Carefully Creative

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course gives students an overview of the use of creativity on a resume.

Objective: Learn to what extend creativity should be used on a resume.

With all the competition in the job market out there, it’s tempting to take drastic steps to make yourself stand out to hiring managers. But it’s easy to go too far and get the kind of attention you don’t want instead of the kind you do.

Your resume is the first impression a hiring manager gets of you. When that potential employer has a towering stack of resumes on his desk, the temptation is strong to try to make yours stand out. But the trick is to do that with substance, not with fluff. It’s easy to throw a bunch of color on your resume and use catchy-looking fonts, but that sends the wrong message to the hiring manager.

You want to present an image of professionalism, and the way to do that is with a clean, orderly resume. Use a logical, easy-to-follow layout that allows your strengths, accomplishments and skills to stand out. Stick with one of the standard resume formats that presents information in easy-to-understand categories in a logical order that makes sense to hiring managers. Stick with standard fonts that make the content easy to read. Stylized fonts might catch someone’s attention, but if they make the resume hard to read, the hiring manager simply won’t. A basic understanding of fonts, tables and bulleted lists is all you need to create an attractive document. Using splashy, gimmicky tricks to try to make your resume stand out will only dilute the important information you want the hiring manager to learn about you. It will tell the hiring manager that you lack common sense, professionalism and substance.

Think what first impression you want to make. Imagine going to a classy dinner party dressed in an extravagant, garish costume. Sure, you’ll stand out in the crowd and make a strong first impression. But there’s a good chance you won’t get invited back. If, instead, you arrive appearing tasteful and sophisticated, people will want to talk to you long enough to find out more about you, and that’s when you can let your true personality shine through.

The same goes for the first impression you want to make with your resume. Instead of catching the hiring manager’s eye by getting overly creative with your resume format and style, get his attention by clearly presenting your skills and experience in a way that lets him know what you can do for his company, as well as that you’re mature, socially competent and professional. This will get you the interview you want, which is your real chance to let him know who you truly are and why he should hire you.