Résumé Teardown: Don’t Forget Formatting!

Welcome to the résumé teardown! We took a real applicant’s résumé and asked Brian Corey, VP of Corporate Sales at Globoforce —someone who’s reviewed a lot of résumés in his day—to look it over and give some advice. Click on the images to enlarge.

The moral of this story is: Don’t forget formatting! Most recruiters spend a short time scanning résumés just to get your vital deets. If you’re using a non-traditional format, you’re making things more difficult for the recruiter and therefore increasing the chances of your résumé getting tossed. Brian was kind enough to offer a sample of the type of format he’d expect from an entry-level applicant for a sales position. Here’s Brian’s sample cover letter and résumé.

Homework time! Is your résumé in a standard format? Look at Brian’s example and make any adjustments if necessary.