Geek Job Guru – Page 25

50 Shades Of Resume #12: The Juice Box

April 18, 2014 by Steven Savage

Joshua Omondi doesn’t think outside of the box – he thinks of how to make a better box. In this case, he made his resume into a juice box. Yes, a juice box, complete with labels, ingredients, contents, and so on. It’s printable for folding purposes or to just show off.

He wanted to do something different and he certainly did.

So when I look over this resume, I see these high points:

It’s just plain clever. It’s a juice box resume, and he keeps the design consistent with what you’d expect of, well, an actual juice box.
There’s also a sense of humor to this obviously. Again . . . juice box.
He includes a lot of information on a “stunt” resume There’s quite a bit of detail here – he doesn’t rely on the “stunt” to speak for him.
The skill descriptions are clever to – using percentages to communicate his ability. A good example of translating one metaphor to another.
The use of the icons on the side to describe himself is a nice touch – making it look not only like a product, but further adding detail and communicating from more than just text.
The inclusion of a personal picture is, as always, a good humanizing touch. It’s also a good picture, calm and dignified, which is an interesting contrast to the whimsy – and that may keep this from seeming silly.
People’s reactions to this resume will tell the creator if he’d fit in with them.
It’s also a good testimony to not just his design skills but product design skills – which is its own skill-set. it says he’s not just an artist, but a person that can really design something – that backs up his listing Packaging Design as a skill.

Now as you may guess a resume this unusual has some limitations:

This is a stunt resume. It’s definitely going to need to be paired with a regular resume and portfolio.
Not everyone may get this – though I suspect if they don’t, then they’re not the kind of person he’d want to work for.
The small text may not be for everyone.
Updating this must be a colossal pain in the backside.

An unusual resume with limits, but clever.

Steve’s Summary: I’d get a kick out of this resume – as long as it was wrapped around a juice box and with a regular resume. It’d want the full experience – because I imagine seeing this in context, in 3D, is a powerful statement of talent. I’d also have something to share with people to say “look how clever this is!”

Also I’d get free juice.

[“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 #11: The Doodle

April 17, 2014 by Steven Savage

Liagi Ramilo takes an interesting approach with her resume – making it look like something doodled on a piece of notebook paper, with her picture attached. It’s almost a reverse of the usual resumes people design, with carefully beveled lines and calculated fonts – she goes out of her way to make it look almost aggressively informal.

When I first saw this resume, I confess, it was unexpected – and that shock is part of the charm. Some people think out of the box, she decided the box needed to be more casual and personalized.

Looking over this resume I see several things it has going for it:

It has marvelous personality, and paired with the picture, gives a sense of whimsy and informality. It’s almost comforting in its casualness. The job search is a formalized affair, and she brings a welcome informality.
It still gets in all the things a good resume needs, but in a more casual sense. As you look it over, you see how much detail there is, and it speaks to real talent in design.
It’s also a good example of her design work in that she had to go out of the way to make it look informal and put in the right information.
The little doodles really sell it – it makes it look much more like what it’s supposed to – a piece of paper someone scribbled things on. Without them it really wouldn’t “sell” the design.
Including a picture adds a personal touch that works well with the informality – and it’s not a formal picture, which is appropriate.

Now a few issues with the resume:

This is definitely not a scannable resume – it’s something that probably has to be paired with a more formal resume.
The clever “doodle” look does come at the expense of readability – it’s not exactly the clearest resume in some areas, such as where the text crosses one of the blue lines. That might annoy some people.

I could see this resume being used as the basis of a portfolio – imagine several other pages of doodles with pictures of her other works, creating a portfolio with the casual theme. Such a themed portfolio would add power to the resume, and vice versa.

Steve’s Summary: If I got this resume, I’d really enjoy the fact I felt I got a glimpse into the personality of the artist, and appreciate the effort. I’d want a formal resume to scan or send to less creative people.

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #9: The Amazon-Alike

April 15, 2014 by Steven Savage

So Phil Dubost created an online resume. But he decided to make sure his resume online didn’t look like a resume. Since people shop around for employes . . . he made it look like Amazon.

Yes, this is basically job applicant as product. On a site you recognize. Down to a redone logo, ratings, and recommendations. Phil went out of the way to put in an insane amount of detail.

What can we learn from Phil, beyond his love of running shoes? Here’s what I take from this resume:

It’s funny. Frankly very funny, because as you look at it you see more detail. it makes it almost relaxing to read, like a kind of puzzle or a treasure hunt.
There’s a sense of personality, from the humor it takes to do this to the large personal picture. There’s a sense of personal contact here – draws people in.
It’s clever. Phil shows his abilities, references, career, and so on in different formats. It’s all there, but in a different way.
It is, in the end, a full resume. So you get the entire story to boot.
It shows visual and technical skills. But what’s neat is you realize it after the fact – which adds more impact. You see this, think about it, then go “ooooh!”

Now do I have any issues with this one? Not many, frankly.

It’s a bit of a “one-stunt” resume – clever, but essentially it has one major stunt and that’s a show of wit and design. The content in the end is important.
Obviously this has to go with a regular resume on a job search.
Updating it may be a pain because you have to match new designs.

One thing that might be useful with the resume is to devise it as a web site that lets you re-skin it as a number of other site designs. That’d show off technical skill, design skill, and builds on the humor of it. It’d also be educational as one maintained it.

Steve’s Summary: I’d definitely get a kick out of seeing this – especially as the humor and skill produce an immediate sense of the person. As Phil found a job it must’ve worked!

– Steven Savage