In our YES! Your Human Resources Solution blog, Are You Making These 5 Resume Mistakes, we talked about describing your best, most accomplished professional self by avoiding mistakes like regurgitating your job duties, dating yourself, and including references. And while all of those are great tips, there’s another mistake job-seekers are making in this era of smartphones and tablets: not formatting their resumes for mobile devices.

These days, most resumes are submitted via email or an online application system (you’re not faxing them anymore, are you? See: Dating yourself). And these days, more and more work is being performed on mobile devices. What does that mean for you? When you submit your resume online, recruiters are likely to view it with a smartphone or tablet. So if your resume looks crummy on a mobile device, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. And if you think a simple DOC or PDF file is going to do it, think again; mobile file viewers often don’t interpret content the same way as desktop viewers, resulting in awkward spacing, weird lines, and general gobbledygook. So what to do?

To get mobile ready, make sure your resume:

• Has a simple design. Columns, tables, graphs, colors, obscure fonts . . . probably all “nos” unless you work in a field like fashion or graphic design. The best way to ensure your resume translates across all platforms is to make simple style choices that will center well and be easy to read on any device. So instead of differentiating sections using borders or text decorations like bolding and underlining, try using different font sizes or alternating a serif (Times New Roman, Garamond) and a sans-serif font (Arial, Calibri).
• Is short and sweet. Be honest—on a mobile website, you hate having to scroll below the fold to find what you want. Now imagine scrolling through three full-size pages of text on a mobile device. Yuck, right? Combat the yuck factor by thinking “brevity” in your resume, and by strategically ordering content. Put the best, most relevant goodies at the top where recruiters will see them first. Put the less critical stuff below the fold.
• Tests well on several devices. Just because your resume looks great on your iPad doesn’t mean it will look great on an Android device or an iPhone—or that your resume will even open! Appearance and accessibility will vary between device sizes and manufacturers, so it will help you to test as many as you can (and who doesn’t love playing with technology?). Or realistically, at least test an iPhone, iPad, and at least one Android phone and tablet. And even better than viewing your resume as a DOC file, save and view it as a PDF, which translates better during mobile viewing.

By following these tips, your resume will be ready to shine on mobile platforms. And staying on top of technology can make you look bright and motivated before your resume is even read!