Modern Resume Templates

The modern resume template provides you with a way to communicate your experience in a more visually engaging way with design elements and different layouts. This format allows you to highlight key information with:

• Colors
• Backgrounds
• Text fonts
• Icons

The modern resume’s minimalist design ultimately enhances the content with various elements (e.g. sidebars, graphs, etc.), thus showing your suitability for the role.

Using a professional modern resume template can help you:

• to stand out amongst candidates;в
• hint at your personality and understanding of design;
• use visual storytelling to highlight your experience;
• make a good first impression on recruiters.

Understanding the Modern Resume Template

The modern resume template provides professionals with a double-column layout (one being a sidebar). The goal is to fit your experience into no more than a single page.

The modern resume layout's main emphasis is on the top one-third, allowing plenty of space to personalize your:

• Header - the design could include a full-width one;
• Summary - providing a snapshot of your expertise and role alignment;
• Skills and Achievements - your strengths become at the forefront of recruiters' focus.

One vital thing that stands out about the modern resume template format is that it fits enough relevant information and is easy to scan. The reason is that the modern resume includes:

• concise, essential information - targeted to the role you're applying for;
• white spaces - to clear away any clutter, highlight distinct sections, and make your resume more readable;
• typography formatting - bold and italicized for keywords/skills, etc.

The best modern resume templates have a clean look and feel, and provide space for creativity like with a “My Time” section that you can find on Enhancv resumes.

Different design elements are used to cleverly emphasize relevant information. Check out some Enhancv best practices below:

• Use icons for resume sections like achievements and strengths to help recruiters pinpoint your unique professional value;
• Illustrate your skills (and language) competencies with progress bars/ sliders and charts to give a better idea of your proficiency level;
• Represent your character and hobbies with infographics like the "My Time" section to make sure your application is more memorable.

Modern resumes vs traditional resumes

Let's compare how the modern resume template differentiates from the traditional one.

We'll focus on three main elements.

1. Modern Design template vs traditional one

The modern resume template has a stylish and sleek design with ample white spaces.

On the other hand, the traditional resume design is more formal and conservative.

2. Length of a modern resume vs a traditional one

Modern resumes are more concise to prioritize key achievements / essential information.

Traditional resumes can be up to two pages long to detail more responsibilities and achievements.

3. The top-one-third of the modern resume vs a traditional one

Modern resume templates prioritize the top-one-third of the resume via headlines, links to portfolios, and summary.

Traditional resumes opt for a more simplified resume top-one-third. Where LinkedIn or portfolio links aren’t a must and an objectives section (or personal statements) is included.

Read on and learn how to write a modern resume.

When and Why to Use a Modern Resume

Before we dive into the best-case scenarios of when you should be using a modern resume template, let's look at six reasons why.

Find the modern resume layout that best suits your personality and fits the role you're applying for.

This next part will examine when it's a good idea to use a professional, modern resume template.

Use the modern resume template to become synonymous with innovation

It’s especially useful for those of you who:

• think you are a visionary;
• want to work for a contemporary company;
• come from a creative or technical background;
• have developed a unique personal brand;
• deem it relevant to stand out.

This resume format is a sure way to signal to potential employers that you are on the same page as them.

Use the modern resume template to align with the industry you’re working in.

The modern resume template is beneficial for all industries that call for a bold approach.

The two most popular innovative fields are:

• The creative industry (graphic design, marketing, advertising, media, etc.). Roles within the profession value visual presentation, design skills, and outside-the-box thinking.
• Technology or IT-related (software development, web design, data analysis, IT project management). The modern resume template shows recruiters you are well aware of current design trends and technologies.

Use the modern resume template to tailor your profile to the company you’re applying at.

Applying to a company (or startup) that uses any of the following adjectives as part of their description - “youthful”, “hip”, and/or “cutting-edge” (imagine the likes of Google, Tesla, Shopify, Facebook, and Spotify)?

Your ability to embrace change, new approaches, and technological innovations is what will resonate the most with these types of organizations.

That's why the sleek, modern resume template is the right choice for you. It'd help you align your profile to the brand's culture.

Use the modern resume template to match the role you’re applying for.

The modern resume template could be appropriate if you apply for any position and at any level of the hierarchy.

Let's use entry-level professionals as an example.

They could use this format to compensate for their lack of extensive experience.

And thus shift the focus in a visually appealing and succinct manner to:

• skills and achievements;
• education and relevant projects;
• portfolio/ social media and personal interests.

These sections may not be entirely related to official job experience, but it’s a trick to turn a problem into an opportunity.

As a result, your resume will look complete and will show some advantages that might otherwise remain hidden.

Use the modern resume template to stand out with a bold and contemporary look.

The modern resume's striking layout makes a great first impression on recruiters.

Add some flavor to your resume by using vivid colors to highlight the section headings. Just make sure to use no more than three colors.

This personalized design could help you attain a more professional look and feel.

Elements of a Modern Resume

Modern resume layout

​​Enhancv's modern resume layout allows you to present your expertise and skills in either a single or double-column format.

We recommend using the second option (where you have a sidebar on either the left or right side). The two columns make critical information more presentable and show you made an effort to organize your resume.

Other vital sections that could make up your modern resume layout include

• Summary - describing your biggest successes and values (as a professional) in two-to-three sentences;
• Job experience - roles in reverse chronological order with achievements, presented via bullet points;
• Education - include more information about courses, only if they're relevant to the job;
• Skills and/or Achievements - skills serve as keywords, while achievements remark on what makes your application truly unique.

Additional sections to make your modern resume even more complete and show who you really are:

• Quotes
• Interests
• Hobbies
• Books
• Projects

Ensure that content is always relevant and not just taking up space. And always make sure to use active language and strong action verbs - to show your character.

Using the modern resume space strategically

Now that we've covered the layout, let's discuss the white spaces and lines.

These crucial modern resume elements:

• increase the readability of your profile, thus making it more easily skimmable;
• clear the clutter to allow for breathing room between important skills and achievements.

Color and color combinations for a modern resume

Want to show just how creative you are with your profile?

Then, add some colors to your modern resume with Enhancv's builder. You could custom-pick the hues for:

• Primary information (e.g. your name, jobs, degrees, skills, etc.)
• Secondary information (e.g. header, companies, icons, universities, etc.)

And the choice is entirely up to you!

You could go for a more subtle palette - the standard black text and gray highlights, on a white background. Thus creating contrast with different shades.

Or, selecting brighter and more vivid colors for your modern resume, like orange and blue or green and pink.

Experiment with the tone of your resume sidebar - to reflect the secondary color of your choice.

One final heads up - select no more than three hues to match the standard, white background.

Modern resume fonts and typography

When selecting the typography of your resume, you don't need to go all out with the trendiest fonts.

Instead, you can use time-tested and readable ones to help your resume stand out.

Enhancv users' favorites include bold and light fonts, such as Rubik, Lato, Montserrat, and Raleway. You can also use Arial, Inter, and Roboto if you’re doing your modern resume in Google Docs or Word.

Want to make key information stand out even further and more scannable? Elements within the top one-third of your resume (like your name, headline, or key achievements) can be bolded.

Unique design elements of modern resumes

The modern resume template allows you to get creative with unique design elements like

• icons to highlight different sections, such as Achievements or Skills;
• sidebars in different colors to focus attention on job requirements you match;
• background visuals (with 3D elements and colors) to stand out.

You could also further quantify your industry expertise; hard, soft, and language skills with sliders.

Want to shift the resume focus toward your hobbies?

Illustrate how you spend your time via a pie chart with up to seven slices, or add the covers of the books that inspire you.

Using graphics and icons is a strong advantage of modern resumes, but make sure to use them in moderation. Otherwise, you risk looking immature.

Five Job Positions Where a Modern Resume Shines

Digital Marketing Specialist

The world of marketing is cutting-edge, to say the least. Professionals have to always be one step ahead of consumers with ideas, creativity, and know-how.

Especially within the online space - where users' attention span is mere seconds.

And what better way to show your forward-facing vision than a modern resume template?

Where you have space to demonstrate that you don't merely understand and apply current trends, thanks to your experience.

But show within the achievements section how you've leveraged market insights to attain higher engagements.

And, also, how you've stayed ahead of the curve and set groundbreaking trends with the projects resume section.

Here’s an example from a digital marketing specialist with over five years of experience in SEO, PPC, and Content Writing.

UX/UI Designer

If you're looking for a role in UX/UI, you've realized just how important visual presentation is.

The look and feel of your digital project can boost the user experience and make it a memorable one.

Having this in mind, consider just how user-friendly your resume is (for recruiters or the ATS).

The modern resume template offers you the perfect platform to show your understanding of design while staying professional.

With a contemporary, minimalistic aesthetic - you have the freedom to enjoy experimenting with colors and graphic elements.

Putting your experience at the forefront of design trends.

Notice just precisely how this UX/UI designer uses the two-column format to highlight key skills and achievements.

Data Scientist

The secret formula to becoming the best data scientist out there?

Your ability to take big sets of data and information and transform those into manageable (and easy to comprehend) assets.

That's exactly what the modern resume format would do for you.

Restructuring your complex experience: projects, frameworks, and structures into a clean, easy-to-scan (and understand) resume.

What is more, you could apply a multitude of design principles to appear as a more innovative professional.

This in terms would allow even the most non-technical recruiters to comprehend precisely how you're able to assess information to help maintain organizations' positive ROI.

Discover just how to apply the modern resume template to your experience below.

Product Manager in a Tech Startup

Innovation, bold ideas, and forward-thinking vision are what flow through startups' veins.

And product managers are tasked with building precisely that vision - from the ground up by:

• strategizing and creating customer journey roadmaps;
• developing and launching products;
• understanding the ideal customer profile.

Why not go for a modern resume layout?

It's the perfect choice to showcase all the above responsibilities.

While highlighting your application as an on-trend, outside-the-box-thinking, compassionate (and empathetic) candidate.

Use this template to help recruiters understand why they should hire you:

Social Media Manager

Whether we're talking about META, TikTok, or even LinkedIn - social media remains perhaps one of the most faced-paced and dynamic environments out there.

Social media managers’ responsibilities are to constantly:

• predict consumer behavior;
• stay on trend with platform algorithms;
• ensure high engagement.

Consider your resume as a piece of content you're curating for clients - what would make it stand out?

The modern resume format's contemporary twist and aesthetic allow you to bring creativity to the forefront of your application.

And also remind recruiters just how excellent you are at staying updated with the latest trends and developments.

Get ready for a resume with a clear, yet very contemporary look and feel - the perfect choice for social media roles.