What on earth are the bones of a resume? They are the big-picture structure.
Just like a house, if your resume doesn’t have a solid foundation, it will likely cause problems, and we don’t want that to happen. Good bones give your resume a solid and professional structure.
So, let’s dive in!
1. Resume Length:
If you’re fresh out of school or college, one page is absolutely fine. If you’ve got a few years of experience, you’ll want to extend it to 2 pages, which is ideal. If you’re an experienced professional you can (and should) go to 3, even 4 pages. (Yes, I heard you gasp.)
2. Chronological & How Far Back?
Your resume should always be in reverse chronological. That means your most recent job is listed first and then you go backward. Never the opposite. If the first job on your resume starts 10 years ago, it looks like you haven’t worked in a really long time. So I’ll stop reading and send your resume straight to the recycle bin. You don’t want that.
Grouping roles by skill or job type is like trying to read a short story in a bowl of alphabet soup. Always list in chronological order.
The Rule of 10:
Don’t go back to the beginning of time in your resume. Go back 10 years or to high school. Don’t go back to elementary school. I don’t need to know how you excelled at finger painting.
You can go back further if a role falls in the middle of that 10-year mark, but only to a maximum of 15 years. The job you were doing 15 years ago likely isn’t the job you want to be doing next.
3. Education Dates:
Once high school is 10 years in the rearview mirror, ensure you’re taking the date of graduation off. (If you leave your high school graduation date on your resume, you’re inadvertently sharing your age, and you don’t want to do that!) If you’ve completed post-secondary, ensure you’re removing the dates of graduation once they’re 10 years old.
4. Margins:
In my book, “Hired! How To Get The Zippy Gig. Insider Secrets From A Top Recruiter.”, I share a shocking stat:
80% of resumes fail in 11 seconds. (Financial Post).
Yes, that’s all of the time your resume may get when the hiring manager is skimming your resume for the first time. (Yes, we skim. We don’t read word for word. I know. That tidbit shocks most job seekers.) To skim, we need to white space. If you’ve extended your margins – top and bottom, left and right…so much so, that the words are just about dripping off the page, it’s hard to skim without white space.
While you’ve got more words on the page, and kept it to 2 or 3 pages, you’ll actually get less skimming time from the hiring manager because your resume is visually cluttered. Leave the margins as is when you open a Word doc.
5. Font Sizes Matter:
Your name should be the largest font on the entire resume. 16 – 20+ and bold. Yes, you want your name to stand out!
The resume categories such as: Target Position, Career History, Education, etc., should be in a 12 – 14 font and BOLD.
The body of your resume: 10 – 12 (no smaller – yes, I’ve seen resumes in a 4 font, which are impossible to read!)
6. Best (& Worst) Fonts:
The best fonts are Calibri, Tahoma or Arial.
The font never to use? There are a few! Times New Roman was the default font FOREVER. Loads of job seekers still use it, but it makes your resume blend in with the thousands of others using that old font.
Oh, and never use comic font or script for your resume. Yes, I’ve seen them both used by job seekers. (I kid you not!)
7. What Goes Where?
Your company name and title should align on the left, with the start and end dates of each role aligning on the right.
8. Dates:
You should always make your dates complete with month and year. If the month is missing, you’ll be asked about it in the interview (and the less you have to remember in the interview, the better!). Make the dates complete so it’s one less thing to have to remember.
And, one last note on dates – ideally spell out the entire word (September vs. Sept.).
9. Ditch the Online Templates:
Start with a blank Word doc and follow the above rules to get you started. Templates can visually look appealing, but they tend to have shading and text boxes, both of which can tangle with ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) or drain my black ink cartridge. Both scenarios aren’t great for you as a job seeker.
Three final tips on what NOT to do:
1. Highlight ANY portion of your resume in black or any colour for that matter. I’ll be choked if I print your resume (and yes, we still often print resumes) and it drains my black ink cartridge.
2. Write the words email and cell before the email and number. We know what they are…you don’t have to label them.
3. Note “references available upon request”. No need to add that line – it’s assumed that references will be supplied when requested.
There you have it! Now, over to you to get to work on the bones of your new resume.
