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Career tip: Resume Mistakes To Avoid 3

Do you have strong graphic design skills? People entering the work force might feel the need to polish their resume up with some impressive visuals in order to balance out a short resume. Unfortunately, this will only make potential employers more likely to dismiss these applications.

We discussed this matter with some of our community collaborators and found that many of them prefer a clean, clearly formatted document with font no larger than size 14 with a maximum of four pages. An elaborate visual design, while potentially enjoyable to look at, can come across as unprofessional.

While professions that relate to graphic design might benefit from a resume with wonderful visuals, recruiters would still be expected to want to see the history of an applicant’s career before moving on to examining their visual portfolio.

If you’re struggling to include information in your resume, why not try including a short paragraph that outlines your skills? Try including information about the places that you’ve volunteered; if there’s any point of relevancy to the job that you’re offering, write a short paragraph and describe how the volunteering experience may be beneficial to the job that you’re applying for. If you covered your experience, skills and education in a one-page resume, use your cover letter to explain how they might be compatible with the job that you’re applying for.

Good luck!

This article was written and edited by Arthur Chan and Matthew Leach.
中文版,由Arthur,Cissy和Nebula编写和编辑 (WeChat or browser compatible, coming soon)