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Introduce Design Into Your Resumes

When we finish writing resumes, we aren't at the finish line ... yet. We know how to string and perfect the words we write. Yet, beyond the content, we take it one step further and add visual flair to those resumes, too.

In this post, we've shifted to focusing on resume design. One of our favorite topics!

Boring black-and-white resumes ruled the roost for far too long.

The switchover from bland to beautiful has occurred because hiring managers and recruiters view resumes as "soft copies" (aka on a device screen).

What to Know About Graphics & ATS

Before we proceed with our three recommended design tools, we want to recap what we told you in a previous resume writing tip. That is, ATS often ignores text boxes, graphics, and charts. You might stay away from these design features BECAUSE they disappear. However, we recommend that you use them BECAUSE they disappear. Introducing boxes, graphics, and charts benefits hiring personnel who welcome visual flare. For example, we could use a beautiful resume header like this one, knowing full well that it likely will get ignored by ATS:

Look Into What Others Have Done

Okay, let's say you're new to design or have some visual skills and want to improve them.

Where's the best place to start? Start by checking out what MASTER RESUME WRITERS do with their designs. Right now, search Google images for “award-winning resumes." Reviewing those examples can help you see what's possible. Your goal is to use them for inspiration and to get your creative juices flowing, yet not "borrowing" any of their designs. Remember, you want to showcase your design work, not someone else's.

In the past, we recommended searching Google for "resume templates," yet there are many fundamental issues (not ATS-friendly) with templates sold online, so be cautious. Templates can be problematic, especially those with a two-column layout, though they can give you guidance on color choices, monogram examples, and so on.

While searching images, look at business letterhead, too. We find professionally developed business letterhead to be inspiring when designing resumes.

3 Tools For Resume Design

The great news is that most people have experience with our first recommendations, keeping you from having to buy or learn new tools.

TOOL#1

Let's start with the most well-known: MS Word. Surprisingly, this word-processing software offers solid design features that include:

  • Font Choices & Sizes
  • Text Boxes
  • Page Borders
  • Shading
  • Tables & Charts
  • Lines & Borders
  • Watermarks
  • Image Integrations
  • SmartArt Diagrams
  • Icons/Illustrations (Office 365)

For example, we can create a beautiful monogram for a resume in just a few minutes using a basic text box with a non-traditional font for the person's initials. To avoid the monogram from being altered, take a screenshot, paste, and crop the image.

MS Word enables creators to introduce text boxes with shadowing, and position those wherever we want them.

Word also allows shading and borders to be applied to select text (you'll that this under Design -> Page Borders -> Borders). This has been a go-to strategy for many of us for years.

For an advanced strategy, however, shapes (not shading) can be used in many different ways. For example, you can use a shape with shape effects (e.g., shadowing, glow, or bevel) to showcase a snippet from a recommendation letter your client received.

You can add gradient fill and adjust the transparency of the shape for visual options, too.

YouTube offers videos on how to introduce visual design into Word documents. Here are two search queries to help:

TOOL#2

Another software we use extensively for creating all kinds of graphics is PowerPoint. We didn't realize PowerPoint's potential for design until we started using it often. The more we used it, the more we loved it. Layering and cropping are super easy! To save time, we use illustrations and icons from paid sources and layer those to add more oomph to my finished resume headers. PowerPoint enables me to change the color, artistic effect, and transparency of just about anything, e.g., text, pictures, icons, charts, etc. If you're an Office 365 user, you may have noticed the additional royalty-free icons and 3D model templates in PowerPoint, too. It's super helpful when you want to add design to your resumes!

TOOL#3

For the following recommendation, you can't throw a rock without hitting someone using this online gem: Canva. The software has free and paid versions. A benefit of Canva is that you can use it to create beautiful resume headers, monograms, custom charts, etc. An additional benefit of Canva is that the site is pre-populated with pre-designed, fully customizable LinkedIn headers that enable you to align your client's professional brand across their resume, cover letter, and online profile.

Thankfully, Canva is very easy to use with its many templates and drop-and-drag features.

Once you create 5-10 go-to resume headers, you can use those for the next several resume projects before expanding your portfolio with more designs.

BONUS TOOL

For those wanting a more robust solution, check out Adobe InDesign. If you're someone who already has an eye for developing creatives, SaaS software could be the answer for you.