{"id":310,"date":"2006-09-19T09:38:15","date_gmt":"2006-09-19T14:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/?p=310"},"modified":"2006-09-19T09:38:24","modified_gmt":"2006-09-19T14:38:24","slug":"the-aesthetics-of-resumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/09\/the-aesthetics-of-resumes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Aesthetics of Resumes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Resumes seem to be getting a lot of air time on the internet lately, including our blog. I just read an interesting article this morning and thought I would share a couple of points that the author brought to my attention. The article is written for the job seeker, but if you would like to read it, you can find it online at the Minneapolis StarTribune website. It is titled – Don’t Sell Yourself Short<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the author’s sources gives these suggestions:<\/p>\n

I like to see key words (job titles, degrees) in bold – that way I can immediately see whether the work history and education matches the needs. I prefer tasks listed in bulleted formats rather than paragraphs – it’s easier to skim key words.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not bad recommendations or are they? It certainlly would make our job of reading them a lot easier if everyone followed this format, but I think this could inadvertantly introduce biases. I don’t want to make any presumptions, but these recommendations did make me stop and think how often do we let our personal bias affect how we look at resumes.<\/p>\n

Working through resumes is tedious and time consuming. I am all for easy-to-read resumes, but it is important to keep the resume in proper context. In this example, if we are looking for resumes that have keywords bolded and experiences bulleted, we may give more time to the resumes of candidates who use this type of formatting. This approach could disproportionately influence who makes it to the next step in the hiring process.<\/p>\n

The author also recommends that candidates keep in mind employers hire for “selfish” reasons – to benefit their company, as you would expect. The So What? Factor<\/a> my partner posted about recently in our blog provides a groundwork for a powerfully-worded resume. This topic needs to be addressed in what they refer to as the hot zone<\/em>, or the top third of the resume. Not a bad tip to job seekers and as hiring managers, we should place greater emphasis on this content as opposed to style.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I took away from this article. First, understand what it is you need to see within the resume to move the applicant to the next stage in your process. Do not expect perfection and remember to question the veracity of all resumes you receive. In a recent study, nearly 43% of applicants embellished their qualifications on their resume.<\/a> So what you believe to be a great fit may no fit at all.<\/p>\n

Second, don’t allow your personal preferences to come into play as you are sorting through a stack of resumes. The style or format of a resume is a personal preference and should be viewed as nothing more than that. Personally, I try to keep the aesthetics focused on a few simple topics:<\/p>\n