Job Search – Page 18 – 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!

[“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 #8: The Random

April 14, 2014 by Steven Savage

Many resumes are piles of stuff, especially if they’re not organized right. Sid Santos (who is in the Cool Name club with me apparently), desired to do this deliberately by making his resume look like . . . a pile of things.

Yes, his resume looks like a post-it note, a napkin drawing, and a cup of coffee. They just happen to have his contact information and career information on it. It’s a clever design.

This is actually a resume that, the more you look at it, the more you see got done. There’s skills and a personal image, contact info and job history, little details and extras. It just looks like something else!

So what stands out?

First of all this is artistically brilliant. He has a resume that looks like other things that don’t look like a resume – that come together to be a resume. It’s clever.
It’s a great display of artistic skill as well. He makes it look really. it shows raw skill as well as cleverness.
It’s got a fun feel too it. Because it looks like an informal pile of things, it has a sense of whimsy. That’s also comforting – and makes me feel he doesn’t take himself overly seriously.
The self-illustration adds a personal touch, rounding off the experience.
It’s extremely professional and shows this guy knows what he’s doing.
In a way, it’s sort of a resume as a small portfolio of skill.

Now, a few things to consider in this resume:

It’s not a standard, scan-able resume. It would have to be paired with a regular resume or used appropriately.
I’m not sure I’d break the software out of the skills description, but it does work well by allowing him to use yet another medium of portrayal.
There’s some unused space that might be a bit too much.

Steve’s Summary: This’d get my attention if I saw this resume, it shows a lot of effort and imagination. I might want a “typical” resume to hand to HR, but it’s pretty clear this guy is the real deal. I’d want to phone interview someone that gave me this.

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #7: The Book

April 13, 2014 by Steven Savage

Some of us have resumes that grow and grow and get a little large. Andy Reynonds didn’t let this stop him and made his resume into a book after becoming unemployed. Yes, a book. An online (and offline) coffee table book about his career. Needless to say it’s been mentioned around.

Having handed out my book at interviews, I felt I had stepped into the presence of someone truly “taking it all the way.” So of course I had to include it in this series because I’d never forgive myself otherwise – and Andy is a very creative individual.

The high points?

It’s a resume as a book. Really this is a testimony to skill that’s hard to top. It shows serious graphical/publishing ability.
It also speaks of dedication. Again, he made a book – this resume tells people about your personality.
It also functions as a portfolio. This is very clever and may be an idea to use elsewhere – see how you can wrap your portfolio inside other resume ideas and metaphors. Some people put their resume in their portfolio, he did the revere . . .
It’s got some nice layout elements. It’s very professional.
The book design is something I think people could explore in various forms, and may be worth thinking about.

As for changes . . . well actually this is such a unique idea it’s hard to say. Mr. Reynolds pretty much out and did this his own way. A few things though:

I think the book may be a bit overlong. Though it’s also a portfolio, it may seem a bit much.
This definitely has to go with a regular resume or job search or interview to lead people into it. It’s not quite a supplemental resume, but is really a resume/portfolio fusion.
It may go well paired with smaller “book” resumes one could hand out.
Not everyone will “get” this resume. It has to be used carefully – though anyone who doesn’t “get” it may not be the kind of person you want to work for or with.

Additional thought: This could possibly be combined with other publications like ashcans. There’s a lot of possible experimentation.

Steve’s Summary: I admit if I saw this, I’d be impressed because . . . again, the guy did a book! I also would want to know more about him. Context may be important as it could seem a bit overdone, but I wouldn’t care.

– Steven Savage