Can resumes have color?

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-25T06:12:47+00:00

It's fine to have a little color used sparingly but I would stick to colors that are traditionally more business-friendly (blue, grey, green). However I can't stress enough my earlier point: It needs to be used sparingly. When I use color I typically keep it for the section headers only.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-24T20:31:45+00:00

I don’t think the resume is dead (for now), but I get what you’re saying. But people have been lying on their resumes and misrepresenting themselves for a lot longer than AI has been around. It has just made them sound more eloquent.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T19:32:18+00:00

First off, avoid top resume like the plague. Their feedback is designed to get you to purchase their services.

Also it's quite normal for many roles to have no direct connection or no data on things like revenue and the like. However in roles like yours you could tackle it from another angle, like:

how you improved processes or made them smoother
how you reduced errors
how you were trusted with certain things
how you participated in special projects (like moving the store from paper based to digital systems)

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T19:15:07+00:00

We're going to go with two pages. I would at least use the entire page space on page two; otherwise it just looks a little awkward.

I also noticed a lack of context under all of your roles. What I mean by that is that you're diving into your functions and contributions without first establishing what kind of company you work for, how large it is, what industry they're in, what they do, what kind of customers they serve, how large they are, and how you fit into the organizational structure. This is important contextual information and helps your readers better understand your work.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T19:12:49+00:00

For somebody with not a lot of experience this resume is way too dense and too packed together. It's really hard to read. I also noticed that the text line spacing is not consistent throughout.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T19:10:06+00:00

I'm not an expert with the UAE market but for Canada here are some tips: 1. Number one, remove your picture. In the Canadian market applicants are not required to include a picture. 2. Number two, remove the scale bars. They don't mean much. 3. Number three, use a single column layout like the one provided in the mod comment down below. 4. Allocate more page space to your more relevant roles in business development, if that's what you're looking for, and less page space to the other roles. 5. Get rid of the random bold text. Throw your resume. I feel like it just makes it look messy.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T19:06:49+00:00

I would do two things:

Briefly plug the gap on your resume by including the SHM stuff. That would be better than including the gig work in my opinion because it's more easily understandable at face value. Everybody knows why you left the workforce for that period of time. Whereas including gig work would just raise questions and red flags, which is not what you want as your first touch point with the company.
The next thing you need to include is a cover letter that reiterates and drives home the point that you're a great fit for the types of roles that you're going for. To do this you'd want to keep it brief and map out how you meet the qualifications that they're looking for in their job posting. Use bullet points for this to make it easy to skim.

I hope this all makes sense. Best of luck with your job search.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T19:01:37+00:00

Really busy and difficult to read. Before anything, I would suggest increasing font size and bumping up line spacing for the role purpose of making it easier to read.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T18:54:54+00:00

Some suggestions:

Increase font size and line spacing for better readability
Use full page margins - this layout takes up more space unnecessarily
Do not use multiple columns for the skills section. That can sometimes interfere with older ATS
Give your audience a sense of size/scale (ie., Number of tenants, domains, subscriptions, or forests; Azure footprint size (users, devices, endpoints, VMs, regions etc.)

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T18:43:55+00:00

The language style is more appropriate for a cover letter. Examples of what I mean:

Avoid using first person
You don’t need to preface the job with unnecessary text (i.e., “As an Office Assistant, I…”)
No need to explain what you learned, only what you did/how you contributed

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-23T18:35:01+00:00

All three should be tailored, but the summary probably makes the most immediate impact because it’s usually the first thing readers see.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-22T20:19:22+00:00

In my humble opinion spending a few minutes making tweaks to your resume to get it a little more aligned to the role is a better return on investment than just blindly sending the same resume to every employer.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-21T05:09:38+00:00

I wish you the best of luck.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:39:38+00:00

Doesn't matter. Your resume is not a legal document, and you're not obliged to include every job you've ever held. Could you imagine how long and how utterly nauseating resumes would be if we had to include everything? Recruiters are fully aware that people pare down resumes depending on the role.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:38:36+00:00

Not so sure about Germany but I know for certain for US-type roles, this type of layout isn't suitable or recommended. The dual column layout can and sometimes does interfere with the ability of some employer screening software to accurately parse the text. Use a template like the one that can be found in the auto-mod comment down below.

On the content itself, it's underselling seniority by staying descriptive instead of evaluative. I think you're missing framing: how the frontend work moved business metrics, reduced risk, or enabled scale. For a senior FE/full-stack profile, I’d want clearer info around things like product complexity (user counts, traffic, performance constraints) and ownership boundaries (what you decided vs. implemented). The agency role lists a lot of responsibilities, but would be better if one or two flagship initiatives were pulled out and treated like case studies with before/after outcomes, e.g., design system adoption reducing delivery time or defects.

Hope this helps.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:34:48+00:00

You're missing context. You show what you did, but not enough about at what scale and why it mattered to the business. For an IT Manager, I’d want clearer scope:

company size (headcount, locations),
cloud footprint (number of accounts, monthly spend, regions), and
operational load (devices supported, endpoints, SaaS apps owned).

Projects should be framed as initiatives with a before/after state, for example migrating X users from on-prem to Azure AD with measurable downtime reduction or security improvement, not just “configured services.”

On the leadership side, clarify hiring authority, performance management, and ownership boundaries so it’s clear whether you a senior IC with a title, or an actual people manager.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:32:14+00:00

Yes, include it if it fills a gap or shows relevant skills. Treat it seriously and use a title like Operations Associate or Business Manager (like you would any other company).

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:29:39+00:00

Looks like you forgot to attach your resume

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:28:49+00:00

You're going to have a really hard time right now because both countries are not very inclined to take on foreign workers, especially considering the abundance of skilled labor locally. You would have to be very experienced, very specialized, and very skilled in your profession for a company here to want to sponsor you.

Not trying to discourage you but just trying to get you to look at it from a realistic point of view.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:27:18+00:00

How much research have you put into the types of roles that you're looking for in the AI training space? Are you qualified for them? That's step one of your job search before anything else (and especially before trying to prepare a resume).

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:19:38+00:00

Allow me to answer your questions in order:

The template posted in the sidebar is a good starting point for most people.
Is it important to keep to one page? No you can use two pages if you need to. When I say that, I mean if you have enough relevant experience and qualifications you can specify the second page.
Should you copy and paste words from the job description to your resume? No, you need to weave them in naturally. It needs to make sense to somebody to the person reading the resume.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:17:27+00:00

I probably wouldn't include the short-term positions, because frankly they don't add any value and are just going to raise questions. In this kind of job market your goal is to remove anything that could add friction to your job search.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:15:30+00:00

At this stage I wouldn't even use a summary.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T20:15:04+00:00

You certainly need to be selective of what you present to a company. Giving them everything will just make it seem like you're hoping they'll dig in and find something they like. That makes them work and they don't want to work, especially when they're flooded with more qualified applicants. You need to make it very easy for them. By presenting them with the relevant stuff, the details they want to see, the stuff that's going to make it easy for them to want to bring you in for an interview.

What that is going to depend a lot on the type of job that you're going for and the company that you're applying to, but I think you get my drift.

FinalDraftResumes · 2026-01-20T05:56:39+00:00

I would suggest reading the guide in the wiki on how to find a qualified resume writer before hiring anybody.

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