The only thing you should spend time on with your CV is the content. The ROI on tweaking the look and feel is very low. Aesthetics are not what people care about, unless your resume is so hideous that it gets thrown out.
My CV is a LibreOffice Writer document with no styling added.
A “boring” short black and white non-interactive document that I export to PDF.
It has my name, contact info, a list of recent work history, and mention of some of the technologies that I work with.
Last time I was applying for jobs, two years ago, I got an interview and eventually a job offer from the company I most wanted to work for among the ones I’d been submitting applications to. I’ve been there since.
I agree with you. And I think that any attempt to make the document look flashy would only have worked against me. At least when applying to the kind of jobs that I prefer – backend software engineering work.
Also I cram everything into one page while keeping things readable. Being concise is an important skill. Personally I find it ridiculous people with a few years of experience and 3+ pages. I have 12 years of industry experience and don't feel the need for that second page yet.
