Geek Job Guru

50 Shades Of Resume #48: The Emergency Sticker

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Resume 48

Jonathan Wong would like to warn you. Namely, he’d like to warn you he’s an awesome artist.  Fortunately he’s got a big sticker for that.

This emergency sticker is actually the cover to a more standard resume (in the lower right hand corner). It’s sort of part of the resume, a portfolio, a cover letter, and more. I wanted to include it for sheer unusualness.  Also it’s really cool.

What he did was create an emergency sticker, treating himself as a kind of emergency resource (and apparently biohazard, but hey, artists are biological). It’s an amazingly detailed creation for a kind of preview/lead-in, so what can we learn from it:

  • It’s a giant punch in the face of pure talent. A lot of work went into this, from design, to aging it, to putting in little details, to making it look right. You really don’t doubt this guy has talent and an eye for detail.
  • Remember, this is the cover.  With this kind of lead in your resume is almost secondary.  In fact, that could be an interesting combo – deliver an amazing cover letter with a more standard resume.
  • It’s interesting how it leads into a more standard resume – a heavy one-two punch and then the detailed, regular information. He literally uses his “finishing move” first – not always something I recommend, but in this case he does it right.  This is a massive statement.
  • * It shows a sense of humor. At first it looks dangerous, then you get the humor involved. That says a lot about his personality as well as skills.
  • * It’s unique. I doubt you’ll have seen anything else like this in your day.  Or year.
  • It makes me wonder about ways to rethink the resume, portfolio, and cover letter.  By turning his cover letter into a statement of talent (and thus a mini portfolio) it plays into the resume by showing his abilities  What other ways could we recombine the elements of our job search?

Any criticisms? Actually, not any. This is straight up clever and effective. I’d just note that if you try something similar, do it your own way.

Steve’s Summary: I’ll want to interview the guy based on seeing this.  You just don’t do something like this and not have a bunch of talent – and that’s before I get to the resume (and part of the reason it’s in this series).

[“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 #47: The Path

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Resume 47

Remember when we saw Scott Stedman’s “wheel” resume earlier? Well he’s done other experiments in resumes as well – in this case he went from the wheel to a path, showing his education, experience, and skills. and how they intersect. It’s not one path – it’s several coming together in a very unusual resume.

What can we learn and what stood out for me?

  • It’s really different – an attempt to go both nonlinear and linear. I’m not entirely sure it works, but it’s very ambitious, and is food for thought.
  • The colors of the paths also seem to tie into the various text headings.  A good way to help people understand it.
  • Despite having a lot of graphics and less text, he actually says a lot with his limited text. He choses his words well.
  • These precise descriptions also have a bit of an informal feel – which works with a resume that uses an abstract concept. It keeps it human.
  • He chose his color schemes and stuck with it, and works with the limited color set.

I do think it has some issues:

  • This is creative, but also a bit too busy.  It’s going to overwhelm some people.
  • The resume seems to be indicating how this “came together” in 2014, but I think that could be indicated with some notes, larger text, etc.
  • I think the fonts would work better bolded, and there might be a bit too much text – just a bit.
  • The aside about one of his photos becoming popular could be made larger – or left out.
  • I like how he calls out his title as a photographer, and could use that concept elsewhere in the resume.

Definitely am ambitious resume. I have to wonder what his next experiment will be.  Then again, I’ll probably share it with you.

Steve’s Summary: A clever resume, but does need to be paired with a regular one. It also shows bold choices – I admit if I hadn’t met him through email I’d want to discuss his ideas with him, because this level of “rethinking” makes me want to know more about him.

[“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 #46: The 3D Resume

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Resume 46

Sarah Odgers resume stands out literally – it’s a resume she folded into an interesting 3D form. It’s basically a little piece of paper sculpture as a resume, with colorful additions. When you look into it further you see she’s packed it with information as well as colorful abstract side art.

We’ve seen some foldable resumes before, but this one is different as the folds take it 3D. What can we learn?

  • Let’s get to the 3D look. It’s cool, definitely, but also shows imagination, planning and good design. It’s a “taking it to the next level” clever resume.
  • She actually puts all the necessary resume elements into this unusual resume – skills, education, and so on. This is also in the center of the resume so it stands out. It’s a smart idea as this is pretty unusual, so continuing to pile on the clever ideas can dilute them.
  • She puts her “about” on a separate “fold” and has her online information on the other side. That breaks up the resume nicely – the center is what she does, with other information on the “sides.”
  • The colorful sides are a great idea. It makes the resume more artsy and interesting.
  • Doing this clearly shows a lot of skill.

Critiques . . . actually not much. More warnings:

  • A resume like this could be a real pain to update.
  • It goes without saying this may need a “regular” resume available.

A great example of a clever, almost “stunt” resume that does all the job of a regular resume while showing very clever design.

Steve’s Summary: A great resume, gets my attention, show skills, and shows all the information I need. Probably one I’d keep around for awhile to show people.

[“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