Though the subject matter is ultimately what recruiters care about the most, you should work on your design and formatting.

If your resume is cluttered and visually confusing (or even unattractive), it is more difficult for recruiters and hiring managers to read them, and it is going to be cast aside.

Follow these rules of thumb to dress your resume to the nines!

⦿ Use an easy-to-read font.

⦿ Add margins of at least .7 inches.

⦿ Make sure there’s sufficient space between sections.

⦿ Don’t go overboard with design or decoration — touches of color are fine, but avoid any clashing or visually busy details.

⦿ If you’re going to print out copies of your resume, use good paper, and a high-quality printer.

⦿ Don’t save your resume as a PDF unless the application specifically says it accepts PDF files. Some applicant tracking systems scan PDFs as images, which fails to capture your information.

⦿ Keep your resume to 1-2 pages max, unless you’re in a field like academia or medicine and must cite papers and publications.

If you are not a designer, it is okay to slack off on your resume design!

If you are not a designer, it is okay to slack off on your resume design!