Color Or Black and White?

When I was growing up, I was always told that you need to draft your resume to be printed in black and white.
The common thought was that the person reading your resume would be reading it on a paper copy, but in our increasingly computer-focused world, this is becoming less and less true.
Because most of our resumes will be read on the computer, does it still make sense to draft a resume in black and white?

I took this question to my panel of experts and this is what they had to say:

Black font is safest. Why Safest you ask? Because you don't know the recipient's software, copier/printer, or preferences. I've seen resumes that are very pretty, but the pretty was distracting and if there is one thing you don't want to do is make it difficult for the reviewer (notice I didn't say reader!) to get the information they need in order to further your resume along in the process.

-      Cathy MacKinney, HR Coordinator III

I would say that the simpler the resume the better, you wouldn’t want a font or colors to take away from the true meaning of a resume.

-      Robert Caro, Store Manager

In my professional opinion I'd argue for continuing in black and white.

-      Lina Tragni, HR Administrator

There is still a strong case to be made for keeping your resume in a black and white format. The whole point of writing a resume is to be able to demonstrate your qualifications to the reviewer.

As I looked deeper into this subject I found an argument to be made for either B/W or modest colored font. If you can use color to make you resume more clear - do it, just make sure that the resume will work if it is printed B/W and reviewed that way.

It’s OK to have a little color on resumes, it shouldn't be more than 1-2 colors and should be done sparingly. Resumes should always be professional, and the colors should enhance your resume if you want to use them. The only exception is if you're in a creative field (like graphic design).

-      Shideh Andideh, Recruiter