Response to Klein and Shackelford

Designing a resume can be somewhat challenging. Design refers to the way the resume looks and what aspects of it attract the reader’s attention visually. Klein and Shackelford describe text and type as font type, line spacing, and font size. I was always taught that you need to pick a font that is just right, not too big and not too small. I usually just stick with font size 12 to be on the safe side.  I will make my headings or important points bold and a bit of a bigger font such as 14 so that they stand out.

            Imaging is also an important part of design. I have never put a picture on my resume but I have heard from friends of mine that it is becoming more and more popular. It makes me a little uncomfortable putting my picture on the document because I would rather stand out for my talents and accomplishments. When reading a document I always flip through it to see if there are any pictures before I start reading. I would agree that a good photo should be included to draw attention and make the reader want to continue reading. This is known as contrast. The bigger the font and picture the more attention they draw. As Klein and Shackelford mentioned, a color photo is better than a black and white photo because it contrasts with the white background of the paper.

            Repetition on resumes I one of my biggest pet peeves. I don’t like when people switch between bullets and squares or dashes. I don’t like all different types of fonts and colors and spacing. I think everything should match so that it flows and looks more organized. Along with organization and repetition comes alignment. When building my resume I made sure there were just enough sentences so that the paper wasn’t cluttered. I also made sure that all the margins were the same as well as the spaces between the lines and sections. If I were looking at a resume with a bunch of white space and dates and bullet points all over the place I wouldn’t take the time to read it.

            Proximity is probably the most important element of design in my eyes. I hate when papers are unorganized and switch back and forth between topics. I like to have all of my main points supported within the following paragraph(s) and headings above the correct paragraphs when called for. I remember in grade school getting a paper I wrote back completely covered in red. My teacher told me it was unorganized and I was completely embarrassed. After that I paid extremely close attention to how my paper was organized.

            Not only is proximity important but so is the style in which the paper is being written. I am the most familiar with the MLA style but I have written a paper in APA format as well. Hopefully I can continue to critique my writing styles in this course!