Compared two resume formats side by side and one got me way more callbacks

I spent about 3 months using a fancy two column resume with graphics and colors. Barely got any replies. Switched to a simple plain text single column format with just bullet points and my actual experience. Got 5 interviews in the first two weeks after. Has anyone else seen better results with a boring resume over a flashy one?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason_stone1mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah same thing happened to me! I spent weeks making a colorful resume with charts and a profile picture and got zero calls back. Switched to a boring black and white bullet point list and started hearing from recruiters almost right away. Recruiters just want to scan your experience fast, not look at a design portfolio.

jake_dixon1mo ago

100% agree with @jason_stone, I made the same mistake lol. Spent money on a fancy template with all these graphics and got crickets. Soon as I stripped it down to just plain text with some bold headers, I actually got interviews. Recruiters just don't care about the fluff.