As a professional, you probably know by now that a great resume is really powerful for your personal brand and to jump start your job search.
But what if resume design has never really been your jam?
Well, you’re in luck because there are templates out there that can help…
And they make resume creation a whole lot easier.
In today’s post I’m going to walk you through using a resume template, and why you as a professional should care.
Oh, and if you’re thinking, what’s a resume template? Don’t worry…
By the end of this post, I’m confident you’ll be ready to experiment with one to level-up your job search game.
MODERN RESUME TEMPLATES
In a nutshell a resume template is a “pre-made layout with font, colour, or sections that you can edit to fit each new job application”.
When you use the same template for each application, you save a tonne of time and create a cohesive, on-brand document that aligns with your job search goals.
Check it out:
That’s a lot of valuable real estate!
WHY IS A RESUME TEMPLATE GOOD FOR YOUR JOB SEARCH?
You might be thinking, Aren’t I busy enough with work, life, family? I have a basic document. It has some formatting. It has content… Do I really need to change?
I hear you on that, but this is why I think a modern, professionally designed resume is worth your attention today…
In Australia, on average, each posted job should receive between 50-60 applicants – minimum.
This will fluctuate up or down depending on how competitive the market is (i.e. abundance of vacant roles and number of people looking for opportunities).
Unless you are going for a position in an industry that is currently starving of talent or has an oversupply of qualified professionals, then the above number is what you’d typically expect as your competition level.
And guess what happens when you have competition?
Well, in the world of recruitment, where Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are what all the cool kids are using – it’s very easy to be overlooked.
An ATS is software that sorts, ranks and streamlines the recruitment process.
So, when it comes to your resume, how you put it together matters.
Here’s how I think of a resume template…
They are the middle child between your content and personal brand.
We have your content on one hand, which details your relevant career history to an employer.
And then, we have your personal brand, which is a blend of your content and resume design.
A resume template fits into the middle because it takes the pressure off you when it comes to design (such as font, colour, layout etc.), but includes your relevant content.
A good template will appeal to the eye of a human reader (capturing their attention) yet not sabotaging your application when being read by an ATS.
HOW TO USE A RESUME TEMPLATE
Let me ask you this…
Are you struggling with low interview rates?
Do you want to make it easier for a hiring manager to read your resume?
Do you want help draw the readers’ eyes from key point to key point?
Does your resume look like a bad 90’s hairstyle?
The answer here is simple: try a resume template.
Like this:
Before Resume Template After
The template wasn’t hard to use. Watch the video below to see how easy it was for me to transform “Kerry’s” brand in just over 10 minutes.
The resume content was already written. But it was pretty basic looking and bland. So, I’ve taken a modern style and shifted Kerry from boring to sophisticated.
Discover how easy it is to use a professionally designed resume template 
Key Things About This Resume Template
This resume design uses a clean formatting solution that ATS love.
The Key Qualifications and Personal Brand sections are made using white text and overlaid with a green box.
I’ve NOT used a text box.
This is really important and where a lot of resume templates fail.
This text will be “read” by an ATS because the green box will be simply be ignored by an ATS.
A well-designed resume doesn’t need to be plain and generic.
Other features to improve readability
✅ No first-page headers
✅ Right tabs (instead of repeatedly hitting the space bar)
✅ Simple 3-column table for keywords
✅ Equal margins
There’s many more features built-in, but you get the idea.
READY TO IMPROVE YOUR JOB SEARCH USING A GREAT RESUME TEMPLATE?
My 2-page professionally designed Microsoft Word resume template will help you get visible in your market…so you go from being invisible to “OMG, I love your resume!”
Boost your engagement…so you never get a “crickets only” response to your job search again.
Did I mention it's Free?
✔️ ATS Friendly
✔️ Microsoft Word
✔️ Correct font and sections included
