Geek Job Guru

50 Shades Of Resume #33: The Straight Up

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Resume 33

I originally saw a more funky resume that Landin Hollis had done – a clever clipboard. But he’s not one to limit himself, and his most recent resume is this straight up, almost minimalist resume with what seems to be a slight art deco feel. We’ve seen a lot of wild resumes here, and his is nearly restrained.

But a minimal resume is also a challenge to create – and do it right. I’m sure many of us have been there before.  He did it.

Some great takeaways:

  • The most artsy part is the header, with the unusual mix of fonts, sizes, and colors. That makes it stand out from the minimalism of the rest of the resume – and sets the color scheme.
  • On the subject of the color scheme, he’s chosen a simple and effective one.
  • This is another resume that uses symbolic representations of skills – in this case a “five point” scale for software and a linear scale for design skills.
  • Using braces is a neat touch for showing information relevant to his resume.
  • I like that the skills are at the top – you know me.
  • Another two-column resume here – and it works with the left column for career-specific, and more general stuff on the right.
  • This is another example of a resume that gets the job done and wants to communicate clearly. That says something about the creator.

A few critiques:

  • There’s too much white space on the left. that could probably be reduced by 1/3 to 1/2.
  • I’m not sure having two different forms of skill ratings is a good idea. It breaks up the design, but also contrasts.
  • The related skills section is a bit of a mishmash. It’s a good way to show other skills, but also mixes various things together including personal touches. It might go better in the left column.

Steve’s Summary: A good resume. I’d be glad to get one like this – concise, clear, and easy to understand.  I can’t really complain.

[“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 #32: The Illustration

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Resume 32

Some people throw out the usual resume design, and Edith Manza did just that. In fact she turns the entire thing around by doing an illustration to hold her resume. Or possible express a fear of cephalopods, but I’m betting on doing things differently. It was part of a school project, which is probably something more teachers should consider.

This is a different take from some “throw out the resume” designs in that she’s not really re-interpreting the resume. It makes it very interesting to analyze.

Some takeaways:

  • This is actually a complete resume, showing skills, background, and so forth.
  • It’s a very different take. It’s an obvious attention-getter – and it does work.
  • She mixes up the fonts by using different headers. That works well to make things stand out – using the same font for everything would be very dull.
  • The picture and text actually interact. It goes beyond “resume put on a picture” which shows thoughtfulness.
  • It shows off her art skills quite obviously.

A few things I’d change:

  • I think the text could be a little bolder and larger in some cases, it’s hard to read.
  • The interactions with the text is a nice touch, but I think the angling of the text and so forth makes it a bit hard to read.

Really this is one of those resumes that is its own thing. Which also says a lot about the artist.

Steve’s Summary: I’d enjoy getting a resume like this – it has all the information while showing a lot of cleverness and skill.

[“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 #31: The Flyer Infographic

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Resume 31

Mohammed Mahgoub’s resume is reminiscent of infographic resumes, but he’s done it up in a more handily, lighter, flyer style. It’s more a fusion of a light resume and a light info graphic that’s clear and effective.

Looking it over, there’s a few lessons to learn:

  • The large “this is my resume” stripe is a different touch.  Another example of using text in different ways.
  • He has all the parts of a “regular” resume, but divides them up. The upper half is about himself and education, with the specifics in the lower half.
  • The skill levels are a nice touch, and help communicate his abilities.
  • Including the recent projects is a good idea – and includes a quick way to show skills.
  • The picture is a good, personal touch – and making it a non-standard shape goes with the resumes sense of being different.
  • There’s very little extraneous here. It’s a precise resume.
  • The lack of extraneous elements, the skill arrangements, all communicate fast. I can get an idea of what he’s about with little effort.

A few things that are worth addressing:

  • Though I like the “this is my resume” stripe it may be just a bit overage and dominating.
  • Due to the use of space, updating it may be hard.
  • The skill section’s different colors are nice, but I’d suggest making the colors mean something. Relate colors to suites of products or purpose, and it could communicate more.
  • The icons are a nice addition, but I am not sure they’re needed – or if it may need more.
  • His employment section is rather diminished. It would be better to play it up more considering his considerable experience and skill set.

Steve’s Summary: A good solid resume with useful information and little extraneous, it tells me what I need to know fast.

[“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