When the candidates or the companies are designing resumes for any of the clients or companies, it is really important to understand that hiring managers sift through a lot of resumes every single day. Thus, the resume should have something substantial to make it stand out from the rest. One of the popular misconceptions regarding resumes is that a colorful or flashy resume will get the candidate noticed more than everyone else. But the bitter truth is that these gimmicks do nothing and have very high chances of getting overlooked. What matters the most is the resume content and its format. A good thing to remember is that the format of a resume is a lot more important than its styling, font, or color selection. That’s why today we’re going to be talking about your resume formatting tool.
What Is Resume Formatting?
Resume formatting is all about modifying the appearance of the resume which includes correcting font, margins, and layouts, etc as per the current market trends and giving it a professional touch. It is essential to choose the correct resume format as per the career level or industry requirement so as to be able to effectively communicate the skills and experiences to the potential employer or client.
Read More: What Is Resume Formatting?
Any Standard Resume Format
There are plenty of professional resume templates offered by a resume formatting tool. But there is no single standard format that suits all the needs. The criterion depends on the industry requirements or the career level or the job opening. The resume design is different for different needs but the core component remains the same i.e. the document should be easy to scan and should allow the most important information to stand out and be read. But, if the resume format does not catches the reader’s attention right away then there is a good chance that the resume may not be read.
There are three types of formats namely Chronological, Functional, and Combination. Each type of format is designed to flatter a different professional level.
- Chronological Resume Formats: These types of formats are also known as “reverse chronological” formats and are best suited for freshers to mid-level applicants.
- Functional Resume Formats: This type of format is best for mid to senior level applicants and candidates. Here the top of the resume replaces career objective with the professional skills summary which has been developed over a particular time frame.
- Combination Resume Formats: These resume formats are a combination of the above two i.e. a skill based chronological resume.
Read More: Are You Still Formatting Resumes Manually?
Does Formatting Matter?
The first impression lasts the longest and, in fact, is often considered the basis of most future decisions. The same holds true with job applications as well. The resume is the first thing that forms the impression of the candidate before a hiring manager. It’s the resume that allows the manager to form an opinion about the candidate even before he/she gets a chance to meet them.
The presentation is indeed one of the most important aspects of grabbing a project or getting selected for a job. Flashy gimmicks and colorful papers will not make the recruiter or the hiring managers read the resume.Well-presented content makes all the difference.
If the resume content is not formatted well, then the hiring managers have to scan the entire resume to find the facts that are relevant and can be of some use. In reality, no one has enough time to do that. So, a good resume formatting tool highlights the key areas of the candidate’s background and entices the client/hiring manager to keep reading. An ideal formatting tool presents all the important information of the resume up front and convinces the client that the information is worth reading.
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Expectations from a Resume Formatting Tool
It is very hard to remember all the formatting rules. Here is where a resume formatting tool comes to play. A perfect resume formatting tool makes the resume look polished and makes it easy to read and scan. The tool optimizes the resume so that it complies with all the accepted formatting guidelines and standards.
Here are some expectations that are expected from every resume formatting tool.
- Visual Formatting Enhancement
The tool should integrate the resume content into a professional and eye-catching format that is sure to make hiring managers and recruiters curious about the candidates so they want to know more about them.
2. Document Realignment and Margin Corrections
The headers and content of the resume should be properly aligned to give it a balanced, consistent, and professional look that does not distract the readers while viewing the resume content. The tool should also perform margin alignment so as to avoid any potential printing issues. Apart from printing, the tool should ensure sufficient white spacing between all the resume sections which is essential for reading and easy scanning.
3. Sentence Improvements and Proofreading
The tool should be capable of automatically editing sentences so that it improves the sentence structure and boosts the impact. An ideal resume formatting tool corrects grammar and spelling mistakes as well. The document should be thoroughly proofread by the tool so as to eliminate any typos, mistakes, or errors and make it flawless.
4. Stylistic Formatting
Only two types of fonts are used while formatting the resume i.e. one for the section heading and other for filling the content. The tool should ensure font type consistency in the entire resume.
Click Here to Learn If Your Staffing Agency Software provides Resume Formatting
An Excellent Formatted Resume has the Power to Open Multiple Doors
A resume describes a candidate’s qualification, experience, and skills. To make the candidate stand out from the rest, the resume should:
- Market the candidate’s strengths for a given job position.
- Be an attention grabber for recruiters, employers, or clients.
- Sell the strongest skills and accomplishments of the candidate.
- Reflect why the candidate is a perfect match for the required job opening.
- Fetch the candidate a job interview.
Seven Ways to Ascertain that a Resume Formatting Tool Is Good
An ideal resume formatting tool parses, formats, and immediately adds the resume to the company’s database which can, thereafter, be accessed anytime and from every location. It even helps recruiters access the resumes from a remote position and make changes which get reflected immediately.
- Single Click Customization
An ideal resume formatting tool customizes each resume as per the brand and client needs with just a single click. It takes away the recruiters’ pain of filling job requisitions manually so that they can focus on what they do the best.
2. Unlimited Resume and Email Templates
A good resume formatting tool offers customizable templates to format resumes. It helps recruiters build and save any format combination such as chronological or functional, etc. Also, the tool helps to develop bespoke email templates based on the client’s needs or other branding preferences.
3. Accurate and Fast Parsing of Resumes in Any Format
An ideal resume formatting tool saves precious time, ensures quality, and parses the document accurately within seconds. A formatting tool accepts the attachments from the email and has the exceptional capability to parse the resumes in any format.
4. Customized Headers and Footers
A good tool allows the recruiters to display the selected information such as company name, logo, name of the candidate, recruiter, etc with customized header branding. Similar to header customization, a footer can also be customized using display information such as candidate name, page number, confidentiality statement, and more.
5. Standardized Margins and Sections
Formatting for resume sections and margin alignment is done by the tool automatically so that they look as good as on paper as they look on screen. It also removes the unwanted spacing between the bullets and within the document.
6. Remove Unwanted Formatting and Information
All the candidate information such as candidate’s name, photo, or contact information can be suppressed automatically. With the help of watermarks, recruiters can protect their hard work and ensure that the candidate’s intellectual property is well protected. The tools remove the unwanted formatting types such as bold, italics, underline and more to ensure the reader’s focus remains where it is intended to.
7. Executive Summary
A good resume formatting tool makes it possible to generate a quick summary of the skills an individual possesses for an executive to go through it quickly.
Winding Up
A resume is not just a summary of skills or experience but also a snapshot of the applicant’s personality. It is very important to cast an impactful first impression on the recruiters/clients. One wrong format may make the resume go overlooked among the multitude of others as the recruiters may not have time to dig deep into every resume. A well formatted resume lets the recruiter/employer see the things they have been looking for in a very easy and comfortable manner.
The Best Resume Formatting Tool for 2019
With Recruiteze, you can manage your jobs, candidates, job portal, clients, hiring managers, schedules, notes and communication. Recruiteze combined with iReformat, can provide unparalleled efficiency by combining resume formatting with recruiting software. With the resume formatting tool offered by Recruiteze, you can format a resume using pre-defined custom templates within 15 seconds. A formatted resume can be submitted to the hiring manger within 15 seconds using custom email templates. Now you can see how you can greatly benefit from a staffing agency software combined with resume formatting. Try Recruiteze today for free!