When it comes to writing a professional resume, if you stick to the formatting that worked back as recently as 2010 . . . you run the risk of being overlooked or that critical key points will get missed altogether! For better or for worse, technology has transformed our lives in every other way – and resume reading is no exception.
WHAT’S CHANGED?
Online Reading: Today you can expect close to 100% of readers will review your resume for the first time on a screen. Chances are print reading won’t occur until later in the interview process.
Small Screen Reading: Another trend growing by leaps and bounds is the percentage of people comfortable reviewing documents on alternative devices like cell phones, tablets, etc.
Depending on the industry, you can expect as many as 50% of your first-time readers and gatekeeper decision makers to view your resume on a small screen.
ONLINE READING – MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Where writing a professional resume is concerned, it is important to remember that online reading is a lot harder on the eye than print reading, and small screen reading is tougher than large screen reading. Why?
Dense Text: In print our eyes can take in huge blocks of text without a problem. Not so easy on a screen. In fact, our eyes have a hard time digesting text chunked together.
Eye Movement: When it comes to reading in print, our eyes tend to move from left to right super smoothly. When the eye meets the screen, though, we tend to start left and bounce all over the place!
DO CIRCA 2010 DOCUMENTS STAND A CHANCE?
When writing a professional resume, if your paragraphs are four plus lines longs, if you indent throughout, or if your bullets are mashed together – IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU NEED TO GET ACROSS CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE READ!
It’s just too hard on the eye. And when a manager is in a rush with only seconds to spare on your resume – anything that’s hard is not likely to get read. EVER.
THE QUICK FIX:
There’s no need for dismay. With these four quick fixes, your resume can overcome skim, online reading obstacles and make a great first impression!
- Spacing: Make sure to have at least .6 Points between each bullet to ensure easy online, skimmability.
- Front-Loaded Achievements: Since you can count on the online eye starting left, make sure to insert the most powerful part of your bullet at the beginning (or left side) of the sentence.
- Left Justification: Indentions and outline formats work best for print. Justify your text to the left for easy small screen reading.
- 1 To 2-Lined Bullets: Keep your bullets to two lines max. While longer will still be easy on a large screen, these bullets will double in size on a small screen and force the reader to see chunks of text.
Online reading is here to stay. When writing a professional resume, you must have an understanding of how hiring managers read documents, and ensure you gear formatting to look just as great online.
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