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Which app for a resume??
- Thread starter ATRAX
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One that puts words on paper....
Spend your time worrying about the content, not the tool.
Unless you're a graphic designer or something, you are not aiming for flashy presentation, you want clean and attractive, with a conservative, easy to read font. You don't want photos, logos, grunge type or gratuitous graphics. Even if you are an artist, save that for your portfolio meeting.
If you want do display some software expertise, provide it on CD as well (perhaps with photos and screenshots of your work) in a PDF file and/or self-contained website. Use Flash animation at your own risk - unless its done well, it will not impress.
If you are submitting electronically, Microsoft Word and Acrobat PDF are about the only two universally accepted formats.
Spend your time worrying about the content, not the tool.
Unless you're a graphic designer or something, you are not aiming for flashy presentation, you want clean and attractive, with a conservative, easy to read font. You don't want photos, logos, grunge type or gratuitous graphics. Even if you are an artist, save that for your portfolio meeting.
If you want do display some software expertise, provide it on CD as well (perhaps with photos and screenshots of your work) in a PDF file and/or self-contained website. Use Flash animation at your own risk - unless its done well, it will not impress.
If you are submitting electronically, Microsoft Word and Acrobat PDF are about the only two universally accepted formats.
While I do favor Word for most of my word processing, Pages actually has some great stuff for resumes that don't look like cookie-cutter word processor resumes. They have a couple great layouts to use - but I would recomend just using something simple of theirs. When I was applying for some internships and stuff I used Pages and then exported it as a doc file to send as an attachment and it crossed over to world perfectly. Got the possition, too... 
CanadaRAM has the right of it, it's the content and not the layout.
However, that being said, I actually spent a little time on the layout of my resume. I drafted it in Word (using spellcheck and standard M$ grammer, of course). Once I was pretty sure I had the content I wanted, I used Illustrator to lay it all out nice and pretty (Word is terrible with white-space and kerning). Then, I saved it as a PDF from Illustrator, ran it through Distiller to knock down the file size and voila. The big advantage I found is in printing - no matter what computer I or someone else is on it will look the way I want it to.
However, that being said, I actually spent a little time on the layout of my resume. I drafted it in Word (using spellcheck and standard M$ grammer, of course). Once I was pretty sure I had the content I wanted, I used Illustrator to lay it all out nice and pretty (Word is terrible with white-space and kerning). Then, I saved it as a PDF from Illustrator, ran it through Distiller to knock down the file size and voila. The big advantage I found is in printing - no matter what computer I or someone else is on it will look the way I want it to.
Careful with that exporting -- graphics, fonts, line lengths and page lengths are all potential problem areas. You MUST proof read on the target OS and program, or you risk total ridicule if the doc was damaged in translation.SkAlex said:When I was applying for some internships and stuff I used Pages and then exported it as a doc file to send as an attachment and it crossed over to world perfectly. Got the possition, too...
Using a program like Word is fine - just don't go with one of the built-in generic Word resume templates. You want your resume to stand out from the crowd, not look like everyone else's. The prospective employer will simply look at your resume, recognize it's a Word template and throw it away, as he isn't interested in hiring people who can't put any real tmie and effort into creating their own resume.
At the risk of dragging this thread OT, I'm curious about what position people take on the whole "Please submit resumes in Word format" thing. Considering that with the profusion of versions of MS Word out there it is difficult to get things to render well for everybody, what approach do you take:SkAlex said:
- just send something that renders properly in a version of MS-Word
- send a really plain MS Word document that should pose no trouble
- send a PDF instead
Does windows handle PDF gracefully now? And if so, since when?
First Impression
Content is important - but only if someone reads it. I find having a resume that stands out a little (but in a simple, clean way) helps. I use a very soft blue-gray tint in my header to give it just that little bit of classy pop.
I've used AppleWorks in the past, but will probably use Pages next time I need to re-do it, just because it's so easy to get spacings down, and I'll probably use the white line with a shadow trick between sections (it looks sharp on other materials I've done for work.)
But, definitely stay away from all Microsoft templates. Be they in Word or PowerPoint (if you apply for something that requires a presentation in the interview process), they've been seen a hundred times and look nowhere near as classy as something you've designed yourself - or that they believe you've designed yourself because they've never seen it.
Content is important - but only if someone reads it. I find having a resume that stands out a little (but in a simple, clean way) helps. I use a very soft blue-gray tint in my header to give it just that little bit of classy pop.
I've used AppleWorks in the past, but will probably use Pages next time I need to re-do it, just because it's so easy to get spacings down, and I'll probably use the white line with a shadow trick between sections (it looks sharp on other materials I've done for work.)
But, definitely stay away from all Microsoft templates. Be they in Word or PowerPoint (if you apply for something that requires a presentation in the interview process), they've been seen a hundred times and look nowhere near as classy as something you've designed yourself - or that they believe you've designed yourself because they've never seen it.
you should have you resume in plain-text and word format. i've ppl specifically been requested for both.
superbovine said:
I'd throw PDF on that list as well - I've been asked for PDF copies many times myself.
Ummm... Happens my wife is a Director of Personnel, and the concept that any employer will throw out a resume based on it being perfectly readable but in a 'stock' Word style rather than something unique, is just not credible.~Shard~ said:
Unless the job is a design job, unique is NOT the determining factor. What possible benefit would the employer gain by rejecting those qualified applicants whose paper resumes looked normal? The hiring person would be derelict in their duty to their company if they did so. And if it is a government job or any job regulated by collective agreement and/or equitable hiring policy, they HAVE to read each one.
If they have a cattle-call with 1,200 applicants for a non-skilled position -- OK maybe they do a random cull. But they shouldn't have asked for resumes in the first place then, that's a lottery, not an application.
CanadaRAM said:
Oh, I'm not saying it make sense at all, nor is it fair - but I have heard a lot of stories where the employer has made such comments - perhaps not acted on them. Sure, I'm exaggerating, they don't simply throw resumes like that away, but it does make an impression on them, rightly or wrongly. And yes, I doubt they would hire or not hire solely based on that, but you'd be surprised at what some employers pick up on that can sometimes make the difference in selecting a candidate, or at least make them stand out from the crowd more, giving them a better chance than others. Professional, proper, legal? Yep, that's debatable!
But in short, yes, I was exaggerating a bit, thanks for keeping me honest.
rinseout said:
I took to submitting in Word and a PDF (compatible to a lowest common denominator version ike Acrobat 4) indicating that I had attached both in case the Word document was not compatible with their version of Word. Not sure how successful this was, but I did go on more interviews the last time than I ever had before doing it.
rinseout said:
Since when did Windows not handle PDF gracefully? I mean, it's not built-in like with MacOS X
but Acrobat Reader is Acrobat Reader. Or did you mean Word for Windows making a PDF? I used a print-to-PDF program (ePDF for OS/2) that was based on GhostScript. It worked quite well -- very much like OSX's built-in print-to-PDF functionality.rinseout said:
always always always submit in the format they ask for. this should be obvious shouldn't it? you're applying for the job. if you're serious about it, meet the application requirements. a resume in word format is probably an application requirement. if they get a bunch of resumes in word and one pdf, you're just making things a little harder for them. and that doesn't look good.
on resumes: don't use word templates, not because of the "all look same" problem, but because they suck.
a few don'ts:
use more than one font
use more than one font size (besides your top line with your name)
bold the dates you worked someplace: draw attention to the PLACE! and what you did. that's what matters.
make any single bullet point take up more than one line
forget to include a phone number
put references available upon request. you may as well not have references. if you don't have any, get some.
use out of date references/references who don't know you've listed them as references.
Oh, and don't rely on a spellchecker. Print it out and proof read on paper, and get someone else to proofread too.
A lead in line like:
"I am very interested in working for you company."
screams "Sloppy work!"
A lead in line like:
"I am very interested in working for you company."
screams "Sloppy work!"
one of the reasons why agencies ask for resumes in Word format is because they all get sliced and diced into a common format when sent to the employer. At my work, we are in the process of hiring some junior investment analysts. The executive search firm we use send resumes to us in their standard format - I assume one of their consultants has cut and pasted the info from each candidates' original resume into their stock template (or has some sort of OCR system which does the same thing). We never recieve the resumes in the original form that each applicant has sent it in, only the standardised version that the recruitment firm has created.
CanadaRAM said:
Very good advice. That's the only way to catch mistakes involving their/there/they're, two/to/too, etc.
Now I'm reading a very old application we got...
"Looking forward to get an answ3r fromy ou a.s.ap"
Yeah, he got it! ...
"Looking forward to get an answ3r fromy ou a.s.ap"
Yeah, he got it! ...