Template Downloads
Resume templates are probably the single most useful tool when trying to write your resume. If you are ok with english then bullet points and descriptions will come, however if you’re not good with Microsoft Word and formatting documents, then using a pre-created template is probably your best option.
What are the benefits of using a resume template?
There are many benefits to using a pre-fabricated template over just copying your friends resume or trying to create one from scratch. Below we list a few reasons why it’s smart to go with the pre-made option over creating your own.
1. Save Time
Using a template can help cut your resume writing time in half. Creating a resume from scratch means spending about 50% of your time trying to get it to “look nice” and 50% of your time actually writing it. By starting off with a professional, pre-made outline you cut out all the formatting time so you can focus on writing.
2. Professionally Designed
Furthermore, by using a professional template you guarantee the overall design will be professional and well-received by HR professionals and companies. If you choose to do your own designing and aren’t a professional designer then what may look nice to you may not look so good to others. In the employment industry it’s always best to take the safer route, in this case, by entrusting design to a professional.
3. Easy to Follow Pre-Made Outlines
Templates already have placeholder content so that you can get an idea of what the finished product should look like. Starting from scratch with a blank document can be challenging as it may be hard to visualize what you want the final product to look like. Instead, starting with a resume with information already inserted all you have to do is find and replace with your own details and you’re set to go!
How do I Choose a Template?
Choosing a style for your resume comes down to two main factors. First, your resume should reflect your personal taste. This is subjective and depends on the individual. The whole point of indulging in personal style preference is to set yourself apart from the hundreds or thousands of other resumes HR will receive. Don’t worry too much about this, the only point is to subtly differentiate from the competition.
The second thing to consider when choosing a style is the industry you are applying to. The style and design of a resume for an Elementary Teacher resume will look very different than the style preferred by those hiring in the financial or tech sectors. Try to match the font, layout, color tones and subtle styling cues to match the “feel” of the industry you are applying to. It may seem minor, but every little bit counts in the job hunting game!
Below are a selection of professionally created resumes with subtle yet effective designs to help you both stand out from the competition in an acceptable and pleasant way. View the entire selection and download the style that best fits both your personal preference as well as the industry in which you are applying for.
Free Professional Designs
We have over a dozen professionally designed resume templates with filler/demo content already added so all you have to do is download them and replace the existing names, education, work experience and skills sections with your own information.
These templates are great for anyone working in service, business, or non-profit industries as they have unique styling but aren’t overly stylized with colors or graphics, they are a perfect blend of professionalism and individualism.
Simply click on the preview image below and it will take you to the Copy My Resume public Google Drive folder where you can browse all of the template variations and download as many as you like completely free of charge.
Simple/Standard Designs:
None of the above designs doing it for you? Don’t worry, we have even more free templates that you can download below, although we think these are a bit more on the “creative” end of the spectrum but they are professional nonetheless and wouldn’t look out of place on any HR Manager’s desk..
Free Creative Designs
The templates below are also hosted in Google Drive and are free for Copy My Resume users to access, download, and modify/customize to use in their own resume writing processes.
The designs linked in the thumbnail below are a bit more “creative” in terms of the styles, colors, and graphics used to present the information. These work great for freelancers/contractors, artists or students.
Unique Templates:
At the end of the day, the colors, styling and format of your resume is largely flexible and will depend on your personal brand, your experience, the company you are applying to and the industry you are working in.
If you are ever in doubt in regards to which style to use we always recommend you air on the side of caution as having a slightly overly-conservative resume format/style is safer than having an overly stylized one for your profession/field.
For example, the formats used for a Nursing Assistant resume will be very different than that of a Social Media Manager. Likewise student resumes will look different than executive resumes.
There is no solid fast rule in terms of what you can and can’t do in terms of styling. Much of it is up to user discretion and feeling out the employer and the industry.
One tip to help determine what style is best to emulate is to do a simple Google image search for your job title and see what pops up. Google ranks things in terms of popularity so what you see at the top of the page for a given job title is what most people are looking for in regards to that position/industry.
Some things that should never be included on a resume include clip art, handwriting, rich media, or incongruent graphics.
We hope these templates can help you get a quicker start in your job hunting process. We are regularly updating our resume resources here at Copy My Resume and we will work with designers to update our template selection going into the future to make sure we stay relevant and helpful to users just like you.