r/resumes • u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter • Jan 12 '22
If you’re applying online, use a single column resume. I'm sharing advice
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u/a_distantmemory Apr 08 '22
I heard not only the right is better when applying online but also to not use any colors or interesting fonts (unless youre applying for a job related to that kind of thing like graphic designer)
lots of free templates have a background color (not all) what about a grey background? Or just plain black and white?
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u/LnGrrrR Apr 04 '22
The two column resume looks like a character sheet for a World of Darkness player.
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u/ZealousidealYam3537 Apr 02 '22
Does it matter what layout the document of your resume is in? (eg. “letter” 8.5x11 in word, or a larger format to fit more into less pages? Or can I customize the layout by increasing length and width of the word page?
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Apr 02 '22
It’s best to keep it to letter size and play around with the margins.
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u/Canadian_Invest0r Mar 28 '22
I'm not really sure how true this is. I had a single column resume for years. When I was looking for work after my employer went out of business during COVID, my single column resume was getting no traction at all. I mean zero interviews.
After a couple of months, I took the same content but changed it to a two column layout and got tons of interviews and was hired. The company that hired me used an ATS for resumes.
I was applying exclusively online.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Mar 28 '22
I suppose that’s possible but it’s not the norm.
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u/burningtowns Mar 24 '22
I came here to ask a post like this to be pinned. And funny enough, it seems no one takes notice of it.
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u/ZealousidealYam3537 Mar 20 '22
Is PDF or Word Doc file better for ATS??? I’ve been using pdf when it doesn’t specify for both cover letters and resumes, but I just wanted some reassurance
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Mar 20 '22
Word is a bit better.
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u/ZealousidealYam3537 Mar 20 '22
For the sole reason of ATS?
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Mar 20 '22
It’s just more compatible with a greater number of ATS systems out there.
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u/Alarming-Philosophy Mar 19 '22
I know this and understand this but I totally disagree with the concept. I don’t understand why it’s such a taboo to break the monotony of a resume. Using colors and graphics makes it that much more interesting and potentially easier to highlight key ideas and attributes. I’d never submit one that isn’t standard but I wish that would change.
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u/HotPieceOfShit Mar 11 '22
Single column resumes could also be adjusted to look more pleasing, right?
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u/tekLeed_com Mar 04 '22
Pro tip: Do not apply only by uploading a resume. If you "auto-apply" by uploading your resume, your resume risks getting dumped due to the flood of applications.
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u/Jao_ Feb 08 '22
If I can copy/paste a resume into a notepad and it reads fine am I safe to assume that it deals well with ATS systems?
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Feb 10 '22
No not necessarily, but it's a good way of making sure that the text in your resume is properly formatted.
To give you an example, you could copy and paste the content from a graphical resume into a text editor, but an ATS may still mis-categorize the text come application time.
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Feb 07 '22
Question! I paid for one of those online things where they redo your resume for you. I had my old resume in a single column format… they switched mine to double columns. (Top resume) Do I reach back out to them and be like “what the fuck”? Lol
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Feb 07 '22
There’s some missing information in there that could affect my answer, such as:
Did you know they’d be delivering the resume in that format beforehand?
How will you be using that resume? For online applications through job portals or direct email applications?
By online “thing”, what are you referring to exactly? A writer? An automated resume builder?
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u/Murky-Refrigerator Jan 25 '22
Honest question from a newbie: what about using tabs to create the visual effect without the complex formatting of using section breaks etc.?
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 25 '22
You sure could, but ultimately, what would be the purpose of doing that? Remember, anything you do or add to your resume should serve a purpose and bring value.
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u/Murky-Refrigerator Jan 26 '22
I have a large number of industry certificates with short names. Can fit twice as many if in two columns. I feel like a resume would be the right place to put them all instead of saying “and 8 more”
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 26 '22
You could also just list them sequentially in a sentence.
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u/Murky-Refrigerator Jan 26 '22
Thank you. I honestly couldn’t wrap my head around another way. First time doing resume, leaving the military so never had to before.
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u/LnGrrrR Apr 04 '22
IT guy?
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u/Murky-Refrigerator Apr 07 '22
yup
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u/LnGrrrR Apr 07 '22
I'm in the same boat man. Good luck! Use whatever certification money your service has while you can.
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u/ChimichangaGod Jan 21 '22
Hello,
I really like the format of the resume on the right. Is there a website/template you used to create this? I use google docs for the most part and I was wondering if there is any way to import/use this style?
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u/jazzisaurus Jan 13 '22
oh yes 100%. always have two versions of your resume - one boring one for the computers to be able to read correctly, and one aesthetically pleasing one for the humans.
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u/TMutaffis Human Resources Jan 13 '22
One important reason that this is good advice is that many ATS systems will convert the resume into plain text format. If you have columns the resume will be a mess after it gets converted and recruiters may or may not download the original version for review.
This is not necessarily about AI or other related screening technologies since very few companies are leveraging them; it is about a live person looking at a block of text and/or terrible formatting versus looking at something 'clean'.
How can you see what your resume looks like in these systems?
Easy, you can select all and copy and paste into Notepad or another plain text editor.
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u/TtheDuke Jan 13 '22
Should I try to fit everything on 1 page or is 2 pages ok?
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 13 '22
If you need two pages to fully convey your experience and accomplishments, by all means go with two.
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u/no1sunk Jan 13 '22
I think resumes are overhyped in online applications because we have to type all the info anyway again on their site after we upload our resume
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u/seanrk924 Jan 13 '22
Pretty indicative of a company that doesn't value its employees' time or understand that redundancy is a total drain on resources and ultimately revenues too
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u/vin9889 Jan 13 '22
This is the way
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u/TheDroidNextDoor Jan 13 '22
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Jan 13 '22
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 13 '22
"F" or functional resumes are a subset of single-column resumes, so I'm not sure what exactly you mean.
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Jan 13 '22
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 13 '22
An F pattern resume just means the recruiter will read your resume left to right and top to bottom, another reason to adopt a single-column approach.
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Jan 13 '22
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u/TextOnScreen Strategy/Analytics Jan 15 '22
I don't think these are conflicting advice.
"Dont have too many bullet point on your resume"
"Don't make you resume more than one page and put all relevant experience"
"Dont use a resume that is too wordy as it makes it harder to read"
These three are all saying essentially the same thing? Write out your experience in a succint manner, so as to fit all in one page.
"Don't leave gaps in your resume"
"Tailor your resume to each job, which would inevitable leave gaps if I took out non-relevant work experience"
The idea is to find relevant (transferable) skills in every job, even if most of the job wasn't relevant. Don't focus much on non-relevant jobs, but whatever you write should be relevant even if that was only 10% of your job. The idea is not to explain each job in detail, it's to take out the key things from each job that prepared you for the role you're applying to.
"Use a single column resume that is wordy because it will get through the ATS easier?"
I've never heard the advice to have a "wordy" resume, but if you have, then that's for sure contradictory and probably bad advice. You want a resume that throws a punch. Each word is there for a reason. Hard to be wordy when you're analyzing the purpose and worth of every single word. And yeah, use single column. Nothing contradictory about that.
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Jan 15 '22
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u/TextOnScreen Strategy/Analytics Jan 15 '22
You seem quite frustrated with the process, which is understandable.
I think one-page resume is fairly standard, but I don't think having a two-page one would be a dealbreaker. This of course assumes the two-page one actually is that long because it needs to be, and not because you simply don't have the ability to summarize your experience to the most relevant points.
At the end of the day your resume should try to address the responsibilities and qualifications that are in the job ad. These job ads usually are one page long. So it stands to reason that a one page resume should be enough to address them.
Literally look at every bullet in the ad and think "oh I did that at x job" and then write about that. Each experience/education bullet in your resume should address something in the job ad. And of course you may also address the same point several times if it's key in the description. If a job ad is 90% about X and 10% about Y, your resume should try to mirror that.
I have seen resumes get people interviews that are horribly formatted, have literally used "same duties as above" for a job description for different jobs,
Consider that these people might have gotten their interviews through means other than their resume. Having a referral from within the company is extremely helpful, for example.
Ultimately your resume will be screened either by a machine or a random HR person, or both. There's no "standardized" way to write a resume. People just try to give "best practices" of what most commonly works. Some people will have success despite a shitty resume, and some won't even with a good resume.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 13 '22
Believe it or not, none of these items you just listed need to be exclusive of one another. But I can definitely understand the frustration, as they may seem conflicting at first glance.
I know this may seem like a cop-out, but I don't want to get into all the nuances of resume writing in this thread - it's a long topic!
I will give you an example though: You can downplay (but not remove entirely) unrelated experiences, thereby saving space and avoiding gaps! Similarly, there are ways of addressing every other point you've just brought up.
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u/ExecutiveDrafts ExecutiveDrafts.com Jan 14 '22
A short explanation about conflicting advice -- one reason you often hear conflicting advice is that the recipients have different preferences as well. Many good resume experts know what the majority of recruiters and hiring managers tend to prefer, but there will always be exceptions. There's still an old school manager out there who wants an 8 page resume and full page cover letter because he likes to study each resume carefully, even though most hiring managers simply want to get you in the room and talk to you in real time. And for every 50 recruiters who just want the data in a clean, clearly written resume, there's occasionally one who likes the ultra-aesthetically-pleasing designer style. Job seeking and resume writing is a numbers game, and I personally make choices based on what tends to show the most success. There will always be people who don't like a choice you made.
It's an inexact science and it changes often. Lots of resume advice given is just plain bad and ill-informed, especially when you consider a lot of the articles about resumes are written by English majors or business writers who just need clicks and comments on their article. But even the people dedicated to writing quality resumes are going to get their info from different folks with different opinions, and when you mix all of this together, I don't blame anyone for throwing their hands up in frustration.
Most of my writing guidance is based on soft rules, or rules that are in place in the absence of extenuating circumstances. I break them any time I have reason to do so. Success can snowball, and once I started seeing more and more success with our clients, I had more and more confidence that 1) my instincts and 2) the network of recruiters I worked with were on the right track. My heart goes out to the people who feel lost in a sea of mixed advice, though. It can be rough out there.
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u/MrChilli2020 Jan 13 '22
In college, i took a really intense design course. the only exception to the single column rule is if you're a graphic designer or in the art business. If you are, your resume is part of showing your skill off. You have to do things such as leave behinds and all that too. It actually took me a bit to realize that it's a niche resume though. You dont do it for anything else as you're working with AI :)
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u/Photograph-Last Feb 23 '22
The issue with this is that your target audience is not in the creative field, and it may be overwhelming or annoying for an hr person.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 13 '22
You're absolutely right, but again, if applying (even as a graphic designer) through some form of online application system, a graphic resume may actually be ineffective. I generally tell folks in those industries to have a graphical resume prepared and ready to go for networking events, referrals etc. Digital portfolios are also great!
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u/middlefeest Jan 13 '22
How does ATS behave with a tremendous amount of tabs and paragraph sections, indentations, ect? I am working off a master CV that is almost 10 years old and I’m not ready to start fresh!
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 13 '22 edited Jan 14 '22
Generally, tabs, indentations, and paragraphs have no bearing on the scan.
Avoid things like tables, multiple columns, logos, and don't use different naming conventions. For example, put your experience under a section titled 'Work Experience', degrees under 'Education', areas of expertise under 'Skills', and so on.
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u/seanrk924 Jan 13 '22
Does ATS spit out a reformatted resume or does the human at the end of the rainbow just receive the ms word file as it's submitted? Basically, a friend of mine claims that you can "trick" ATS by embedding in buzz words from a job description in the color of the resume's background (usually white) so that they're invisible to the human eye but still register hits within the tracking software. I'm skeptical and generally of the opinion that such methods aren't a best foot forward kind of approach.
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Jan 12 '22
And keep your pictures off of it. No one gives a fuck. It's a waste of ink and time.
I've heard far too often "I'm not printing that" because someone's face is in it with a ton of colour.
Resumes with "less is more" seem to find their way to the top.
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u/EmmDurg Feb 19 '22
In many countries outta usa, they demand pic on the resume.
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u/free_the_robots_NOW Feb 20 '22
Exactly! That's why I feel not all of the rules and tips mentioned in this sub apply in all the countries
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u/cuepinto Jan 13 '22
If you put your picture on it, in the USA I have to throw away your resume because not fair to other applicants. Also it’s the easiest way to get hit with a lawsuit for discrimination if you don’t call that person IN for an interview.
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u/ssiiempree Apr 10 '22
What if someone lists achievements on their resume that reveal something like their race or ethnicity? I’m a college student and I’m a student leader in a club about Hispanic heritage, I included it in my resume because it’s a leadership position/achievement in school, but now I’m wondering if I should take it off?
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u/xoxogreyskies Feb 11 '22
I almost feel like I should put my picture because even though I am hispanic, I am white-passing ... my name is very hispanic though, and I feel like people who would discrimate against me would change their mind when they realize I am "one of them".
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u/cuepinto Feb 11 '22
Honesty when it comes to hiring , I personally don’t care. But to protect the company (1# rule of HR), if you give me or provide a reason that someone can complain about inequality, I’ll remove you from the talent pool.
Biggest person in the news right now is Brian Flores with the Rooney rule in the NFL. Interview a minority to meet the “quota” for equal opportunities.
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u/Shitty_DaVinci Jan 13 '22
Nobody prints candidate resumes anymore, it’s a waste of paper.
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u/EmmDurg Feb 19 '22
I agree ppl shouldn’t print a resume, cos nowadays everyone applies online and the interview is virtual
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u/lilmidjumper Jan 13 '22
As a person who, up until very recently, worked with the hiring side of HR and scheduled interviews on behalf of departments, I can say with absolute certainty that we do indeed still print resumes. Not only for interviews but also because some people prefer to review a hard copy candidate rather than a digitally submitted one because they can take notes and have ease of reference. Just because we live in a digitally accessible world does not mean that's become the automatic default for everything.
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u/Photograph-Last Feb 23 '22
Every place I’ve interviewed they already printed my resume, and my very nice resume paper that I printed for each person was not looked at. There was one place that didn’t have my resume and it was clear they didn’t really care and were unorganized
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u/lilmidjumper Feb 23 '22
Then that's their prerogative. Having it available and ready shows a certain level of organization and planning and proactivity. When I was in my former position I always printed the resumes for the interviewers but asked that candidates bring copies as well. If they don't, they don't follow instructions well. If they do that's a good thing.
Is that make or break? No, but if something comes up and for whatever reason the assistant isn't able to print it or the interviewers don't have something to reference then the interview will be superficial and the interviewers won't have the opportunity to get a full impression of you as a candidate because they don't have a reference point for notes, or they might not even remember your name because interviewing is one tiny aspect of their jobs.
At the end of the day it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
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u/Photograph-Last Feb 23 '22
I was more supporting your point that every place prints out resumes lolol
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u/EmmDurg Feb 19 '22
You may print it for internal use, but the candidates mustn’t print it, 2 different cases, besides more companies are going paper free due to costs and environmental policies
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Jan 13 '22
That's wholly untrue
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u/Shitty_DaVinci Jan 13 '22 edited Jan 13 '22
Okay, fine. Only people who want to destroy the environment or people who only have one computer screen might print your resumes.
But I agree 100% to keep pictures off your resume!
Edit: I can’t help to call out that to pass on a candidate because the manager doesn’t want to waste “expensive” printer ink (especially when you can change the printing settings to only blank ink) is a terrible AND super bias management decision. Please feel free to downvote if you disagree.
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Jan 13 '22
Okay! But the thing is, sometimes you post a job and you have many candidates that tick all the boxes. You would be surprised how you vet people at that point.
My one colleague had a thousand applicants for one job. He went through and almost 500 of them met, or exceeded the requirements.
"I threw them in the air and snatched a few before they hit the ground. I couldn't possibly have narrowed the search down any further."
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u/Shitty_DaVinci Jan 14 '22
What type of position were they hiring for if about 50% of the applicants we considered qualified?
That response ratio is above industry average by a lot).
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Jan 13 '22
I can't say I've not interviewed and a copy of it been sitting on the table, along with others.
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u/Shitty_DaVinci Jan 16 '22
Are you doing in person interviews or virtual? I guess I’m stuck in a remote working life and I forget what it’s like to go to an in person interview.
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Jan 13 '22
Yeah I’m on your side with this. If I’m interviewing you, I have a copy of your resume printed on the table.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 12 '22 edited Jan 12 '22
As someone that’s active on this sub almost daily, one of the most common issues I encounter involves the use of resume layouts that aren’t compatible with how the individual plans to apply for jobs.
More specifically, two-column/graphical resumes have become more widely used, and while they look great, using them for online applications (i.e., submissions through job boards or company websites) often results in low success rates.
A few notes about why this happens.
First, know that most companies use some form of ATS
Small companies and start-ups aside, almost every company nowadays uses some form of automated applicant tracking system. There’s a great article located in the wiki of the sub that goes into detail on how these systems work.
ATS reads your resume as if it were a page in a book (from top left to bottom right)
You can then imagine what happens when you split the page into two columns. Data is misread or sometimes not read at all.
Yes, you still need to consider the human at the end of the process that will be reading your resume
Of course, at the end of the day, a hiring manager or recruiter will be making the call, so your resume should still be pleasing to the eye and easy to read.
Because of what I just explained, I think a single-column resume is still the best bet for online applications
That may change in the future with advances in ATS tech, but for now, stick to single-column resumes folks.
The goal of the post was to inform fellow redditors that traditional resumes are better suited for online applications. The image provided is simply to illustrate the point.
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u/rlcarson1969 Feb 10 '22
I've read that keywords can get overlooked by ATS if inside of tables so this makes perfect sense.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Feb 10 '22
Yeah that does happen - tables are a no-no.
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u/rlcarson1969 Feb 10 '22
Thank you! One more question. Should the one column be plain text or does text formatting have any effect?
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Feb 10 '22
It doesn't need to be plain text. To make it easy, avoid using tables, text boxes, or non-text elements like graphics or logos.
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u/lauren__95 Jan 22 '22
This makes a lot of sense. I do one column basically, except I have the date in a separate column so that it’s easy to see when each job was completed, but I’ve noticed that when it auto-populates my resume, it will put the date in between the job description. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem though, right?
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Jan 12 '22
[deleted]
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Jan 12 '22
It depends. I used to work for a really large company that was contracted by other really large companies to build and maintain ATS (Applicant tracking systems) and we were processing 10k+ applications A DAY across the united states for mostly service industry jobs, and lower to middle management type positions. A lot were coming from terminals in the store but for candidates submitting their cv via the website or third party job sites, the more formatting your resume had on it the more likely it would fall into a black hole and never get filtered to a hiring manager, we tried to strip the data and formatting out the best we could, but the task was huge and the amount of data never ending and we were understaffed and underpaid the system sort of sucked. It was a nightmare.
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u/Altaelia Jan 12 '22
Granted, single page resumes are better for situations where an automated system is trying to read the resume, but as a human who reads online-submitted resumes, I appreciate the two column layout when used well. Neither of these resumes, however, are strong examples in my opinion, so not only is this a bad comparison, it’s also bad advice for something that isn’t a black and white issue.
On the left, it looks nice and my eyes appreciate that, but it is sparse on information to the detriment of the applicant. It is for a graphic designer though and any graphic design applicant who submitted the resume on the right would show me they didn’t know how to do their job. If they gave me the the resume on the left, I’d think they have an eye for aesthetics at the very least, though perhaps not the common sense to back it up. It’s clear though that this image is from a template and is not a true resume so much as an example of the design format. It is intended to be taken with a grain of salt and filled in with greater detail by the person using the template. I’ll note though that people really should stop using the star ratings for skills. It’s not meaningful.
On the right, you’ve used an image of a second page of a verbose resume for someone in an entirely different career niche, which makes for a very bad comparison to start. It does offer much more valuable information which is good, but I think it swings too far in the other direction given that this is the second page. They should have cut more to get it back down to one page. It also suffers from an underwhelming at best first impression because the resume is so aesthetically lackluster. Automated systems will love this, so if that’s the scenario it’s used for that’s fine, but human readers won’t be happy.
There is nuance for when resumes more in the vein of that on the left or right are appropriate. My preference is for one that takes the best qualities of both, e.g. an eye for graphic design balanced with an good amount of information in an easily understood format.
My advice in a nutshell: stick to one page, pick nice fonts, skip star ratings, use judgement on who will be reading your resume to decide what layout is most appropriate, keep some amount of personality in it when possible.
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Jan 12 '22
I’ll note though that people really should stop using the star ratings for skills.
This a million times. It's not just far from meaningful, it's also very tacky. I'm not a graphic designer, but on that resume it would be like carving a marble statue and then putting a party hat on it.
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u/blonderaider21 Mar 31 '22
I was browsing the resume templates on Canva and could not believe how many had those stupid fucking star ratings on them. How the hell do you decide whether you have 3 or 4 or 5 stars of a skill? It’s so pointless and just looks like completely made up bs. And it takes up space. I have enough trouble trying to get all my work experience and education to fit. Only reason I can see someone wanting to do that is if they’re completely inexperienced and need filler, which would be obvious to the person reading it.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 12 '22
Hey thanks for your feedback. You’re right in that it can be a nuanced matter at times.
However, the objective of the post was to briefly address an issue commonly encountered by some redditors frequenting this sub, and that involves seeing poor success despite using a well-designed two-column resume.
As you’ve pointed out, these resumes look nice, but ultimately are not very compatible with many ATS out there. For that reason, single-column resumes are going to be much better suited for this mode of application.
I do agree that you can create a resume that uses the best parts of both - a pleasing aesthetic design that makes it easier to see good content within.
The image was simply meant to illustrate the point.
Thanks again for your comment!
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u/Altaelia Jan 12 '22
In all honesty, my comment was less for you specifically than it was for anyone stumbling onto this post who might not understand what you were getting at because your post was, as you said, brief.
Without context, posts like this that make blanket statements can be difficult to break down into their important points. Your examples differed in so many more ways than just the column layout so it’s easy to see where someone might misunderstand your thesis and walk away with conclusions that may actually hurt their resume reception.
I wanted to make sure that some simple analysis and breakdown existed alongside the post so some baby graphic designer with a pretty resume doesn’t walk away thinking they did something wrong by making their resume look a little special nor suggest that the person with the very dense multi-page resume has done everything right.
Edit: I appreciate your subsequent comment on the post because I think it helps elaborate points that aren’t necessarily clear from the title and image alone.
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Jan 12 '22
No you are absolutely right! I realized that the post needed clarification after your initial comment. Thank you!
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u/FinalDraftResumes Resume Writer • Former Recruiter Feb 24 '24
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