Having a well-formatted curriculum vitae is almost as important as having a well written curriculum vitae. Employers receive so many resumes that they don’t have time to do more than read over each one briefly before making a decision about which ones to look at more closely. Your curriculum vitae’s format will stand out as much as key words. Your CV is what will get you noticed, or not noticed. You need to keep in mind what you need to do to keep your resume looking professional.
Rule #1 is not to use a Microsoft word template, these templates are out dated so making you look like you don’t care about the layout of your resume. Additionally, these templates, while well formatted in Microsoft Word, will not translate well when emailed or uploaded to job search engine web sites. You can search for resumes on the internet using your industry keyword to find the templates that make most sense for the job you are seeking.
It is best to limit your resume to one page of text; all the same, if you have extensive experience, it is acceptable to use two pages as long as you only list experiences and skills that are relevant to your career objective. Even if you are applying for a job in a creative field, do not insert images or pictures into it. You can do so in a separate portfolio of your work,if you are looking to show off your creativity.
As a rule make sure your page is left justified Using left justification, font and font size should be consistent and the page should have one inch margins, top and bottom, right and left. Typically the headline and your name should be displays in the same manner but make the headline in bold and capitalized. When you are submitting your curriculum vitae online, you need to remember NOT to underline. If you are on the internet, and you see something underlined, it implies that it is a link. The font size for headlines should not exceed 14 points with the remainder of the text not exceeding 12 points.
Not only is format important, but you need to be consistent as well. Pay attention to detail and keep your spacing and tabbing the same throughout your CV. You will find that instead of using the space bar, sometimes, that the tab key will be better, and you will not have to count how many times you hit that space bar. Work under the assumption that the person you are sending your curriculum vitae to does not have the same computer programs that you do, and so it might not look the same way on their screens. You may have problems with margins, paragraph spacing, bullet points, and more! You must format the CV properly, ensuring that you keep the spacing, the font and bullet points as consistent, basic and uniform as possible.
As a last formatting check point, ask your friends or your family for help in reviewing your CV, sending it as a file via email to a few of your friends – asking them to make sure nothing seems out of place. Bearing in mind that as far as your curriculum vitae is concerned; great writing and a sleek and simple appearance will get you the job you’re seeking, so ensure that the margins are correctly set and that the content is not crowded on the page by printing it out and reviewing it.