A 5th year student asks -  
I’ve heard that it can be a good idea to add creative formatting and styling to make your resume stand out, like using a unique color of paper or an unusual layout? Would this make me a more memorable applicant, or is it just annoying? 

Don't do it! You want to be remembered for a good reason (your qualifications, preparedness, etc.). This might make you remembered as the purple resume person, rather than as the exciting specialist that you are. Strange formatting and layouts can actively harm your application. 

When information is in expected places, it makes it easier to find, and that’s a key function of the resume. Unusual layouts are likely to make it harder for a reviewer to find what they’re looking for, and that’s detrimental to your application. 

Fancy formatting is particularly risky when a lot of organizations are using applicant tracking systems; if a computer program is reading your document, the information may never make it into the right field, creating a barrier to your application getting to a human reviewer. 

-David Blancha, Assistant Director, Career Development Team for Researchers