The Creative Group offers insight into creating a professional, succinct, and stand-out résumé fit for the 2012 job seeker.
According to Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group, "The traditional résumé remains the most important document for a job hunter to introduce himself, showcase his skills, and quantify his accomplishments."
As far as the look and feel of a résumé, a recent Creative Group survey finds that nearly half (46 percent) of advertising and marketing executives interviewed say that for those pursuing creative roles, how a résumé looks matters as much as what it contains. Only 7 percent of executives say a résumé's appearance is not very important.
With such design expectations in mind, The Creative Group offers the following suggestions for constructing a stand-out résumé.
- Consider the user experience. Most hiring managers spend just a few seconds scanning a résumé. Use simple fonts, standard margins, section headings, and bullet points to help readers navigate the information.
- Don't overdesign it. Refrain from excessive embellishments, which are distracting. Allow a supplementary personal website or portfolio to showcase your artistic style and creativity.
- Paint a picture worth a thousand words. A well-designed visual or infographic résumé can effectively help you to stand out. However, also provide a traditional résumé.
- Take advantage of all of your options. Link to online profiles, such as LinkedIn, about.me, visualize.me, and Zerply, to give employers a more complete picture of your individuality.
- Prepare a plain version. Cover your bases by pasting a plain or ASCII text version of your résumé into the body of an email or online job application.
