E-Summit: Formatting Modern Resumes: Strategy & Distinctive Design to Win Interviews

Transcription

1 E-Summit: Formatting Modern Resumes: Strategy & Distinctive Design to Win Interviews Presented by Marie Zimenoff, M.Ed, MRW, NCRW and Dr. Cheryl Minnick, M.Ed., Ed.D., NCRW, CCMC

2 Keeping an Eye on Recruiters Behaviors How do they read? What and where do they read? What do they consider critical content? How long do they take to make a decision?

3 EYE-OPENING RESULTS Eye Tracking Online Metacognition: Cognitive Complexity and Recruiter Decision Making Evans, W. The Ladders, 2012

4 On average, how many minutes do you spend reviewing a candidate s resume?

5 6 SECONDS The study found recruiters spend only 6 seconds reviewing an individual résumé to make a fit/no-fit decision.

6 EyeWorks Resume Review Cognitive Activity (red) - Scan Clusters (yellow) - Glaze Spots (blue) Resume Traditional Resume Modern F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content Nielsen Norman Group, 2006

7 Eye-Tracking LinkedIn Research Profile Photo Recruiters spent more time reading a woman s face and more time reading a man s profile text. Visual cues (like arrows) move the eye toward copy quickly. The item that draws the eye the fastest? A baby s face.

8 Resume Research Takeaways Modern formatting strategy is critical

9 Resume Research Takeaways Use divider lines (or similar formatting) Write tighter w/fewer words Place education at the bottom Use a headline with words that matter Without a focal point and with too much copy, the eye easily becomes overloaded.

10 Resume Research Deep Dive Visual focal points (border boxes) increase read time. Color (font) and contrast (shadowing) draws the eye, makes content memorable, quicker to be noticed and holds stronger information recall and retention. The eye needs to breath (white space). The eye travels in an F-Pattern (favor the left side). Top-Load / left-load bullets with key accomplishments or data!

11 Short Bites Paragraphs 3 lines or less Bullets 2 lines or less Summaries with subheadings, bullets, or short paragraphs. Lists of bullets 4 5; break up into categories or use sections

12 Short Bites Led a team of 9 IT professionals in supporting and improving enterprise applications for the company s network. Responded rapidly to shifting priorities in constantly changing business environment. Consistently delivered projects on schedule and within budget. Team lead 9 IT professionals Enterprise applications On-schedule, on-budget project completion SAMPLES Hamid Jafri: Pages 5 6; Louise Kursmark (Calibri) Janet Carter: Pages 7 8; Marjorie Sussman (Calibri) Bill Gordon: Page 9; Marjorie Sussman (Arial Black for Name; Calibri)

13 Short Bites Lists of bullets limited to 4 5 Use sub-bullets Break up into categories or sections SAMPLES Seth Cohen Before: Page 10 Seth Cohen: Pages 11 12; Judith Monaco (Century for Name; Calibri) Catherine Blair: Pages 13 15; Marjorie Sussman (Arial Rounded MT for Name; Calibri)

14 Bullet Categories Nouns

15 Bullet Categories Verbs

16 Bullet Categories Chronology

17 Clean, Stable Formatting

18 Clean, Stable Formatting

19 Clean, Stable Formatting Page 2 in the header

20 Clean, Stable Formatting Page 2 in the document

21 Clean, Stable Format Tabs

22 Clean, Stable Format Tabs

23 Clean, Stable Format Tabs

24 Clean, Stable Format Table

25 Clean, Stable Format Table

26 Design for Readability Borders distinguish sections (borders, not lines!) Border function creates boxes (not text boxes) Shading to draw the eye SAMPLES Luciana Susa: Pages 16 17; Lynn Levy (Calibri) Zoltan Parzyan: Pages 18 19; Donald Burns (Arial Black for Name & Headlines; Verdana) Archie Renewal: Pages 20 21; Karen Reiff (Garamond)

27 Readability Borders

28 Readability Borders

29 Readability Borders

30 Readability Borders & Shading

31 Readability Borders & Shading

32 Design for Readability White space between lines Chunking Margins SAMPLES Seth Cohen Before: Page 10 Seth Cohen: Pages 11 12; Judith Monaco (Century for Name; Calibri)

33 Readability Margins

34 Readability Margins

35 Design for Brand Minimize non-distinguishing information Fonts 2 maximum Consider sans serif for headings, serif for body (and vice versa) SAMPLES Nancy McBain: Pages 22 24; Stephanie Clark (Calibri) Seth Cohen: Pages 11 12; Judith Monaco (Century for Name; Calibri)

36 Design for Brand Fonts Arial Arial Narrow Book Antiqua Bookman Calibri Cambria Garamond Georgia Garamond Palatino Linotype Lucida Grande Lucida Sans Unicode Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet Verdana Additional, for headlines/emphasis Arial Black Impact

37 Design for Brand Color One main color Target company / industry color SAMPLES Charles Ingram: Pages 25 26; Judith Monaco (Book Antiqua) Scott Webb: Pages 27 28; Donald Burns (Arial Black for Name; Verdana)

38 Design for Brand Graphics Graphics that tell a story Sales or other data graphs Pictures / symbols Testimonials Quotes SAMPLES Kayla Joubert: Pages 29 30; Donald Burns (Cambria, Calibri & Arial Black) Joseph Traveler: Pages 31 32; Karen Reiff (Verdana) Alexander Bols: Pages 33 35; Marie Zimenoff (Tahoma) Arthur Powers: Pages 36 37; Michelle Riklan (Arial Narrow) Zach Plummer: Page 38; Jane Falter (Calibri)

39 Design for Brand Graphics

40 Design for Brand Graphics

41 Design for Strategy Long Tenure Show progression (page 20) Stack job descriptions to target content (page 29) Age 50+ Summarize past work history (pages 6 & 9) Modernize design and details Phone number, no double space between sentences

42 Design for Strategy Gap Volunteer or consulting work (pages 7 & 16) Lack Experience Details relevant projects (page 38)

43 Resources & Upcoming Events Training Class & ACRW Certification January 26 Writing Mastery Open Call April 12 CTL Conference Professional Development Institutes April 18 in Baltimore, MD Two sessions focused on writing! CTL Conference April in Baltimore, MD LinkedIn Profile Writing Master Class June 23

44 Thank you! Questions? Presented by Marie Zimenoff and Cheryl Minnick