Resume Design 101: Balancing Creativity and Professionalism

In today’s world, the job market has become so saturated that standing out from the crowd has become extremely difficult. Every recruiter receives hundreds of thousands of resumes for each position, which have first gone through the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software, which filters out the resumes of qualified candidates, which are then passed onto the recruiter for further inspection. In all of this process, the candidate has to create a resume that is professional enough to pass the ATS software, at the same time it also needs to be creative enough to grab the attention of the recruiter. The traditional days of text-based resumes are gone, which have been the norm of the industry for decades. Nowadays, due to an increase in innovation and technology, job seekers have upskilled their game of resume design. Job seekers have become more focused on designing resumes that are visually appealing and leave a long-lasting impression on the recruiter. Creativity surely helps candidates to stand out from the crowd, but it is not as easy as it sounds. When incorporating creative designs, you also need to be careful that you do not overdo it, or else the professional look of the resume will be lost, which would put you in a much worse situation. Whenever creating a resume design, it is crucial that you form a balance between creativity and professionalism so that you could increase your chances of landing your dream job.

Essential Tips to Follow

Here are some tips for you to follow while creating a resume, that could help you craft a captivating and credible presentation of your work.

Tip #1 – Understanding the Audience

Many job seekers make one huge mistake while applying for a job, and that is not knowing their audience. Whenever you wish to apply to a company, try to conduct a thorough research on the company, including what industry they belong to, what is their company culture, their initiatives, etc. Knowing about the company not only helps you ace the interview, but these insights could also be very helpful in creating your resume design. If you are applying to a company that supports and encourages artistic ideas, or even if you are applying for a creative field, such as marketing or designing, then you could show your creativity to its fullest. However, if you are applying for a traditional industry, such as finance, then a conservative layout is highly appreciated by the recruiter.

Tip #2 – Keeping it Simple

When infusing creativity into your resume, the one thing you need to keep in mind is that you don’t need to get extravagant with it. Even if the recruiter would like a creative design, overdoing it will only overwhelm him, which could jeopardize your opportunity of being selected. Always stick with one or two font styles that are easy to read, and use language that is not too complex or hard to understand. Moreover, you should also divide your resume into different sections so that it is easier for the reader to understand what is written, and it automatically elevates the look of your resume too.

Tip #3 – Color Themes

Colors are considered to be the strongest tool for creating an eye-catching resume, because your choice of colors defines your personality. While using a color theme you need to ensure that they align with the company’s branding, which gives a positive impression of yours to the recruiter. Moreover, you have to use a maximum of two to three colors, the lesser the better, because the more colors you use, the more distracting it gets for the reader to focus on the main information of your resume. You have to incorporate colors to accentuate headers, borders, or icons while keeping the background neutral. You just need to make sure that whatever color theme you use, it should reflect your values.

Tip #4 – Optimize for Applicant Tracking System

Nowadays, every other big organization is using ATS software in their recruitment process. The ATS software scans and filters out the resumes based on specific keywords and criteria, and they only pass the resume for the human screening process when the candidate meets the job criteria. Yet, not every company uses ATS software, and not every role requires its candidates to be gone through the ATS screening process. However, if you want to land at a big corporation, you need to ensure that your resume is ATS optimized. To create an ATS-optimized resume, you first need to remove all the infographics used in your resume which includes images, graphics, or any sort of fancy formatting, because they will simply be ignored by it, even though it would hold significant information. To make your resume ATS-optimized, it is advisable to stick with standard fonts and bullet points to increase the readability of your resume. Secondly, to increase your chances of getting passed the ATS screening process, you must tailor your resume to include specific keywords and phrases that are used in the job description. So before applying for the position with your resume, search for the keywords in the job description and try incorporating them in your resume.

Tip #5 – Proofread Before Sending

You would hate yourself when you see a typo or a minor error in your resume after sending it to the recruiter. This creates a bad impression on the recruiter as it is extremely unprofessional. To save yourself from this embarrassment, you must proofread your resume before sending it to the recruiter. For further assurance, you could also send it to your friends, colleagues, or mentors to seek their feedback. Their feedback can be valuable in identifying any problems and they could even suggest any adjustments if needed.

Wrapping Up

A well-designed and formatted resume can pave your road to success. Even though it is difficult to maintain a balance between creativity and professionalism, by following the right tips and strategies you can ace the design!