Lines can be either horizontal, vertical, or full page borders. Lines at the top of the résumé can be used to set the name and address sections) apart from the text so the eye can be drawn to the most important information first.

Horizontal lines between sections allow the reader to focus on each section separately and draw the eye from section to section, especially when there is little room for extra white space (which can serve the same purpose). The creative use of horizontal or vertical lines adds pizzazz to the design of a résumé without appearing too overdone. Résumés created with such lines can be used in all but the most conservative of industries.

It is important, however, to avoid the use of too many lines with different thicknesses on the same page. The résumé can get "busy," which makes the reader work too hard. It is a good idea to use no more than two line widths per résumé. 

The samples that follow will give you some ideas for ways to use lines in a résumé. 

• Sample 1
• Sample 2

• Name
• Address
• Section Headings
• Dates
• Location
• Personal Information
• Fonts & Bullets
• Graphic Lines
• Images
• Paragraph Style
• Creative Resumes