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I read a thoughtful blog late last year by a young computer science graduate called Ahmed. You can read it here. It was smart. Reflective. A little bleak. The gist: the job market is broken, especially for new grads. He’s done everything right — good grades, strong internships, real skills — and still can’t land interviews. He had loads of people praising, encouraging and cheering him on. All very kind. Also not particularly helpful. Because the uncomfortable truth is this: Ahmed isn’t stuck because the market is broken. He’s stuck because his resume is doing him no favours. Before you open his resume, I want you to play a game with me. I want you to pretend to be a recruiter hiring for a Graduate Software Engineer role. If it helps, go look up an example of a Graduate Software Engineer or Graduate Software Developer job on Seek, so you have a position in mind. Next, set a timer for 7.4 seconds. That is all the time you have to look at his resume initially. No more. I’m serious. Stop reading when the timer ends. Why 7.4 seconds? Because that’s roughly how long recruiters spend on a first sweep of a resume. Sounds brutal. It is. But now add reality: you’re busy, hiring for multiple roles, and this one has 100 applicants. In those 7.4 seconds, ask yourself: Can you tick off
Or are you still trying to work out what this person actually wants? Here’s the resume when you are ready. Next week, I’ll walk you through the key things going on in this document — and how they quietly create the exact knock-on effect Ahmed is seeing in his job search. PS: Feel free to hit reply and tell me what you think the core issues are. ~Lisa Your Q&AConfident Choice or Cry for Help? Hi Lisa, Question on font size: I am a 12 point font kind of guy for readability. But am I overdoing it and do most people use 11 point on their resume? Ta, Lesley Hi Leslie, Right. Let’s address the elephant in the room. Twelve-point font is… enthusiastic. It’s not illegal. But it is on the upper edge of polite society. Think of it this way: 12-point on a resume is the typographical equivalent of speaking a little too loudly in a quiet café. You mean well. You just don’t need to project. For context, here’s how it usually shakes out in the real world:
If you’re using something sensible like Calibri, Arial, or Helvetica, 10.5–11 pt is the sweet spot. Clean. Readable. Not trying too hard. While we’re here (because this stuff always travels in packs):
Bottom line: You don’t need a bigger font to be taken seriously. You need clarity, white space, and a document that doesn’t shout. Thanks for writing in. ~Lisa |
