Putting a box around the outer
edge of the resume and cover letter can be a nice touch, and help yours stand
out from the others. Here is how to do it:
In the 2007 and 2010 version s of
Word, go to the “Home” tab and find the Paragraph group, which is the third
from the left. Look for the icon that looks like a grey box and a dark line
underneath it (it is the last one in the group). Immediately to the right of it
is a down-pointing triangle, known as a “more” button. Click on this.
A pane will open up with a list. At the very
bottom is one called “Borders and Shading.” After clicking on that, a new window will open
up that has three tabs, “Border,” “Page Border” and “Shading.” Click on the
“Page Border” tab, in the center.
In the Page Border window, there
is a row on the left called Settings. Click on the second one, called “Box.” A
box will appear in the preview section on the right. The box is ready, but
let’s work on it some more.
The center area of the window is
called “Style.” There are a few options here. In the first box there are a
number of different styles of lines, including straight to dashed, and if you
scroll down using the Vertical Scroll Bar, you will see there are many other
types of lines available.
The next choice down is “Color.”
The default set is “Automatic,” which is black. If you click the “more” button
on the right side, you will have many choices of colors to choose from for the line.
Try to pick one that is not glaring or too bright.
Under the “Color” is the choice
of “Width.” This will determine how thick the line will be. The default is ½
point, which is very thin. This is acceptable, but if you click on the “more”
button, there are other choices. Be careful not to make the box too thick, such
as 3 pts. or larger, especially if you decide to use a color other than black.
You may be tempted to put a fancy
border from the “Art” section below the “Width” window, but it is strongly
recommended not to do this. These fancy borders are better suited for personal
uses, such as year-end letters, rather than a more business-related cover
letter and resume.
As much as you may want to color
the whole page, it is not a good idea, because while it looks nice in theory,
if you email the resume, they may not want to print it out because of the use
of the large amount of color ink needed for a full page of color.
