For Resume Formatting, it's Best to Keep it Simple

By: Kandice Thorn

Since so many students are focused on resumes right now, I'm going to stick with the resume theme and address a common mistake I see in resumes: messy formatting.  Often this is a result of an attempt to use a format that is too complicated.  Trust me when I tell you that in the world of legal resumes, less is more.
 See the example below:

 

This is an example of a resume that looks messy.  There is too much formatting here.  The following are just a few of the many problems with this formatting:

• There are unnecessary bullet points throughout the entire document (remember, you should only use bullet points where absolutely necessary to show items in a list or to break up long descriptions).  
• The headings are bold, italicized, and small caps.  This looks unprofessional.  Headings should be easy to pick out, but it's best to separate with an underline and fewer font variations.  
• The email and phone number have unnecessary headings (no employer will fail to recognize lpavarotti@gmail.com as an email address or 212-555-1212 as a phone number; such signals are unnecessary).  
• The indentation makes the document look unbalanced.  
• Aligning the dates on the right clearly does not work well here (see the experience section, where the first set of dates had to be moved further left and the second set of dates is hanging over onto a second line). 

Besides looking messy, overformatting can also lead to mistakes and inconsistencies.  Note that the indentation on the bullets for the entries under experience are inconsistent with one another, as well as the entries in the two education sections.  This was because as I was adding all this formatting, I lost track of all the formatting rules I was working with.  Consistency is extremely important, and the more formatting rules I must remember, the more difficult it will be to keep my document consistent.  

Additionally, editing/updating is easier in a document with simpler formatting.  In a document that is overformatted, every small addition or deletion affects the formatting and causes you to have to go back and review the formatting for consistency.  With the simpler format, editing is very easy.

Here is the same resume in a cleaner format:

The above format is much easier on the eyes.  The important aspects are still easy to pick out (headings, names of institutions, job titles, dates), yet the whole look is much cleaner and updating your resume will be a piece of cake!