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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

50 Shades Of Resume #19: The Re-Envisioning

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Resume 19

Some people re-design resumes, or throw the template away and start new. Richard Gonzales isn’t a typical person – he’s a designer as well as a pastor after all – so he didn’t just re-design a resume or toss things out, he sort of re-envisioned the different parts of a resume into a new whole. This resume isn’t one change or another, but several combined.

He leads in with a larger description at normal, graphs his experience in a color-coded time graph that mixes education and job history, then does a separate education graph, and follows up by using circular metaphors for his skills. It’s actually a bit much to take in as it’s so different.

So let’s dig in to what we can learn from this:

  • Its a nice, clean one page resume that, despite using complex and unusual elements, is very easy to follow.
  • The opening paragraph is an interesting touch. Normally I discourage opening statements that are long – I prefer a sentence. But somehow this works because the resume is a complete re-interpretation.
  • The experience graph is clever, interesting, and effective – and space-saving when you look at it. It also helps explain what is a rather complex life. Some people’s lives/careers may just not fit a standard layout (something, sadly, I forget myself)
  • The education graph is straightforward – and also combines other coursework beyond school. I usually like to break up education versus training – but he combines them.
  • The Skills section uses size of circles to show years of experience. There’s something I’d never thought of and it’s an interesting, visceral idea.
  • The resume clearly shows a lot of thought on how to portray himself and portray himself effectively and differently.
  • This resume, by using these different ways to show information, by having a larger opening than most, really tells me he wants to communicate.

A few thoughts on improving this resume – though it’s a bit hard as he gets radical

  • I usually prefer skills to go first on a resume. In this case that might break up the more subtle, uncolored end they bring to it – and spoils the lead-in from the larger opening paragraph.
  • I think the use of the same kind of graph for education as Experience actually doesn’t work so well. The Experience graph explains his background well, but his more straightforward education doesn’t necessarily need this. It might have been fun to see it in another format.
  • The skills section’s actual skill names are a bit small and hard to read. I’m not sure if they’d be better on top, in the circle, etc.

Not a standard resume, but one to make you think.

Steve’s Summary: This resume would get my attention as it’s both different, clear, and tells me he wants to be understood. There’s a thoughtful communicator behind this.

[“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 #18: The Character Sheet

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Resume 18

Taylor Smith is a bit of a character, and her resume is literally a character sheet. She’s got a cartoon-esque picture of herself, skill bars out of an RPG, and iconics indicating the technology she uses. You want a resume that gives you a sense of someone’s character, she’s got it, with a whimsical sense instead of the usually dead-serious resume.

Only this is also a full resume as well! Let’s take a look at what makes it work

  • First, let’s take a look at the cartoon-like character picture. This picture gives a sense of character, makes the resume seem human, and gives an idea of her artistic ability.
  • The use of icons and skill bars to show abilities is a nice touch. It saves the need for wordy descriptions and gives a visual reference.
  • The “tools of the trade” section is odd, but interesting, as it’s both skills and not. Not sure it’s a good idea, but the idea of breaking up and showing skill/talent sections differently is intriguing.
  • The Doctor Who quote at the top is a great idea, adds to the whimsy of the piece, shows character, and further humanizes the resume.
  • The “Fun Facts” section is interesting and humanizing as well – I always say show your hobbies.
  • The use of icons, of course, is great shorthand. She has a consistent style of using rounded icons that works well.
  • The use of the icons and the “skill levels” actually tells me the person wants to connect and communicate – paired with the humanizing image, that’s very powerful.
  • I like the color scheme. It’s friendly and professional at the same time.

Of course this is an ambitious redesign, and there are a few issues:

  • The lack of contact information. I’d probably put that below the picture.
  • The picture is nice, but uses a lot of real estate. It might be better about 75% of it’s current size.
  • I’d use a thicker Sans Serif font for the text, especially the section headers.
  • I’m not sure using offset boxes with rounded edges works with the corner boxes that display only one rounded edge as they’re partially “offscreen”
  • The skill section should be expanded to show more skills and abilities. It might combine well with the “Tools-of-the-Trade” section, though that is an interesting offset on its own.
  • The resume uses large icon and sections and thus may not be suited for finer details or expanded skills. It might need to have its sizing and layout changed to show more details.

I’m fond of this resume for it’s whimsy and use of multiple clever artistic ideas. If you try such a resume, here’s some thoughts:

  • In a resume like this, I’d update it constantly – and update the picture every 6 months to show improved skill. However, keep it facing the reader as that “eye contact” is effective.
  • Maintain consistency of icon design as we see here – maybe even make new ones as needed.
  • However you theme the resume, if there’s a portfolio attached, it should have similar themes.

Steve’s Summary: I’d love to see a resume like this come across my desk. I feel the person is really trying to make contact – and it tells me a lot about them.

[“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