Resume fonts

[Nancy Hoft - CONTRACTOR HRIS <nhoft -at- SDDLIB -dot- EAST -dot- SUN -dot- COM>]

I've been skimming the articles of late on the font
issue for resumes.  They came to mind last night as
I attended a small gathering of my husband's friends
who had been laid off from a large computer company
here in New England.  (50% of their department of
150 were laid off!)  Layoffs are a common thing
out here.  Just two weeks ago, two friends who
are in our profession called me to tell me of their
jobless woes.  Rumor has it that the technical
communication department of a large employer out
here will let go of several dozen people soon, too.

Many of my friends and colleagues don't have fancy
systems with fancy fonts.  Most of them have 2-3 kids
and a spouse who either doesn't make a lot of money or
who was also laid off.

I suppose they could rent a fancy laser printer at
$200 a day, or they could hire a desktop publishing firm
to make their resumes look pretty at a minimum of $75 a
shot.  But I think they're scared about spending money, even
a "lousy $75", because they don't know if it will take them
3 months or even a year to find another job.  When you're
out of work that long, a "lousy $75" means a few weeks of
groceries.

So, when I read over the posts about fonts for
resumes, I can't help but think that the whole thread
is petty.