50 shades of resume – Page 4

50 Shades Of Resume #43: Infographic Mania

May 19, 2014 by Steven Savage

Michelle Magoffin did an infographic resume. Only where we’ve seen some smaller infographic resumes (or ones that were resumes redone as infographic) she went all out. This is a complex infographic with a huge amount of detail – it’s the kind of thing you’d probably print out on Tabloid paper.

The more you drill down, the more you see. There’s a kind of thought flow to go through the reader’s thought processes. There’s quotes. There’s history. There’s a lot.

So what can we learn from this?

She decided to go the complex route on this – then made it easier. She’s got a scannable link to her regular resume and she broke the resume into four basic workflows depending on interest – experience, leadership, results, and creativity. It’s a good example of complexity and simplicity.
It shows a definite sense of humor – even though it’s actually a serious resume. The quotes, the workflow, the design in general has a sense of wimpy.
It shows she knows her potential audiences as she gave a sort of thought roadmap depending on what people are interested in.
She put in hard numbers on her performance. That’s always welcome – and a bit too rare.
Doing this shows a lot of talent and time. This is not something you whip up quickly. For that matter, it shows patience – not something resumes easily display.

Any criticisms? I have a few, though it’s a difficult one to critique:

It’s definitely overbusy. That’s a choice she clearly decided to make, but I don’t think everyone will go for it.
I think the flow of questions could probably be made more orderly.
The use of the four initial colors for each category could be replicated in the resume to show how elements relate.

This is one of those “it’s it’s own thing” resumes. It merely is. And it is pretty neat.

Steve’s Summary: I’d be impressed in seeing this – but I like good infographics. I’d definitely want to talk to her, but would get her regular resume for people not into the idea. It’d also be an interesting conversation starter.

[“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 #42: The Mini Resume

May 18, 2014 by Steven Savage

Alexander Rea gives us something different – which is an odd statement considering what we’ve seen so far. In his case though, way back in 2009, he decided to think small.

Literally. He created a foldable card as a resume. It’s basically twice the size of a business card, folded in half, with a scannable code to boot. It’s a resume you can put in your pocket. Poke through his flickr account to see what he’s done.

I love a good variant resume – and a good variant business card – so it’s double treats from me. But let’s take a look at his idea resume-wise and see what we can learn:

First, this is a crazy idea done subtly. He keeps it smart and professional and doesn’t overdo it – there’s only so many wild ideas you can put in one idea.
It does function as a business card, of course, which is obviously a good idea. Also makes me realize how the opening parts of a resume are basically . . . a business card.
Showing the icons of who he’s done work for is a great idea and gives instant recognition in a small space.
Having the scannable code inside is a good idea so someone can see more – and has no excuse not to look.
It’s thoughtful. A one-stop card that leads to more if one is interesting. Alexander has thought about people.

Any criticisms? Just one:

I’d like to have seem a bit more on his skills in the center part of the resume card.

That’s about this. It’s a good idea, looks good, well done, professional, smart. I of course am biased as I use a trading card type business card that’s a sort of business resume myself. But fortunately I don’t care, this is cool.

Steve’s Summary: I get this card and of course I’m going to scan it and find out more. It’s a thoughtful, interesting, clever idea. Then I’ll probably want my own . . .

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #41: The Scrolling Show

May 17, 2014 by Steven Savage

An-Ni Wang is a web designer and interactive developer. So you may guess that her resume is going to be a bit different. In fact, it’s a scrolling, semi-interactive web resume showing skills, abilities, history, and more.

The resume, as you scroll through it (and, yes, it’s mobile compatible), uses different graphs, charts, and maps to describe her abilities. Each section uses a different way to present her vital information, often with animations. There’s even a portfolio.

Finally, she caps it off with a regular resume that’s nicely minimalist (though I still argue skills should go first, but by now you’re probably sick of hearing me say that).

This is another one of those “completely itself” resumes in a way – but she uses good, smart design principles that provide a lot of lessons:

It’s not pretentious. It’d be easy to show off, but instead its humorous, with bouncy animations Ms. Wang’s personal stats, clever diagrams, and a sense of fun.
It’s innovative. There’s clearly a lot of though and imagination here.
It shows skill. By mixing up the resume and using many ways to show data, it actually shows her ability to turn data into understandable displays. This is real money-where-your-mouth-is stuff.
It’s got a set, effective, minimal color scheme. This keeps it precise and shows good design sense.
It displays a lot of information in many different ways. If you’re perusing this resume you can pick up quite a bit about her, from her job history to the SEO abilities on top of her technical skills.
It doesn’t get boring – and it’s a long resume. In this case she uses different forms of data presentation to make you wonder “what comes next.”
Having it multi platform is very smart – and shows more skill.
Capping it off with a regular resume is a good move – makes it easier on recruiters and is considerate.
Having a menu bar at the top is an important and thoughtful addition.

There’s really only one quibble I have:

I think some of the charts/graphs aren’t well explained (is “Hot” better than “Ninja”?). It might confuse some people.

A solid, enjoyable resume. Definitely one that was fun to analyze. But if I got this on the job . . .

Steve’s Summary: Show me this resume on the job and I’m a happy guy, this is someone who really cares about what they do, wants to communicate it, and has imagination. Plus I got a regular resume to hand people less inclined to appreciate the creativity!

– Steven Savage