Keep in mind that the graphic should be directly related to your industry. You wouldn't put a world globe on a waitress's résumé or drafting tools on a paramedic's. In some more conservative professions (banking, accounting, upper management, etc.) graphics on a résumé are not recommended, even if they are small and conservative.

By becoming a little more inventive, you can incorporate scanned letters or figures that reflect your personality more than the industry. The use of the graphics is fine on a scannable résumé. The scanning software will ignore your graphics as long as they don't touch any of the words on the page. However, using a graphic image as the first initial of your name will cause your name to be spelled wrong in the electronic database after scanning. Avoid such graphic images that are part of your name in a scannable résumé.

Those in more creative industries--the arts, entertainment, advertising, graphic design--have a license to be even more creative.

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