3 Reasons Not to Use a Creative Resume Format

Hi Everyone! It’s a “two-fer” week, with a video blog as well as a written version.  Choose the format you want and enjoy!

When it comes to creative inspiration, I love Pinterest. It’s one of the greatest apps ever. Ever.

There’s a category for everything, from weddings (a no-brainer) to cooking to home decorating to fashion and more. The best part is that instead of keeping stacks of dog-eared magazines lying around the house, we can de-clutter by keeping multiple boards filled with pins of our favorite things. All saved for future use. Or simply to dream about.

Very crafty. Very Inspirational. Very Creative.

So many wonderful new ways to spin old favorites, which is great.

Except when it comes to resumes.

As a career coach, I’m going out on a limb here in saying that I’m pretty sure the super cute, super fun, super creative resumes – while they are ALL of those things – are not necessarily the best for your job search.

I can tell I’ve burst your Pinterest bubble.

Being creative is good, yet maybe this is not the best time to bring out the glue gun.  There are literally hundreds of creative resume formats on Pinterest and they seem to fall into these categories:

The Colored Paper Resume
Really, colored paper? As much as I love stationery, it can come across as a bit juvenile. Seriously, it can be hard to read your information on colored paper. The biggest issue is that colored paper does not work well in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) – you know; the electronic system that sucks up our resumes when we apply for jobs online? Which we all have to do, by the way, even if we know someone inside the company. Why run the risk of your information being garbled?

The Head Shot
Never put a photo on your resume. Ever. Seems like a no-brainer, with the potential for age, sex and race discrimination. Yes, there are other ways for a potential employer to learn this information but why provide it yourself? Not to mention that your photo is not going to fair well when scanned in the company’s ATS.

The Infographic
I appreciate a well-done infographic for its ability to simplify a difficult concept. Really, I do. I’ve yet to see a well-done infographic resume. Usually it takes a simple concept – the resume – and turns it into a cute yet confusing document. In some cases, the result is childish. And once again, the format does not mesh with the ATS.

3 Reasons Not to Use a Creative Resume Format:

1.Graphic treatments, color and other creative designs don’t work well with the Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
2. You may open yourself up to discrimination
3. Your creative attempt may come across as confusing or even childish

A simple, clean design is the best format when it comes to your resume. Lots of white space on no more than two pages. A basic font such as Arial, Calibri, or Times Roman used throughout. No cursive or mixed fonts.

Remember, the goal is to get your information through the ATS to a human being who will decide whether or not to bring you in for an interview. If the format is too much for the ATS to handle and your information becomes garbled, there’s not much of a chance for an interview.

If you want to use a more creative resume format once you’ve secured an in-person interview, have a second version ready. But see my points above.