A Resumé Pariah?

[Apon]

I'm in my final semester of nursing school and currently preparing a resume.

As I look at all of the example nursing resumes that Google can show me I'm noticing a trend: they are all conservative to the point that they would make an Amish Elder drool with envy.

Zero color and zero deviation from one to the next.

Is this a requirement?

If I had a couple of red bars on my resume would I be shunned from all nursing circles?

Would the head of hiring consider me a clown? Would my resume be fed to the shredder (metaphorically, of course, because everything is digital now)?

Most importantly, would I fail to get a job because my resume looks slightly more interesting than those around it? Or would it help me to get an interview because it stands out? Is there a way to make it stand out while still following the rules?

I'm clearly biased one direction, but I'll take your criticism. I would especially love it if one of you that has been in charge of the hiring process could give me some input.

If it really won't help, I will abandon all unnecessary formatting and attempt to blend in with every other resume. The right job is more important than my ego.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

There's various opinions on this; here's just two opposing views:

[h=2]DON'T use colors in your resume[/h]

Keep your resume black and white. Many people are tempted to add color to their resume. They make the name, contact information or job headings in different colors thinking it is adding flair and style. You have no idea what devices or applications the recipient will be viewing or printing your resume with, which might change colors or show up unclear. Why take the risk? Yes keep it simple by sticking to the best color scheme black and white. If you have web links or email addresses in your resume the default color that MS Word uses is ok to use.

Source: Resume Writing Do’s and Don’ts, Advice and Tips How to Write Winning Resumes | Career Thinker

Regardless, I do need to clarify that color is acceptable in small doses. You can use between one and three different colors in things like:

• borders
  
• bullet points
  
• or (if you are in a creative trade) a graphic* of some kind
  

Source: http://www.snagajob.com/resources/color-in-resumes/

My personal take on it is that many applications are online, including the uploading of a resumé. Not all systems are sophisticated enough to accept color- one of the ones I recently applied to had issues with the lines I had in between sections.

[llg, PhD, RN]

A lot depends on how you are submitting that resume. If you are uploading the resume into an online application program ... the online software might not be able to read those "red bars" and they may come out all wrong. Even worse, they may come out as a bunch of visible source code on the screen that makes it hard to read the actual content of the document.

If you are handing someone a paper copy of your resume or sending it as a scanned document, then 1 or 2 conservative (such as red bars) are probably just fine.

If you are not sure how the resume with be saved, copied, printed, viewed, etc. your best bet is to play it safe.