Resume formatting help

[Heb1228]

Hey guys, I just wanted to get some opinions and perhaps free help from some of you graphic design people.

My sister is making up a resume since she just graduated college. I worked on it a little bit and made it look a lot better than when it started, but I'm sure there could be some improvements to it. I ask (#1) to help her make her resume look better and also (#2) just to become more familiar with some principles of page layout formatting and the like.

And I've changed the name and all the contact info, just made some stuff up. So don't try to call it or anything, thats not my sister's real name/number/address/email/etc...

I'll put it up in both .pdf and Word formats. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[idea_hamster]

And I've changed the name and all the contact info, just made some stuff up. So don't try to call it or anything, thats not my sister's real name/number/address/email/etc...

Too bad -- this could have been my only chance to meet a cheerleader from the South!

But seriously:
Everyone had their own "resume theory," but I would make the following suggestions:
1. Move Education to the top and elaborate. Fact is, her degree is the most impressive part right now -- don't hide it at the bottom. If grades aren't a selling point, don't mention them, but talk about activities, etc. What did she study? We don't even learn her major!
2. Try to get the cheerleading bit above the "facility attendant" bit. The coaching part has some leadership aspect to it. I know the facility attendant position is current, but it's self-explanatory. That description could be left out entirely -- the award alone is enough.
3. SHE KNOWS SIGN LANGUAGE?! Very cool. Interestingly, I would leave that where it is -- it's not top-line information and it's great to have a super thing at the bottom.
4. Take out "summer employment" -- it reduces impact. If they're interested, you've given them the months. They'll figure it out. For the coaching part, I would say "Summers, 2002 - 2006." But add more description about teaching, helping people develop, leading youngsters or teens, etc.
5. As co-captain of UVA cheerleading (sounds important to me -- UVA's a big school!) what did she do? Creative work like choreography? Administrative and organization work like planning trips, scheduling and meetings? These are valuable skills that employers want to hear about. They'll put 2 and 2 together that she can parlay these skills into the work place.
6. She sounds like she's been pretty focused on cheerleading -- to the exclusion of all else. That's fine, but she should be able to talk about how "everything she needed to know in life, she learned from cheerleading: leadership, teamwork, sales, understanding her audience, blah, blah, blah."

 

[Heb1228]

That's fine, but she should be able to talk about how "everything she needed to know in life, she learned from cheerleading: leadership, teamwork, sales, understanding her audience, blah, blah, blah."

I love that! I'm cracking up.

Thanks for the advice, I'll pass the ideas on. I think those are very good suggestions. I'm more looking for advice with Font Size/Margin width/spacing/alignment ideas. Is the font ok or should I choose something else? Thanks for any help!

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

A couple of random points to consider:

What did she get her degree in, exactly?

What type of job is she hoping to land? You may want to add an objective statement specific to the type of job she is applying for.

Last 6 jobs may be a bit much...I'd probably cut it down to the last 4, maybe?

With regards to learning design principles, unfortunately a typical résumé isn't going allow to you to experiment much. If she was looking for a design job, or something similar, perhaps, but typical résumés need to be formatted to be scanned and indexed.

I think you've done more than a fair job with the formatting. The only thing I would change is to emphasize the dates of employment a little less. We're talking about a hierarchy of information. The place (and perhaps title) should be the things that stick out, then the date, then the subsequent information. I'd change the formatting of the dates to be italicized and not bolded.

Oh...and I agree with what's been said before...move Education up.

 

[Heb1228]

The only thing I would change is to emphasize the dates of employment a little less. We're talking about a hierarchy of information. The place (and perhaps title) should be the things that stick out, then the date, then the subsequent information. I'd change the formatting of the dates to be italicized and not bolded.

There we go! Thats the kind of advice I was looking for! Thanks! I'll play around with it a little more.