You can have the best experience in the world, but if your resume is unreadable, you will not get the interview. Good formatting ensures that both human recruiters and ATS bots can extract your information quickly.
Recruiters spend an average of 7 seconds scanning a resume. They are looking for specific information in specific places. A clean, single-column layout is universally preferred over complex, multi-column designs with graphics and charts.
Use a professional, easy-to-read font like Inter, Roboto, Arial, Calibri, or Georgia. Avoid Comic Sans, Papyrus, or overly stylized fonts. Keep the body text between 10pt and 12pt, and headers between 14pt and 16pt.
Set your margins to 0.5 to 1 inch on all sides. Do not cram text to the edges of the page just to fit everything on one sheet. Whitespace is crucial—it guides the reader's eye and makes the document look professional rather than overwhelming.
Temburu Akhil is a software engineer and the creator of Build Resume. He builds career-tech tools and writes data-driven guides to help job seekers optimize their resumes, pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and land their dream roles.
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