10 Eye Catching Free Resume Templates To Grab An Employer’s Attention

We humans are a visual species, or at least that’s what we keep hearing. Graphics, infographics, videos, GIF’s – all of these seem to grab our attention more quickly than a block of text can ever manage. But does this affect how you put together your resume? Should visuals and graphics come into the process?

Getting the right balance

There are some great novelty ideas out there for creating an eye-catching resume. From creating your resume to look like newspaper articles about your work history to plastering your attributes onto a milk carton, some people have a quirky way to get their resume noticed by the boss. But for the majority of it, while it might make a great social media story, in real life our reality is a little more sensible. That means a great resume that looks attractive, is eye catching but is still clearly a resume – not a part of the breakfast menu!

Obviously, the content is the single most important thing to include in your resume. It needs to have the right elements, the right information and be well worded. But by using a well styled resume template, you can make the whole thing much more visually appealing. Doing this could get you that crucial great first impression that moves your resume onto the 'yes' pile to be studied by someone who matters.

10 eye catching resume designs

So let’s have a look at a few examples and see what makes them eye-catching or visually appealing. All of these resume templates are free to download and simple to add your information to, so don't worry - there is no complicated design process involved.

More info: freesumes.com

The turquoise resume makes use of a large header with a pointed design that automatically sends the eye to the next body of text. It has one thinner column for your profile that is a pale turquoise shade while the body of the document, containing work and school experience, is crisp and white. It looks cool and sophisticated and is suitable for men and women.

The Modern and Chic Resume is a photo resume that includes a round picture in the top left corner and works on the idea that people relate better to someone when they can see their face. It uses a dusky pink colour scheme with white text on the darker side and dark pink text on the light side, both being easy to read.

The Subtle Resume uses soft tones of grey that nonetheless creates an eye catching effect. There is a white area in the top right header with personal details and then beneath this, a patchwork effect with a touch of darker grey. The body of the document uses a light grey with dark text showing up easily and adds a nice handwritten font for the headers.

Yellow is said to be one of the colours that the eye sees first and this is used on the bold and large header of the Buff Yellow Resume. It also uses clearly defined sections to allow easy scanning and stark black text to show up all the details.

The Honeycomb Photo is another photo resume that uses an attractive honeycomb shape for the picture in the top left corner with a border and a large, open header area for your name and role. Beneath this are two columns, one with a soft cream background and clear sections for the information.

Mr Mint may be aimed at men but could easily work for women too and has an appealing mint background colour. This is a photo resume with a round photo in the top right corner and a rating area for professional skills that draws the eye. The bulk of the text is on a white background to make reading simple.

Another to use a shade of yellow, the Goldenrod Resume is different in that the colour is mostly to the bottom of the document, highlighting the education area. It also features headers and icons in the same shade while the rest of the text is in black on a white background.

The Avant Garde resume uses black, white and red for a very eye catching document with a fine black border, black background to the name and a red column including address and about details. The rest of the document is white with red headers and black text.

The Blush and Pixie resume is a photo resume that uses a pointed header to direct the eye to the image. It uses shades of pink and black text with a two column layout, profile on the smaller side and other information on the wider area.

A Splash of Blue is a very modern layout with the photo in the bottom left corner with shades of blue borders. The smaller column has a pale blue background while the bulk of the information is on white.

So there you go. A wide selection of very different and eye catching free resume templates that are designed to stand out from the crowd. The only decision you have to make now is which one to choose?