use a good printer and quality paper. Make sure your printer is a good one (preferably a laser printer). Make sure the print cartridge is fresh enough to print well. Make sure the print heads are clean (no extra lines or smudges). Use good quality paper. It is not necessary to use "expensive" paper, but do use something other than the standard printer paper that you find in most labs and offices. Again, be careful of your paper color. Some colors do not photocopy well (and your resume may be copied). Hot pink or electric blue may seem like a good idea for making your resume stand out, but think twice, please.
If you have any knowledge of web design, consider designing a companion website for your job search. If you do so, there are some things you really want to think about first.
Follow the same general principles of resume design outlined above. The heading says it all.
Take advantage of the web. The web is one giant hypertextual space. That means there is a lot of other information out there that people can link to. Think about linking your resume to the websites of companies you've worked for, or to a description of your degree, or to sample documents that you provide of your work. An online professional space should contain more information than your print resume does. Think about the possibilities.
Maintain an overall level of professionalism. Think carefully about the information you provide in your web site. Once you make the decision to go online and share information that way with potential employers, your entire site speaks for you. What do you want it to say? Many websites contain personal as well as professional information. You might want to remove the links to body piercing and tattooing sites unless that is your professional aspiration. And those pictures from your 21st birthday might be a bad idea as well.
Choose your web host carefully. Many people place their resumes online through services that offer free web hosting. It doesn't sound like a bad idea at first. But think about this ... many of those sites crash regularly. Pick one that is stable. Most of them require you to incorporate advertising banners into your page (in fact, you cannot turn them off). Do you really want your resume capped by a flashing banner for Smirnoff Vodka? Or Bikini Bay Resort? How professional is that?
Just in case it isn't clear yet, think about how all of this material you are designing reflects on you professionally. Make wise decisions now and you won't have anything to regret later on.
Well, now you can look to examples. That topic is addressed in the section on Sample Resumes.