In today’s article, you will learn about the best colors for resume and CV. You must have heard that you should not use a colorful resume, but you can’t deny that strategic use of color can enhance your impact on the reader. While it’s true that you need to be very careful when deciding resume color palette. But how?
No more delays, Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
Best Colors For Resume
Deciding on what color is best for a resume depends on various factors including your identity, the job you are applying for, the company’s norms, and others.
Here are the best colors to use on resume for different job markets with examples to help you make effective choices.
1. Corporate Job Market
Industries: Government, Law, Finance, and Accounting.
- Black: Black is a classic color choice for resumes that ensures a formal tone and professionalism. It is a very neutral color and never goes wrong. If you can’t decide on a CV color just go with black. Additionally, it allows the content to be at main focus.
- Navy Blue: Another best color for a resume is navy blue which conveys professionalism, confidence, and trustworthiness. To be more creative, you can use shades of blue to highlight different sections.
- Dark Grey: If you are applying for any of the above-listed industries like government, finance, etc. you can also use a dark grey color for your resume. It helps to boost readability and provides a sophisticated look. Some of the popular dark grey shades are charcoal grey, taupe grey, etc.
Example:
A resume for an accounting manager might use navy blue for headings and black for body text. You can also use navy blue as the background but make sure that the text color stands out with dark backgrounds such as white, or light grey.
2. Creative Job Market
Industries: Interior Design, Graphic Design, Marketing, Photography, Media and others.
- Soft Blue: A soft blue color is one of the best colors to use on a resume for creative jobs. You can use soft blue either for headings or for the sections. Also, make sure to balance the overall look with white or grey text.
- Pale Pink: Pale pink can be a good choice for a resume in the creative job market that adds feminity and elegance. You can add this color to highlight your skills, icons, or section headers.
- Muted Green: The green color represents nature and growth. Therefore, you can use this color to highlight your achievements.
Example: A Web developer might use a website layout with soft blue for section headings and dark blue for the main heading to create a unique resume that matches his requirements and aesthetics.
However, In the creative job market, you can use a variety of color combinations that reflect your personal style and design sensibility. You can go all out in terms of creativity while applying for such jobs.
3. Technology Job Market
Industries: Software Engineer, Data Scientist, IT, Web Developer, and others.
- Muted Blue: It is one of the best CV colors for technical jobs as it conveys trust and stability. You can use different shades of blue to balance out the overall boldness of your resume.
- Gray: You can use dark as well as light gray for your resume as it is associated with seriousness and professionalism.
Example: A software engineer might use blue as the main color, and light gray for section division or highlighting her skills.
4. Entertainment Job Market
Industries: Music, Film, Actor, Editor, Event Manager, etc.
- Bold Red
- Yellow
- Vibrant Purple
These bold and vibrant colors are a good choice for the entertainment job market. It helps you reflect energy, and excitement and showcase your creativity. Hence, A bold color scheme will surely grab the attention of the readers.
Example: An event manager will incorporate the resume color palette like yellow, dark gray, and white.
5. Healthcare Job Market
Industries: Research, Medicine, Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Health Educator, Therapist, and others.
- Blue: Blue color represents trust, calmness, and professionalism. Therefore, you can use tones of blue for your resume.
- Beige: Beige is a warm color that symbolizes warmth and approachability. Furthermore, you can also use colors like Fresh Green and Bright Teal.
Example: A nurse might be using a combination of beige, soft pink, and gray in her resume.
Should resumes have color?
The question, “Should resumes have color?” is an endless discussion. Everybody knows that you are not the only person applying for a job but there is a huge competition in the job market. Some people agree that colors can help you make your resume unique while others are worried that it might be unprofessional and detractive.
However, With the right choice of CV colors, you can use them effectively to improve resume appeal. Following are some benefits of using resume colors:
- Appealing Visuals
- Improved Readability
- Showcasing Personal Identity
- Differentiation
What looks good on a resume?
Sometimes, your resume has everything that is required of a candidate including skills, stats, and experience. Still, you lose the chance to be interviewed. This happens because your resume is not well-crafted.
Therefore, you should make sure that you use easy-to-read fonts, have no typos, and have proper headings & sections, and importantly choose a professional color palette.
Following are the best resume color palettes along with their hex codes to make it easy for you to search and use them.
- Professional: Navy Blue (#003366) for headings, Dark gray (#555252) for subheadings, Black (#000000) for Text, and White (#FFFFFF) for background.
- Modern: Muted Blue (#4A90E2) for headings, Light brown (#b96a3a) for subheadings, Dark Gray (#333333) for Text, and White (#FFFFFF) for background.
- Creative: Bold Red (#E94F37) for headings, Vibrant Purple (#6D28D9) for subheadings, Black (#000000) for Text, and White (#FFFFFF) for background.
- Calm: Soft Blue (#B0C4DE) for headings, Light orange (#BC8665) for subheadings, Dark gray (#2F4F4F) for Text, and White (#FFFFFF) for background.
- Bold: Teal (#008080) for headings, Coral (#FF7F50) for subheadings, Dark Gray (#333333) for Text, and Light Gray (#F5F5F5) for background.
- Elegant: Charcoal Gray (#36454F) for headings, Rose Gold (#B76E79) for subheadings, Black (#000000) for Text, and White (#FFFFFF) for background.
Dos & Don’ts for using CV colors
When it comes to what colors to use on resume, some points require careful consideration so that instead of enhancing your resume, you end up overdoing it. Here are some dos and don’ts to consider:
Dos
- Choose colors that work together well.
- Use colors to highlight your skills, achievements, and other important information.
- Use colors that reflect your personal style.
- Consider industry-specific color palettes.
Don’ts
- Don’t use neon colors instead use muted and pastel shades.
- Don’t overdo it.
- Don’t use too many colors. Instead of using different colors for every heading, you can use 3 to 4 colors in a resume with similar color headings.
- Don’t use colors that do not complement each other. For example, You should not use blue background and black text together as it won’t be readable and professional.
Conclusion
We have covered the best color options that you can use for your resume according to different job industries like IT, health, entertainment, and more.
Also, we have mentioned the necessary points to be taken care of while you are choosing CV colors. However, there is no hard and fast rule to follow, you can always incorporate your creativity to fulfill your requirements and create a resume that stands out in a crowd.
