Resume Help

It is easy to come up with resume ideas that get noticed. What requires a little practice and finesse is coming up with resumes that get noticed for the right reasons and get taken seriously.

In the hunt for tips on writing a good resume, it can be easy to get caught up in gimmicks and tricks. Unfortunately, most of the resume gimmicks you'll come across are the equivalent of wearing a clown costume to your next job interview. Sure you'll be remembered, but not in the right way. Unless you want to join the circus, it's not going to get you hired.

Below you'll find several gimmicks that may look good on the surface, but they just don't work, followed by some resume ideas that aren't as sexy and exciting, but they truly work.

Resume Ideas That Just Don't Work

1. Fancy Designs

You may be tempted to include a logo that you've created yourself or obtained from other sources, or print your resume on paper with fancy designs to make your resume stand out from the crowd. There is never ever a good reason to print your resume on paper with fancy designs, and there's rarely a good reason to include your own design or logo on your resume. This strategy may work for a very small percentage of job seekers in highly creative fields (like graphic design) where their design skills matter. If that is not you, avoid using graphic designs on your resume.

2. Multi-Colored Text

Bold, italics, all caps and underlines are effective ways to highlight text on your resume. Multi-colored text is not. Your resume may not fax or copy well if your text color is light, and this type of resume design is seen by most hiring managers as nothing more than a gimmick.

3. White Text on Black Paper or Grey Text Boxes

White text on a black background is very difficult to read. Further, this type of resume does not copy well, will not be readable when faxed, and like the other resume strategies, just doesn't work because it comes across as being too contrived.

Most employers are put off by the use of these extreme resume strategies. Unless there's a very good reason for you to show off your graphic design skills to an employer, they should be avoided. HR professionals will look at a contrived, highly stylized resume and wonder what's missing in this person's set of skills and experience that they feel they can't speak for themselves on a more traditional resume. Ultimately, they'll feel you are hiding behind all of the graphics and fancy fonts.

Less Sexy Resume Ideas That Truly Work

1. Use a Slightly Different Font

If you want to make your resume stand out and still look professional, try a font that is slightly different from the standard fonts. For example, Times New Roman is the serif font more commonly used on resumes, instead, try using a similar, but less common font, like Georgia instead. I know, not sexy, and definitely not exciting, but it works. This strategy makes your resume stand out from the others without venturing into clown costume territory.

Don't go wild with this tip, employers do not want to see resumes written in Comic Sans font.

2. Use Good Quality White or Off-White Paper.

Sure this is old advice, but no one actually takes it, so if you do, you'll stand out from the crowd. It's amazing how well nice quality, slightly heavy weight paper stands out in a pile of resumes printed on standard paper.

Again, these resume ideas may not be as sexy or exciting as adding a flashy logo or fancy design to your resume, but unlike those flashy strategies, the more understated approach actually works. It gets you noticed in the right way, and it can help to get you to the interview.

Isn't that really your goal? A new job and a new, fat paycheck; now that is something to get excited about.

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A technical resume is very similar to any other resume, except you must include a Technical Skills section in a technical resume.

Here are more details about technical resume writing, and a technical resume template.

A former client of mine once worked for a major fine china manufacturer. She told me a story about a person who had his resume engraved on a plate that was manufactured by the company (I can't even begin to imagine how much money that would have cost). This person was very interested in working at this particular company, and thought he'd pull out all the stops to get noticed.

He did manage to get noticed; his resume/dinner plate made the rounds of the offices at the company. Unfortunately, he couldn't back up his gimmick with skills or experience. His resume did not demonstrate that he had the kind of skills and experience the employer was seeking, so he never became a serious candidate for the job.

Gimmicks may get you noticed, but they usually don't get you noticed in a way that turns you into a serious candidate in the eyes of the employer. Nothing replaces a solid background expressed clearly using good resume writing strategies.

Find resume ideas that do work.

There are three basic resume styles: chronological, functional and combination. While these styles all exist for a reason, if I was forced to choose the absolute best resume format, I'd choose the combination resume.

A combination resume has the best features of both the chronological and the functional resume formats, with none of the problems inherent in those two styles.

I've written over 1000 resumes for clients, and more often than not, it's the combination resume that is best suited to showing people's skills and experience in the best possible light.

For more information on resume formats:
A detailed look at three resume formats.
Outline of a resume
Sample resume format

Here are some cover letter samples that will give your some inspiration for writing cover letters to go with your resumes.

Cover letter sample for an administrative assistant
Sample cover letter for a new graduate with limited work experience
Sample employment cover letter for a job that a friend or acquaintance had recommended

While there are certain guidelines and conventions for setting up your resume, there is also some room for flexibility. You may choose to use one of the three resume formats: the chronological resume, the functional resume (I'm not a fan of this resume style) or the combination resume (my favorite - this resume format works for most people, most of the time). Within each format, you can structure your information to ensure that your skills and experience are presented to employers in their best possible light.

Please visit Resume Ideas for plenty of in-depth resume ideas and tips on good resume writing.

How long should your resume be? Your resume should be no longer than two pages. However, it's wise to think about that question in a different way.

Instead, try asking yourself, "How long will an employer look at my resume?" The answer to that question is about 30 seconds at most. So, the reason why you never write a ten page resume is that employers will not read a ten page resume. If they are sorting through piles of resumes, they expect to get a quick sense of whether you are a good potential candidate for the job at a glance.

In addition to keeping your resume to no more than two pages, you must structure your resume in a way that allows the employer to see your relevant skills and experience quickly by skimming your resume.

For resume ideas and tips on how to write a resume that gets you to the job interview, please visit Resume Ideas.

Are you ignoring unadvertised jobs in your job search? Sure, it's easier to look for jobs advertised online or in your local newspaper, but that is the weakness in searching only for advertised jobs. If it was easy for you to find the job lead, it was also easy for plenty of other people to find the same job lead. You end up competing with a lot of people when you apply to advertised jobs. Advertised jobs may be easy to find, but they are difficult to get once you've found them. Try these job search secrets that you can use to find unadvertised jobs in your area.