50 Shades Of Resume

50 Shades Of Resume #23: The Animated

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Resume 23

Riccardo Sabbatini is not messing around.

His resume, and it feels a bit disrespectful to call it “merely” a resume is a giant animated extravaganza. It has a soundtrack. It has superhero jokes. Then when you get to the end it like to flyers of his resume for different subjects. The resume itself is a project all its own.

So of course, that’s not going to deter me. I’m going to analyze this sucker, because this is taking a resume to an extreme.

What can we learn, beyond the fact you can fuse jazz and techno effectively?

  • I like how early on he documents that this resume craziness is its own saga. That’s not only a good project, it shows his commitment and is just interesting. I can relate.
  • The use of a soundtrack that’s fun and bouncy is unexpected – and it keeps the sense of whimsy.
  • The animations for the most part are actually fun and interesting – and makes the resume more attention-getting.
  • He has a varied but consistent style throughout. The resume has a consistent look but it has enough leeway it stays visually interesting.
  • There’s a lot of humor throughout. Obviously.
  • I like his incorporation of software logos and colors into his “superpower” section in the form of a Hulk-like superhero. It’s a good use of iconics and is clever.
  • After his skills he shows the things he can do and these sections have an almost philosophical feel, such as “it’s all about the type.” This says what he can do and shows what he thinks
  • The links to “physical” resume designs at the bottom is a great touch. It leads people to finding somewhat more traditional resumes.

Now all his hard work aside, there are things I’d change:

  • Some people will have their minds blown by this – some will be overwhelmed. That’s just the way it goes, but if you follow in his footsteps, keep that in mind.
  • I’d put the links to physical resumes on the side or highlight them at the top or throughout – the way he shows his earlier resumes.
  • I actually think the large header detracts. I’d make it smaller so you get to the good stuff faster
  • The need to scroll through all of this is time-consuming. Now though the resume is a great example of his skills, it’d help to add a “jump to” button or make it seem multipage.
  • Some of the sections seem a bit overlarge depending on the screen you’re viewing them on.
  • The section showing physical resumes seems overlong.

One thing that is a great takeaway is that he’s made a great resume his own obsession and project. If you’re into something like this, it is a good side project. Much as I wrote a book on resumes, Riccardo made his quest for the wild, crazy, fun resume its own thing. Maybe you might take on a similar quest to get a great resume, build skills, and blow people’s mind.

In fact, let me suggest that maybe the secret to your next resume is so combining it with other projects it becomes something new. Maybe it merges completely with your portfolio or manifests it. Maybe it becomes your testing ground and you update it monthly. Who knows?

By the way, I’m not going to analyze “proper” resume flow here. Riccardo just did his own thing.

Steve’s Summary: Pretty much my reaction to first seeing this was “wow.” This is a stunt resume and a show-of-talent resume. I’d appreciate it, but then would go to the traditional resume to drill deeper, while showing this to the creatively inclined who wonders “what can the guy do.”

[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #22: The Retro Ad

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Resume 22

Chuck Lay’s resume looks like a set of retro ads from a magazine, newspaper, or comic book. The iconic art, the different fonts, the text blurbs, it’s all there. A quick glance at it and you might think for a moment someone was trying to do a retro ‘zine. Actually it was part of something similar that he created.

But it’s all there, a complete resume that just happens to look like it comes with X-ray specs. Let’s dive in and see what we can learn . . .

The high points of the resume:

  • He’s really captured the sense of the classic ads – while keeping them clear. it very quickly gets attention and shows talent and skill.
  • THis resume also shows a definite sense of humor. Not many resumes actually say “I have a sense of humor” effectively, so it communicates personality.
  • The use of the icons in the classic ad look really helps sell it – and breaks up the resume, since many can be rather dull.
  • The “want more” cut out at the bottom is a hilarious and witty addition – and reinforces his contact information.
  • He uses different font colors and sizes to call attention to different sections, as well as different section sizes. Thus, each section is unique and draws attention.
  • This basic idea would not be that difficult to maintain or modify if done right. It would also not be hard to make several versions.

A few issues I have with the resume:

  • The non-standard resume layout may not quite work here. The use of one column for skills (on the right) and the career history dominating 2/3 of the page provides some workflow, but I don’t think it works with the variable fonts and elements – a bit too chaotic. It might work on a different resume.
  • Some of the font sizes are a bit small.
  • I wouldn’t make the Designer Profile section quite as big – it over dominates.
  • I might put the education and affiliations lower on the page – but I say might. With this layout, oddly, it works.

This is a good example of making a resume that looks like something else – but also subtle in its own way. It walks a good line between “looks like this” and “is a resume” while maintaining it’s theme.

Steve’s Summary: Hand me this resume and I’m going to have a good laugh – and a series of ones. Backed up with a good portfolio (because I’d want to see more) and it’s pretty powerful.

[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #20: The Industry Pitch

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Resume 20

Michael Mahle knew what he wanted; a communications job in the wine world. So he made this resume, with a wineglass theme, and pitched hard to get what he wanted – and work with his metaphor.

What seems to be a simple conceit (put a big wine glass image) on the resume turns into far more, and he’s packed all the needed resume detail on here, and done it with a non-standard resume flow. Let’s take a look.

What can we learn:

  • First, as noted, this is a full resume, and he got that on top of working with his theme. That’s great – and shows his skills.
  • He has a concise summary of himself that works with the conciseness of the resume – normally I prefer a bit longer, but it works here.
  • The use of the wine glass image to “contain” his skills is a great way to play them up and use his metaphor – as well as draw the eye to what he has to offer. That’s a great use of space and imagery – and the big “Experience” calls attention as well.
  • He breaks up Experience and Skills. I’m not sure that always works, but in this case he’s trying to make some distinctions, and as he has a short self-description it provides detail.
  • Normally I don’t approve of education being listed too early, but as the “top” of the resume is skills and experience this actually works.
  • On that subject, he divides the resume well, with the “stem” of the wineglass being where he discusses his career. Another good use of the metaphor.
  • Those gold dividing lines are a good call, to ensure the different sections are separated and create some flow for the reader.
  • I like the overall choice of color scheme – rich, friendly, and different. Notice he doesn’t resort to plain black text at once.
  • The resume shows skilled design – and is a testimony to his abilities.
  • This is the rare resume that is both a kind of “stunt” resume and a traditional resume all in one.

Now there are a few issues I have.

  • Sadly, I doubt this is scannable – the use of the curving effects on the glass for instance may mess with OCR. But it could be tweaked.
  • He may have wanted a hobby section to not mix hobbies with skills.
  • The “second half” of the wine glass, with his career is clever, but I just don’t get a sense of career flow from it. I probably would have put the dates first, or above the locations, in a darker, smaller font.
  • I don’t know if he needs to mention the people he knows unless these are references – and then me may want to call them such. Though I imagine knowing Tim Zagat is pretty important.
  • Not sure if the various social media icons are needed unless the resume is web-active (which the original was), though it does show off what he knows.

I really like how this resume takes one element iconic to his search (the glass) and works it into his resume design and a semi-traditional one at that. It really gets your attention, speaks to his focus (wine), and shows skill. If you’re trying a highly industry-specific pitch, something like this might work for you.

Steve’s Summary: This resume gets my attention twice – first for the crafting, then the detail. It tells me he is a communications person.

[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]

– Steven Savage