Customizing Your Resume With Fonts

I am somewhat of a CBC radio geek. My new favourite show is “Spark”, its all about technology and culture, and I’ve been catching up with past broadcasts by listening to podcasts on my laptop while doing housework. (How’s that for multi-tasking? Not bad for an old chick, eh?)

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/index.html

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/pastpodcasts.html?41#ref41

During the podcast for April 23 (Episode 34) a font designer was interviewed and a sociologist of pop culture explained the cultural currency of type. I love it! Allow me to comment on the idea of special fonts and their use in job search documents, i.e. a resume and cover letter.

We live in a world of mass-customization. That means that employers -- Gen-Xers like me, anyhow -- expect to see a custom-made resume. The older Boomers might think about computer technology and how a job seeker should be using it to customize an application for every single job they apply for (and the Gen-Yers may think you need to get a life instead of investing so much energy into your resume), but they do know when someone has made an effort to communicate to specifically to them who they are and how they can contribute to their organization. So the fact is that you can't just tweak a few lines of your resume or cover letter and expect it to be good to go. That is so 90s!

Yes, the accessibility of the internet, word processing software and even special fonts complicates the job search in many ways. However, the effort you put into researching the needs of an employer and writing your resume and cover letter in a way that tells them that you can meet those needs will pay off… if you really are a good match for the job.

As far as fonts go, we are all experts in what we like and don't. There are so many to choose from that it can be overwhelming. Generally speaking, though, if you have done your homework you will have an idea of the brand or image the organization you are applying to is promoting for themselves. You want to choose a visual image for yourself -- from your application documents to the outfit you wear to an interview -- that coordinates with theirs. You do need look like you belong.

Taking your research one step further, be aware of who else is using “your font” in the media. If a well-known and controversial group uses the “Quiggly Wiggly” font, for example, you may want to avoid it. Avoid anything that hints of anything controversial, unless that is the look you really think the employer would appreciate.

KISS (Keeping It Simple for Seekers)

Use a serif font for the body of your resume and letter. The “do-hickeys” that hang off the edges of a serif font help the eyes to flow through a document; they are easier to read. If you’d like to do something a little bit different for headings, use a complimentary sans-serif font. They are crisper and lack do-hickeys. (If you still don’t understand the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts, Google it.) . Have someone else look at your resume. Is it easy on the eyes? What image does it suggest? You don’t need to use the same fonts the employer does, although that certainly simplifies things to the extreme.


...Pam