In today's competitive job market, the best-looking resume will help you stand out from the crowd. A visually appealing format can attract recruiters and hiring managers and set the tone for how you're perceived before they dig into your hard skills and experience.
So whether starting from scratch or wanting to revamp your resume look, let's explore how to create a professional and visually stunning document that grabs the right attention.
3 key takeaways
- A visually appealing resume is crucial in capturing the attention of recruiters.
- Resume styles and best practices evolve, so staying up to date is essential.
- How Teal's innovative AI Resume Builder can help you effortlessly create the best resume for your job hunt.
What is the most attractive resume style?
When choosing the most visually appealing resume format, simplicity and readability are key to designing a stylish resume.
- Using an easily skimmable sample resume template is just the first step. This allows recruiters to find relevant information quickly. A complicated resume design with hard-to-find information risks being passed over.
- The best resume format should have a properly formatted header with your name and contact details, making it easy for a hiring manager to contact you for a job interview.
- Visual hierarchy: Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to create a clear visual hierarchy. Emphasize important information by using bold or italic fonts, or slightly larger font sizes for section headings.
- A professional resume needs to be visually appealing with a proper use of white space. Utilize white space effectively, by leaving sufficient space between sections, to create a sense of balance and avoid clutter.
- Include metrics to quantify your accomplishments and add a resume summary at the beginning to help recruiters swiftly grasp your value at a glance.
Best resume practices for 2024
What do the best resume formats look like in 2024? Read on for Teal's best resume tips and professional resume do's and don'ts to help you expertly present your job history and craft the best-looking resume.
Use an easily skimmable template
Choosing a sophisticated yet simple resume template is key for crafting an impressive resume. And there are different format templates to choose from. Commonly used templates are:
- Chronological resume format
- Functional resume format
- Combination resume format
- Targeted resume format
- Infographic or visual resume format
- Online or digital resume format
A well-structured template helps create a professional and polished appearance, making a sharp first impression and making it easier for hiring managers to navigate your qualifications. Opt for a clean, organized design that allows recruiters to scan your resume and extract relevant information quickly.
When deciding how long a resume should be, remember concise is key, so one page is ideal. However, if you have more than eight years of experience, all relevant to the role, it's likely worth mentioning within two pages.
To ensure your resume is easily skimmable, use simple headings that indicate the purpose of the sections. Bullet points are also invaluable in breaking down your experience, skills, and accomplishments into succinct and digestible snippets. They enhance readability and draw attention to key points, making it easier for recruiters to assess your suitability for the role.
Remember, the purpose of an easily skimmable template is to streamline the reviewing process for recruiters who scan resumes every day. By adopting a clean and structured approach, you'll make it effortless for them to glean vital details and evaluate your potential as a candidate.
Include a properly formatted header
The header of your resume serves as the first impression you make on potential employers, so if you're aiming to create the perfect resume, most job seekers will want to get it right.
A resume header should include your full name at the top of the page, either in the left or right corner or along the top. A personal resume header helps establish your identity and ensures that hiring managers can easily reference your name.
Alongside your name, provide essential contact information such as your phone number and email address. Ensure your email address is professional and appropriate for a job application, avoiding any unprofessional or outdated handles.
While a good-looking resume needs its header to stand out, it's important to maintain consistency with the overall design of your resume. Choose a font and the right resume format that complements the rest of the document, ensuring a cohesive and professional appearance.
Consider using a slightly larger font size for your name to make it more prominent. Having a properly formatted header conveys professionalism and attention to detail right from the start, leaving a positive impression on potential employers.
Follow a reverse chronological resume format
When organizing the Work Experience and Education sections of your resume, following reverse chronological order is important. A reverse chronological resume showcases your most recent roles and educational achievements first.
This chronological format helps you highlight your most recent accomplishments and relevant experience, allowing a hiring manager to easily find what they're looking for. This approach allows recruiters to grasp your career progression and easily assess your qualifications quickly.
Remember to include concise descriptions of your roles and responsibilities, focusing on quantifiable achievements to showcase the skills you developed throughout your work history. Teal's AI Resume Builder can help you do this quickly and easily.
Maintain proper spacing
Utilizing a correct format with proper spacing is crucial when designing your resume format.
Tightly packed words are hard to read and likely to be skipped over because recruiters often scan resumes. Consistent spacing helps create a clean and well-balanced look, making it easier for a hiring manager or applicant tracking system (ATS) to scan your document.
Avoid cramming too much information onto the page, as it can make your resume appear cluttered and overwhelming. Instead, use white space effectively by giving each section and paragraph room to breathe.
Appropriately set resume margins and line spacing to ensure easy readability. Margins don't easily convey their importance. Look at a resume with narrow margins and narrow line spacing without paragraph breaks. You'll see why these two aspects are central to a good resume.
Avoid large blocks of text, as they can be overwhelming to the reader. You can avoid this by using headings, bullet points, and subheadings to break up your content and create a visual hierarchy. Remember that you generally want to focus on quality over quantity when using bullet points.
By maintaining proper spacing, you create a visually appealing and easy-to-read resume that captures the attention of recruiters and enhances your overall professional impression.
Choose an easy-to-read font
When selecting a font for your resume, it's important to choose a professional font that is easy to read. Stick to widely recognized and accepted fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.
Make your resume readable with a professional font that is clean and legible. A font size between 10 and 12 points is generally recommended, striking a balance between readability and conserving space on the page.
Remember, the goal is to present your information in a clear and accessible manner, allowing recruiters to focus on your qualifications and accomplishments rather than struggling to decipher the text. Recruiters won't spend significant time deciphering a confusing resume layout, so keep your resume simple.
Incorporate metrics
To make it more impactful, it's essential to quantify your resume by including metrics and results-focused achievements wherever possible. For example, instead of simply listing your responsibilities and tasks, highlight the specific results you achieved.
Quantifying your accomplishments for resume with numbers and metrics provides concrete evidence of your abilities and showcases the value you can bring to a potential employer. For example, instead of saying you "increased sales," you could specify that you "achieved a 20% increase in revenue within six months."
These metrics give employers a clear understanding of your contributions and demonstrate your ability to deliver tangible results. Whether it's revenue generated, cost savings, project milestones, or customer satisfaction ratings, incorporating metrics adds credibility and depth to your resume, setting you apart from other candidates.
Add a professional summary
A professional summary, or short professional bio, serves as a brief introduction at the beginning of your resume, providing an overview of your skills, experience, career progression, and goals. This section is your opportunity to make a strong first impression and grab the attention of recruiters.
Craft a concise and compelling summary highlighting your key qualifications and achievements relevant to the job you're applying for. Then, tailor the content to align with the specific position and company, emphasizing the skills and experiences that make you a strong fit.
Keep the summary focused and avoid excessive details. Instead, use action-oriented language to convey your expertise and value proposition. By including a well-crafted professional summary, you provide hiring managers with a snapshot of your capabilities and make it easier for them to assess your suitability for the role quickly.
Use the AI technology integrated within Teal’s AI Resume Builder to generate professional summaries directly within the Teal platform.
Highlight your skills
The best resume format, which Teal's free templates include, should allow you to highlight your skills effectively. One way to do this is by creating a dedicated skills section that lists your competencies relevant to the job ad.
You'll likely want to have more than one resume, tailored to various skill sets and roles, in your arsenal. Successful candidates utilize a skills-based resume format and have various resumes tailored to their precise purpose and audience.
When deciding which skills to emphasize, it is beneficial to refer to the job description and identify the specific ATS keywords and phrases used by the employer. By aligning your skills with the requirements of the position and utilizing similar language, you effectively demonstrate your interest and competence for the role.
You want to be concise yet descriptive, emphasizing the specific abilities that make you a uniquely high-value candidate for the role.
Avoid videos or photos
While visual elements can be appealing, it's generally best to avoid including videos or photos in your resume.
The primary focus of your resume should be on your qualifications, experiences, and achievements. Including videos or photos can distract from the content and introduce unconscious bias into the hiring process.
Recruiters rely on the information presented in written form to evaluate candidates objectively. By keeping your resume focused on the relevant details and avoiding visual elements, you ensure that recruiters can assess your suitability for the position solely based on your qualifications and experiences.
Let the content of your resume speak for itself, demonstrating your expertise and making a compelling case for why you're the ideal candidate for the job.
How can I make my resume stand out visually?
To make your resume visually stand out and leave a lasting impression on recruiters, consider incorporating the following tips.
Incorporate a consistent color scheme
Incorporating color into a resume is a personal choice that deserves careful consideration. To maintain a professional appearance, it is advisable to utilize minimal color consistently across the entire document. Overusing color may draw attention to your resume, but it can have a negative impact.
When considering the use of color on your resume, research the conventions of your industry and job role. Some creative fields, such as graphic design or marketing, may encourage more colorful and creative resume templates, while traditional industries may prefer a more professional and restrained approach.
If you decide to use color, choose a limited palette that complements your content and enhances the overall visual appeal and legibility without hindering the readability. Striking the right balance is crucial to ensure that your resume stands out positively while preserving its professionalism.
Add visual dividers or lines
Introduce subtle lines or dividers between sections to visually separate parts of your resume. They can be effective in separating different sections of your resume, such as work experience, education, and skills. This can help create a clear structure, making it easier for the reader to navigate through the document, and improve overall readability.
Tailor your resume with Teal
Teal is a reliable platform that offers modern and customizable resume templates designed to impress. Remember, while visual elements can enhance your resume's aesthetics, it's crucial to strike the right balance, which can be easily done with Teal's user-friendly platform
Explore our wide range of features, such as customizable layouts, font styles, and formatting options, to create a unique and professional-looking resume that captures attention. With Teal, you'll find free resume examples and can get actionable tips to help you effortlessly optimize your resume for a visually stunning result that stands out from the competition.
How Teal can help you make the best resume in 2024
To get started, you need a Teal account. So if you don't have one already, you can sign up for free.
1. Quickly create your resume with AI integration
You can create your resume here. Don't worry; you don't need to create it all from scratch. That's where Teal comes in.
Add your information once by either uploading an existing resume or importing your LinkedIn profile to our free online AI Resume Builder. This will help the platform pull in information, such as your contact details, education, work history, and skills, which will all be saved in your Career History within the platform.
With all of the basic information saved in one place, Teal’s resume generator tool lets you create multiple versions of your resume so you can include job specific content in each one.
With generative AI, you can customize professional summaries, generate metric-driven achievements, and craft a personalized cover letter all with a few simple clicks.
Once you're finished, give your resume a name that's clear and professional. The name should include your name, the target title, and the company you're applying to (ex. Jones - Lead Product Engineer - 3ZLogistics). Using these identifying names will make it easy to find within your dashboard when applying to multiple positions.
2. Format your resume and order your sections
How else can Teal help you elevate your resume game? By accessing professional resume templates that can easily be transferred into an ATS system. Then you can add your personal style with:
- Font
- Accent color
- Margins
- Location
- Date alignment
- Date format
- Work experience groupings
- Work experience date range
3. Analyze your resume's effectiveness
Teal gives you real-time feedback and expert tips with the resume checker. You'll see highlighted parts of your resume that can be improved and step-by-step guidance that shows you specific ways to boost your resume "score" by checking it against various job descriptions.
Whether you want to change industries entirely or find the most relevant job for your skills, Teal's AI functionality will scan your resume against any job ad, helping you find your best relevant jobs or highlighting skill gaps and areas for growth.
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Customization is key to landing a job interview. Teal's AI Resume Builder is the go-to tool for quickly and easily tailoring your resume and cover letter to each job.
Ready to create the best-looking resume?
With Teal, you can confidently create a resume that captures the attention of hiring managers in your 2024 job search and beyond.
Empowered by Teal's intuitive platform and expert guidance, you can showcase your skills, experiences, and qualifications to a hiring manager in a visually appealing and professional manner. Stand out from the competition and maximize your chances of landing your dream job with Teal as your resume-building partner.
Sign up for Teal for free to start creating your standout resumes today. And if you're already a Teal member, consider upgrading to Teal+ to take full advantage of unlimited AI, resume keyword matching, templates, and more!
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