Resume Suggestions

Some advice, please? I’ve not job hunted in over 14 years now so I’m a bit out of the loop. I am mainly a designer, currently building out my updated portfolio site, and I realize I will need a “paper” version of my resume to submit. What I am curious about: What if I was to build a resume in a different format as well? Say, InDesign? Kind of to show some design skills as well as illustrate my knowledge of the program. Is that done? Or should I just stick with the old Word Doc resume and website portfolio and leave it at that? Any headhunters or folks with interviewing experience out there who have an opinion or insight? thanks!!!

I am not “headhunter or employer” (far from it). But I agree with you - conceptually - that it is more important to show your skills and creative nature than follow [long worn] tradition. I took that approach: as a software developer I [almost completely] abandoned the ‘traditional’ resume and put my qualifications in a git repository on GitHub. I thought the best way to demonstrate my skills as a developer (and show off come creativity) was as source code.

On the other hand, if you expect to be employed by the typical [stuffy] corporation, the old and tried formal processes will reign. Unfortunately, BEFORE an Art Director who truly appreciates your talent and flair gets to see your work you will need to get past the filter of HR (or a recruiter). I have no fault with HR folks but acknowledge that they DO NOT UNDERSTAND MY INDUSTRY. Of course, they are experts in their field.
For that reason they are left to simply “count the keywords” on a resume.

I hope this has not been to discouraging; it was meant to be ENcouraging, actually.

Best of luck.

Never, ever use any format other than Word (except MAYBE pdf, but that’s iffy) for your resume. Six months ago, I heard about a guy putting his resume in (drum roll, please) POWERPOINT. He’s still looking for a job.

Use your portfolio to display your skills, but keep the portfolio in a standard web format, nothing fancy. Excepting if you use pop-ups to display the content (screencaps are preferred, AFAIK.)

Also, one thing I found out the hard way… use the chronological format. My career counselor (as wonderful and brilliant as she is) talked me into doing a chronological resume and a skillset resume, but give potential employers the skillset resume. Every single potential employer I contacted wouldn’t grant me an interview unless I gave them a chronological resume. For this industry, skillset resumes are not high in demand.

HTH,

:slight_smile:

I would of course have my normal Word resume (Powerpoint? jeez what was he thinking!). I just wondered if it would make any difference to have a few different formats. Wondered if anyone else ever did anything like that.

Thank you both for your responses!

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I don’t agree with this. Sorry :wink:

@tornadoali This is the way you present yourself, and you want to get hired. Call it self-marketing.
Ideally, it should adapt your resume and your introductory letter to the company you’re trying to work in. So, if the company gives a youthful and fun image, your CV should reflec that. If the company shows a serious, very formal brand, your CV should adapt to that.

Of course, if you’re mailing to a thousand companies, that’s not possible. But for those few that really interest you, it is.

You need to be original, show that you can do the job, and provide all the necessary information (and make them want to ask for more so you get an interview) in a clean, organized, easy to scan manner (job hunters don’t read, they scan)

Also, you want to be memorable and different from anyone else (in a possitive way, of course :D), even more if you’re a designer.

I personally did my resume in Illustrator (I don’t care if you use InDesign, Photoshop, or whatever you want).

Of course, I don’t send an Illustrator file. That would be absurd since no HHRR personnel would have that installed. I send a PDF version.

If you’re bold and want to work in a company very badly, it may be good to go the extra mile, find out the name of the HHRR manager and send him a old fashioned printed letter telling him “why he should hire you” and resume

Some inspiration

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I work at a massive company, so the resumes for the people I’ve interviewed have come to me through the requisition system…It’s really just the text from the person’s word doc. I can get their Real resume, but that’s not what they send by default. I am thinking this is just because we are so big and we are not a design/website company (we’re just a small department). I’ve never worked anywhere else though, and I want to go somewhere smaller. But that’s why I have curiosity regarding what it’s like for other companies!

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Your Recruiting department may have had seen them…or maybe not. In huge companies, sometimes they give you a template that you have to follow, you can’t be creative or anything

That’s a problem because that way you can’t prove that you’re different, only by what you write down and where you work and you’re limited to a certain number of words.

I only found 1-2 of these companies though.

You can still use Word, but that doesn’t mean that your resume can’t be stylish. The example I gave you before were very bold. Honestly, except for 2 or 3, I didn’t like most of them although I do recognize the creativity aspect.

A resume must be, esentially, functional, and some of those were very busy with no reason.

You have to adapt to the company you want to work with.

Here are some other examples, not so bold

http://www.hloom.com/download-professional-resume-templates/

It will be a bit hard to go from big company to small one. In a small one, you have to wear a lot of hats.

That’s good and bad. You learn a lot and the job is more diverse but you will not be an expert on anything because you never have the time to concentrate on one thing. It is fun though.

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