50 shades of resume – Page 5

50 Shades Of Resume #40: The Notebook

May 16, 2014 by Steven Savage

Brian Moose sent this resume to Pixar some years ago. Well, it’s a notebook that is a resume – you get the idea.

We’ve seen a book-as-resume idea here before, but Brian’s approach is to not make what looks to be a professionally published book, but instead a notebook. Yes, a hand-crafted notebook. He also sent it in a film case with a cover letter.

I think we just found our first artisanal resume. Brian isn’t someone who does things small or half-baked.

Now if you scan his Flickr site, whats telling is that despite this unusual and creative “handcrafted” approach, the book also contains appropriate information along with quotes, doodles, and so forth. Unusual take, unusual packaging, unusual delivery – with personally delivered vital information.

Let’s see what we can learn:

First off, this is a pretty gutsy resume period. It obviously took time and was lovingly made. That tells you a lot right there.
Oddly, I think its informal look is important. It could have been done very artsy and with perfect alignment and so forth – but that may have seemed pretentious. The unusualness of the resume is softened by the personal touch.
Despite the unusual idea, he really presented all the vital info – he just did it in a way that was more personal.
Throughout the resume-book there are little quotes pasted or taped in to show his thought processes. That’s a touch that shows who he is – but also keeps it from being too me-me-me. The latter is a threat when you do something this outrageous.
He goes on to include things about himself and his philosophy so you get an overall picture of him.

Critiques? Well, I don’t have many . . .

This is a real gamble resume, and it takes time to do. So if you try something like this, measure time and effect.
This is also a resume that will only work with people who’d appreciate it. Pixar, of course, is a good choice.

This is one of those truly unique resumes that is just what it is.

Steve’s Summary: I wish I’d see resumes like this, but I don’t work with artists as much. But if I did get it, I’d appreciate the effort and the personal touches – and the fact he packaged it so cleverly. It’s an attention getter, but isn’t in-your face. It’s more funny.

[“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 #39: The Wheel Graph

May 15, 2014 by Steven Savage

There’s changing resumes a bit or trying something different, and then there’s throwing the whole thing out. Scott Stedman pretty much did the latter and re-envisioned a resume as a wheel including color-coded elements for the kind of things he learned and did. It’s a timeline bent round to form a circle, and frankly, one of the more outrageous takes on resumes I’ve seen.

Like some of our previous resumes, it’s almost hard to start because it’s really its own thing. But I’m glad to analyze it to see what we can learn. Here’s my takeaways

This is a gutsy move, period. Doing this is risky, but also shows that Scott seriously thinks outside of the box, probably as he threw the box out of the window.
It’s also a resume that screams “I have talent.” Not many people do a resume like this.
The “Start Here” is smart. He clearly knows not everyone would get this.
The color graph of just what he did is an interesting touch. It adds more to the wheel and gives you an idea of his involvements – and their ebb and flow.

Being an experimental resume, I do see some issues:

First, this is really a radical departure. Not everyone is going to get this or like it. It may work well with a more standard resume OR a list of skills and so on that was still creatively laid out.
I think having the text lie across other elements of the wheel is a bit much. That’s disruptive.
I’d also want the descriptive text larger.
The use of the wheel should probably be used to communicate cycles or something similar – it might work best if there was a “what’s next” gap at the end.
I’d make his portfolio links larger.

One thing I take from this resume is its so radical that if paired with a well-designed standard resume, it would speak to even more skill. The unusual and the standard (but artistic) paired together could be real powerful.

Steve’s Summary: I love graphs and charts, so I’d get a kick out of the resume – and it tells me this guy gets data visualization. I’d want something much more standard to show other people though.

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #38: The Personal Timeline

May 14, 2014 by Steven Savage

Maria Rybak’s resume is a timeline – something we’ve seen before, but she approaches it in an almost stark approach that’s minimal except for text, while still incorporating good visual touches and standard resume elements. It’s an approach that’s both creative and measured, which is a difficult balancing act.

It’s also a resume that presents a lot the more you look at it. So let’s see just what we can learn from it.

The angled look is different, very artistic, and adds a bit of visual richness – which I think it needs otherwise its measured sense may get a bit too dull.
She uses a distinct, limited color palate throughout the resume. That unifies it visually and keeps the feeling of “precision” at the same time.
The resume is actually divided – by her name. The top is the timeline, the bottom is skills and related information. That’s a clever division, and we’ve seen similar things done before. In this case it makes sure the parts of the resume stay distinct.
The timeline itself is nicely done, not overdone, but rather precise. It also acts as a visual separator for the bottom of the resume and her picture and information at the top. It reflects her chosen palette.
In addition, you’ll notice the resume is education on the bottom and practice on the top. That’s a great, effective division – this really shows job history and education at the same time, and tells you a lot.
The photo, as always, is a nice personal touch – and here I think it’s needed to keep this from being to impersonal.
The resume works to communicate. It’s another resume that is really trying to tell you about the person.

A few things I’d change:

Some of the font size seems a bit too small. A few less words an a bit larger fonts would help – though I wouldn’t diminish too much of the white space – in this case the white space works.
The level of detail on some timeline elements is a bit larger. A little tightening may make it flow better.

I think in this resume we actually see a change from the norm that doesn’t overdo itself, and meets very specific goals.

Steve’s Summary: This is the kind of “experimental” resume I like to get – does the job while doing it differently. Also it tells me she’s quite talented.

– Steven Savage