The Dos and Don’ts of an Infographic Resume

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Infographic resumes with charts, tables, and other design elements are commonplace on the internet. They may look attractive compared to your simple, wordy resume. Thinking of creating an infographic resume to stand out? It’s best to know some basic rules before diving into creating one.

To do

1. Choose a minimalist design

You might want your resume to turn heads, but your resume is a professional document, and it shouldn’t distract you with too much going on. For example, filling your CV with too many design elements or complicated graphics will not help your professional potential.

Use a clean design template with a few simple graphic elements and limit yourself to using one or two complementary colors. Remember that the content of your CV is the key to your next job, not the design itself.

Opting for a minimalist design does not mean forgetting the details. An infographic resume is still a document to market yourself to, and you need to add necessary information like work experience, skills, education, and a professional photo.

2. Have structure

Although your infographic resume is full of design elements, it is still essential to have a logical flow in your resume. Placing random things all over the page is prohibited. For example, you should put your contact information and resume at the top, followed by your work experience and skills. Your resume will look clunky if you change this order.

USE VIDEO OF THE DAY

If you are unsure, follow the same structure as your traditional CV.

3. Be brief

You may have mile-long accomplishments and a handful of hobbies, but you have to be picky about picking the right things to highlight on your resume. The description of the job you are applying for is the best place to start. Then, depending on the job requirements, you can choose the relevant experience and skills to put in your resume.

Ideally, your infographic resume should only be one page long. However, if you can’t fit all the key details on one page, add another page, but keep this upper limit.

4. Showcase your skills

One of the main advantages of an infographic resume over the traditional resume is that you can stand out from the crowd with a one-of-a-kind resume. Your hiring manager will remember your unique CV among hundreds of others. So use that to your advantage by outlining all of your relevant skills. In addition to your technical skills, don’t forget to add your transferable skills.


Add visually appealing elements like bar charts and graphs to showcase your skills.

5. Use it for your wallet

An infographic resume is one of the best alternative formats to show off your work experience, skills, and design skills. If you’re in a creative or marketing field, an infographic resume can be perfect as a portfolio to showcase your design savvy or sales data.

Infographic resumes are also visually appealing on your website and LinkedIn page.

6. Add your contact details

Your infographic resume is also your portfolio, and you need contact information and social media links so people can reach you. Place them where you can easily see them. Use symbols and logos to grab attention.

Not to do

1. Go overboard with colors and fonts

When it comes to your resume colors, subtlety is the way to go. Neon greens and pinks may be your favorite colors, but they don’t belong on your resume. You can only customize your infographic resume within reason. So stick with grays, blues and greens. Also, if you’re adding more than one color, carefully choose colors that complement each other.

The same rule also applies to your fonts. Along with choosing a pleasing color, use an appropriate font. You can always opt for a nice font other than Arial and Time New Roman, but don’t let it be too ornate or cartoonish.

2. Make it your only CV

Have you applied for many jobs, waited days and heard nothing from recruiters? You may feel like you sent your resume in tune with the times. But don’t worry, someone read it. Just that, it might not be a human recruiter – ATS probably read it. Many companies and recruiters rely on the ATS or Applicant Tracking System to screen potential candidates.

ATS is a software that collects, sorts and stores the CVs of recruiters. This saves time and makes it easier for recruiters to find the right candidate among thousands of applications. If you don’t highlight your relevant skills and experience with appropriate keywords, ATS won’t see you as an ideal candidate for the job.

The problem with your infographic resume is that the ATS won’t be able to read it. The bottom line is that using an infographic resume can sometimes cost you that job opportunity. It’s wise to have a well-done, traditional resume handy. If your job application is online, where you fill in all the details, it will likely be sent to ATS. Your best bet is to apply with your traditional CV in this case.

Also, not all hiring managers are open to an infographic resume – some traditional recruiters may perceive it as an unprofessional document. It is therefore a good idea to keep your usual CV. However, feel free to include your infographic resume with your traditional resume so your recruiter has options.

3. Try the DIY route (unless you’re a designer)

Preparing an infographic resume from scratch requires skill and expertise. You need to know special software like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. It’s not easy to write a professional looking resume if you’re not a designer.

With so many resume templates online, creating a great infographic resume is quick, easy, and fun. You don’t need any special skills or spend hours designing your CV. Just find a template you like and customize it.

Impress your recruiters with your infographic CV

Having an infographic resume is a creative way to showcase your skills and experience. The graphic elements of an infographic CV are much better than the bullet points of your traditional CV. As a result, it grabs your recruiter’s attention better than your wordy resume.

But not all infographic resumes are created equal. So, follow our rules and advice, and your CV will surely impress your recruiter.


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