Color CV vs black and white CV

If you do use a color CV make sure it still looks good when printed monochrome! Some people on the committee will prefer to read hard copies, and in all likelihood they will be printed in monochrome.


The general advice is that CVs should be outstanding because of their content while their form should be relatively dull-to-boring.

The example you link to has very subtle use of color (a dark blue for headings) and is tolerable. However, you still run the risk running into faculty with the perception that:

  1. your over-designed CV is either hiding things (i.e., lack of content)
  2. your over-designed CV is just a dressed up resume and that you don't understand academia at all

For those reasons, it's safest to go with a boring CV style and work on building content instead. This is generic advice for both graduate admissions as well as academic job searches.


The content is the most important thing on a CV.

That said, those reading your CV will be reading many others, and you want to do everything possible to make your CV readable, but also make it stand out.

If you can use color in a professional way that makes important stuff stand out, it is my opinion that you should go for it! Just make sure your colors do not stand out too much against the rest of the text. (Bright red and black on white paper doesn't look good, but black and a gray-blue theme could go well.) Some color palettes are better than others, and different palettes might go better with different fonts or layouts.

Make your design simple (so as to not distract from your accomplishments), easy-to-read (to make the document easier to skim), and visually attractive (to make it stand out from all the other CVs). Choose a color that enhances these qualities.

I would also caution against using more than one color, unless you really know what you're doing and/or graphic design is part of the job you are applying for.

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