Capability – Page 19 – Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #45: The Multi-Stage Infographic

May 21, 2014 by Steven Savage

Michael Anderson’s resume is one of the infographic styles we’ve seen, though he’s actually merging several different info graphic styles together. There’s timelines, circular graphs, and even some humorous self commentary in graphic form.

The result is pretty information-dense and rather colorful – what he did was put most of the common parts of a resume into different formats, using a consistent color scheme. He committed to infograhpics, and stuck with them.

What have we got going on here?

As we’ve seen before, he uses a progress graph that’s merges both employment history and his education – employment on top, education below. This is an effective method as it it provides a timeline while saving space.
The employment/academic info graphic also has an interesting touch – he describes it as a measure of energy expended.
He keeps the text elements of the Employment/academic infographic to a minimum, keeping it from being overcrowded and maximizing space.
The skill set circular graph is interesting as it mixes time investment and professional development into one graph. That’s ambitious, and though I think it might be a bit too complex, it is at least clever.
He actually made humor an info graphic as he discusses his “daily consumption” – and includes coffee. He thus says things about himself as a graphic, keeping it constant with the entire resumes style.
There’s a consistent color scheme to the resume – and that’s a lot of color. He made the rainbow selection work – and it’s not blatant.
He clearly loves good infographics and it shows.
Though unusual, he really does show most of the information a resume needs to do in a different form.

I do have a few things that could be changed:

Not sure the “effort expended” idea of the employment/academic graph works. It’s a nice idea.
The skill graph, as noted, is a bit unusual for what most people are used to.
The humorous graph in the lower left doesn’t seem to add much. It’s a nice touch to put personal information and humor in info graphic form, but I think something different could be done.

This is a good example of picking an idea and sticking with it. Though I have some issues with it, it has a consistency and commitment that really says something about him.

Steve’s Summary: A pretty good resume, especially considering his unusual approach. It’s one that I can show people who aren’t into creative resumes and they’ll “get” enough of it. Also I’m biased towards good graphic presentation.

[“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 #43: Infographic Mania

May 19, 2014 by Steven Savage

Michelle Magoffin did an infographic resume. Only where we’ve seen some smaller infographic resumes (or ones that were resumes redone as infographic) she went all out. This is a complex infographic with a huge amount of detail – it’s the kind of thing you’d probably print out on Tabloid paper.

The more you drill down, the more you see. There’s a kind of thought flow to go through the reader’s thought processes. There’s quotes. There’s history. There’s a lot.

So what can we learn from this?

She decided to go the complex route on this – then made it easier. She’s got a scannable link to her regular resume and she broke the resume into four basic workflows depending on interest – experience, leadership, results, and creativity. It’s a good example of complexity and simplicity.
It shows a definite sense of humor – even though it’s actually a serious resume. The quotes, the workflow, the design in general has a sense of wimpy.
It shows she knows her potential audiences as she gave a sort of thought roadmap depending on what people are interested in.
She put in hard numbers on her performance. That’s always welcome – and a bit too rare.
Doing this shows a lot of talent and time. This is not something you whip up quickly. For that matter, it shows patience – not something resumes easily display.

Any criticisms? I have a few, though it’s a difficult one to critique:

It’s definitely overbusy. That’s a choice she clearly decided to make, but I don’t think everyone will go for it.
I think the flow of questions could probably be made more orderly.
The use of the four initial colors for each category could be replicated in the resume to show how elements relate.

This is one of those “it’s it’s own thing” resumes. It merely is. And it is pretty neat.

Steve’s Summary: I’d be impressed in seeing this – but I like good infographics. I’d definitely want to talk to her, but would get her regular resume for people not into the idea. It’d also be an interesting conversation starter.

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #42: The Mini Resume

May 18, 2014 by Steven Savage

Alexander Rea gives us something different – which is an odd statement considering what we’ve seen so far. In his case though, way back in 2009, he decided to think small.

Literally. He created a foldable card as a resume. It’s basically twice the size of a business card, folded in half, with a scannable code to boot. It’s a resume you can put in your pocket. Poke through his flickr account to see what he’s done.

I love a good variant resume – and a good variant business card – so it’s double treats from me. But let’s take a look at his idea resume-wise and see what we can learn:

First, this is a crazy idea done subtly. He keeps it smart and professional and doesn’t overdo it – there’s only so many wild ideas you can put in one idea.
It does function as a business card, of course, which is obviously a good idea. Also makes me realize how the opening parts of a resume are basically . . . a business card.
Showing the icons of who he’s done work for is a great idea and gives instant recognition in a small space.
Having the scannable code inside is a good idea so someone can see more – and has no excuse not to look.
It’s thoughtful. A one-stop card that leads to more if one is interesting. Alexander has thought about people.

Any criticisms? Just one:

I’d like to have seem a bit more on his skills in the center part of the resume card.

That’s about this. It’s a good idea, looks good, well done, professional, smart. I of course am biased as I use a trading card type business card that’s a sort of business resume myself. But fortunately I don’t care, this is cool.

Steve’s Summary: I get this card and of course I’m going to scan it and find out more. It’s a thoughtful, interesting, clever idea. Then I’ll probably want my own . . .

– Steven Savage