The Graphics of Emphasis

When the employment manager gives your resume that thirty-second scan, you want to control the eyes of the beholder so he will see the beauty in you. You do so by using one or more of the following seven techniques of graphic emphasis; Caps, Underlining, Bold, and Italics.

You should use the first four-capitalization, underlining, bold, and italics-to accentuate your name, your strongest leads, and maybe your headings. Choosing the right mix and extent of graphic emphasis is the trick. You don't want to overdo it, or the emphasis loses its impact. You should keep in mind, for ex ample, that if you emphasize some leads, you don't have to emphasize all leads. You emphasize only those few messages you want to force the reader's eye to see.

Vertical and Horizontal Spacing



You should use the next two, vertical and horizontal spacing, to make parts of an entry stand out. For example, instead of multiple margins, use vertical spacing and drop down two lines to set off the point or experience you're extolling. Here's an example of emphasis by vertical spacing that sets apart the Honors information:

Horizontal spacing can be used to pull some information over to the extreme right-hand margin to set it off. Another example of horizontal spacing is the justified margin. As you read this book, you can see that the words of text line up exactly on the left and the right margins. Our trusty type setter is putting imperceptible amounts of space between words, spreading out the line to produce the even right-hand margin. If your entries have a lot of text, the justified margin can look quite nice. If, on the other hand, your entries are brief, don't justify the text.

If you have your resume word processed, make certain the operator knows the tricks of producing justified text. We've seen plenty of examples that look just as terrible as this one.

Punctuation

The only really effective punctuation to use for graphical emphasis is the bullet (o), the asterisk (*), the boxed bullet (?), or other tasteful graphic devices, known as dingbats (for example, o or o). Some people insist on using the hyphen (-), but we believe the bullet or asterisk does the job of emphasizing quite a bit better. If you decide to use punctuation marks as graphic devices, be careful: If you overdo it, your resume will resemble a used-car ad.

The bullet or asterisk is best used to highlight a series of events or blocks of information within a single entry. Be certain, however, that each accented event has several lines of text. Otherwise, you'll have too many accents next to each other and end up with the used-car ad once again. Here is an example us ing bullets to set off accomplishments in a given employment position.

Graphic Mistakes

Let's look at some typical mistakes people make with graphic emphasis.

• Mis-emphasizing Headings

The most common mistake is emphasizing a heading but fail ing to emphasize a lead within the heading. It makes little sense to draw the reader's eye to the word Education unless you also try to draw the reader's eye to the lead within that heading. The following example of this mistake is comparable to writing a book, printing Chapter One in large letters on the first page, and then including the name of the chapter in small letters as follows: the end of the universe.

• Underlining Words Already Emphasized by Spacing

Many words in your resume are already emphasized by spacing. For example, your centered name at the top of the resume all by itself is emphasized by spacing. Also, your left-margin headings are emphasized by their spacing and their standing alone along the left margin. Do not emphasize them again by underlining. Avoid this.

• Underlining a Series of Leads on Succeeding Lines

Remember that the underlining technique, or any other graphic device, is supposed to draw the eye of the reader to focus on certain information.

The reader's eye isn't drawn to that busyness. Indeed, the reader hopes to be able to avoid it. This example should avoid any underlining, bold type, or capitalization. Just let the list sit there unadorned. Ironically, the absence of graphic emphasis will draw the reader's eye to the list.