Category Archives: Beyond the Resume

Beyond the Resume, Uncategorized

Blog #3: Alternative Resumes: The Alternative way to find that new job you’ve been looking for

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In an attempt to get a job after school and finally move out of my parents’ basement an alternative way of presenting myself might be necessary. An easy way to diversify my resume from the thousands of others received by potential employers could be accomplished through using different formats or visual mediums. In this exposition, I will present two examples of alternative resumes that I find appealing to broadcast my skills into the world of internet technology.

The first alternative resume that I stumbled upon is called a Visual CV Resume, an example of this can be found by clicking the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6URePVwUy2U. Visual CV resumes broadcast an individual’s abilities in an easily viewable format. Nothing bothers future employers more than looking through countless resumes which all appear to be carbon copies of each other. Employers are looking for something new, something different and something innovative. With the rapidly changing world of commerce brought on by the dawn of social media, companies are struggling to find the hot new trend or medium in which they can better advertise their product. What better way to show future employers that you are in keeping with the hottest new internet trends than putting your personal skills on to a new, bold format that is representative of a Visual CV Resume. Personally, I would be able to benefit from a Visual CV Resume because I am a creative person who has big ideas, and this particular medium allows you to put music behind a graphic design and narrative that appeals not only to the sometimes dreary and boring corporate world, but also to the new up-and-coming world of social media and technology.

Social-networking is an constantly expanding industry fueled by people who wish to remain in contact via the internet. Social media is almost unavoidable in today’s technologically savvy population. What better way to represent yourself to a future employer than by putting your list of specific qualifications onto a format that is easily viewed by a large percentage of our population. The following link is a representation of 3 intriguingly different profile resumes: http://www.linkedinsights.com/3-stunningly-good-linkedin-profile-summaries/. Social Media Resumes give future job employers “direct access to an individual’s ever-expanding professional network of connections and involvement” (Lauby 2010). This shows future job employers that their prospects are not only qualified, also connected. As the old job search cliché goes “it’s not what you know, but who you know.” In the case of presenting yourself through the use of a social media website you can break this old cliché by showing employers what you know AND who know. Being a very social person I find it necessary to connect with people constantly in order to find what jobs are opening, what’s going on, who is succeeding professionally and why. For these reasons a good professional online profile (whether it be Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook) is a necessity.

In conclusion, Alternative Resumes serve a multitude of functions in diversifying yourself from the average job-seeker using traditional resumes. Hopefully, some of the formats I have presented will prompt you to consider approaching your job search in a different way.

 

Works Cited:

Lauby, Sharlyn. (2010, Oct 05). 4 digital alternatives to the traditional resume. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/10/05/digital-resumes/

 

Foote, Andy. (2013, Feb 07). 3 Stunningly Good Linkedin Profile Summaries. Retrieved from http://www.linkedinsights.com/3-stunningly-good-linkedin-profile-summaries/

 

Duc, Truong Tran. CV presentation Resume (video). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6URePVwUy2U

Beyond the Resume

Beyond the Resume

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In the modern age, traditional methods of communication are being pushed out of the mainstream. The traditional resume is slowly become obsolete in many areas of employment. This is not to say that the traditional resume is not appreciated and functional in some ares of employment that are still attempting to hold true to the dated method.

It seems to be, that within some companies and agencies the type of resume that is seen as acceptable and appropriate depends on the specific job that is being applied for.  For example, at Turner Broadcasting, a applicant seeking a creative position in, say, Cartoon Network, would probably want to take a more alternative and creative design route when preparing a resume.  This are

Resume

examples to consider for such a position. If the applicant’s intention leans toward a creative position, a traditional resume will not express an understanding and ability to work in such an environment.

With that being said, I recently spoke to a manager at Encompass Digital Media regarding general hiring and resume expectations. It is expected that the applicant present the information in the most appealing way possible (creative and alternative if appropriate); however, a more traditional approach (be that paper or online resumes) should be presented in order to show flexibility but also professionalism.  It is considered that an online version of a more traditional resume and professional based online present means the applicant is both suitable for consideration and technologically updated. For this particular employment, it is important to be able to interweave both traditional and alternative methods of resume building.

 

When considering my own resume, I lean more toward a profession online present that follows a more traditional approach to the format. My employment interested follows more closely with employers that would be searching for clear-cut professionalize and less creative alternatives. I do concede to the idea that online versions are more effective and visible. The most impressive resume that I would consider for my own purposes would be the VisualCV. It allows for multimodal communications. This would allow me to have greater control and guidance of the communications with the potential employer. The VisualCV still presents a professional overview of the information, but also allows for sound, charts, and clips to be added. This would make the resume stand out and communicate a great deal more information than the traditional paper based document.

 

http://fixcv.com/how-to-build-an-effective-online-presence-part-1-your-resume-2478.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/insanely-creative-resumes-2011-6#same-for-this-one-12

http://www.businessinsider.com/insanely-creative-resumes-2011-6#joe-kelso-says-his-resume-never-failed-1

http://mashable.com/2010/10/05/digital-resumes/

Beyond the Resume

Blog Project 3: Traditional resumes “dying” in 2014?

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resume design 1

Nowadays, there are numerous careers that can search your name with just one click. It gives them access to your personal Facebook, twitter, and Instagram accounts without your consent. Still regret that bikini photo in Destin, Florida yet? We all know the saying “whatever you delate will remain forever on the web” giving employers access to information on just one person. So, how does it relate to traditional resumes? The differences between traditional and non traditional differ on peoples’ views. I know from personal experiences that some jobs still require traditional resumes, on top of, your non traditional one. The persons’ personality reflects their resume.  Moreover, the question arises with “are traditional resumes dying in 2014 and beyond?”

Lets dive right into a traditional bland resume…

resume desgin 2 boring

Obviously, John Doe is applying for a business, law, or medical field right? This resume lacks creativity, but it creates a sense of easiness on the employer (i.e. business, law, or medical) viewing the document. Now lets say that I am a Public Relations director looking for a position based on creativity and social media skills, would John Doe land the job based on the skills I need? The answer would be no. His resume lacks color, and his resume has too many words for a Public Relations director to read.

Lets dive into a creative resume…

resume design google

Obviously, Eric Gandhi is applying to Google (Laya 2011). Are you wondering if he landed the job? Of course he did! His resume shows creativity and technology skills that Google needs. He created a resume based on Google’s layout, and he linked it through Google search engine.  See the difference between the two resumes?

On the other hand, how does traditional resumes reflect 2014 today? Do you use Microsoft word for resume creation? Or do you use creativity in making a resume online? Some people prefer both in using paper and LinkedIn (being the most popular among companies).  Here are some examples of online resumes:

  • Video resumes
  • Visual CV
  • Social resume
  • Linkedln Proflie
  • Personal Websites

(Source: Lauby 2010)

In my opinion, your resume should reflect your personality and career preferences. Your career choice being number one. I’ll give you an example on career choice based on my degree. My dream job is to work at Turner Broadcasting for Adult Swim (TV program that appears on Cartoon Network late at night for 18 and older audiences). Based on recent interactions with employees who work in that field, your resume should be very creative. Meaning, that a resume should stand out among the bunch in black and white. I’ve heard stories of the HR department receiving beers with a person’s resume on it, or receiving pizza with a resume on the box. Its the concept of “making yourself stand out among the rest. ” This particular department is also based on the concept on “being yourself”.

Moreover, what are your opinions? Are traditional resumes dying out? Has the new age taken over traditional resume with online ones? Would you prefer an employer looking at your Facebook page vs. your LinkedIn page? Everyone has mixed answers on the subject.  “So, to use boxing parlance, it feels to me like the traditional resume is “on the ropes,” down if not yet out. Bleeding badly from a cut above the eye. In a weakened diminished state. Going into the 12th round, which would you bet on: large amounts of social media data or “two pages of crafty wording”?” (Lipman 2013).

Sources Cited:

Lipman, Victor. (2013, June 22). Is the traditional resume dying?. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-the-manager/201306/is-the-traditional-resume-dying

Lauby, Sharlyn. (2010, Oct 05). 4 digital alternatives to the traditional resume. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/10/05/digital-resumes/

Laya, Patricia. (2011, June 11). 13 insanely cool resumes that landed interviews at Google and other top jobs. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/insanely-creative-resumes-2011-6

Unknown Author. (2014, Sep 14). How far is too far when designing creative resumes. Retrieved from http://inspirationhut.net/articles/how-far-is-too-far-when-designing-creative-resumes/  Resume 1 photo.

 

 

Beyond the Resume, Blog Project Prompts, Blogging and Social Media in the Workplace, Uncategorized

Blog Project 3: Traditional vs. Non-Traditional

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To be blunt, I do not see the traditional resume disappearing anytime soon due to several circumstances. A non-traditional resume may look and/or sound interesting and may be useful in “standing out” in certain job markets where the utmost creativity is necessary, but as far as the vast majority goes it is a distraction and a waste of effort. For one thing, the resume itself in many areas of the market is disappearing as a stand-alone document; many more common jobs are offered on behalf of large organizations and many ask that the hopeful apply online and simply regurgitate what would be on a traditional resume onto their own company specific application. The resume itself, while it can in many circumstances be attached, is not necessarily necessary and is essentially redundant.

As noted in a 2011 article, from the send button ones application goes through an ATS program that automatically filters out keywords and phrases specific to what the company is looking for and, much like a Google search, will offer up the highest percentage matches. Having a more colorful or creatively structured resume many interfere with a programs ability to find these markers and thus disqualify you from a search long before an actual human being can appreciate your rainbow-colored header. Another mark against the non-traditional resume is its very variability. It is too easy to do a creative resume wrong because there are fewer standards of use available. Even if you are not submitting a creative resume until an actual interview, many options that may at first appear “cute” or “interesting” may not be taken that way by a potential employer and simply do not come out as seeming professional. Unlike its more non-descript cousin, what is a welcome use of style or color to one resume pile might not be welcome in another. Unless it is for a job along the lines of Google, graphic designing or perhaps going into business for yourself, the time and effort that goes into creating a creative resume for one job, might have to be completely redone to apply somewhere else, simply put: the more creative one gets, to a certain extent, the less one size fits all.

Of course the exception to the latter statement would most obviously be professional profiles such as Linked-In or Facebook, which I do feel have some universal usability. But these are not resumes any more than resumes are Linked-In profiles, they are two distinct relays of information. Profiles are more personable introductions while still containing relevant information. These kinds of works are worth splurging a bit with creativity because they almost have to be viewed by a human being where the creative effort can be appreciated.

I’ve made no secret about my distaste for many creative resume formats in this post. To be even more honest, when it comes to my professional experience there is not much to separate me from any crowd. Because most of my jobs have been pretty run-of-the-mill, if I had to create a more artful version of my resume I would probably go with either an infographic format or a captioned slideshow (https://gma.yahoo.com/photos/helath-slideshow-slideshow/american-magazine-consumer-reports-offers-roundup-best-sunscreens-photo-104510461.html) because they are simple, easy to format and linear making them less distracting to follow.

Cited:

http://mashable.com/2011/12/26/non-traditional-resume-infographic/

Beyond the Resume

Nontraditional Résumés: Going Above and Beyond

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Everything is a competition.  In life, everything we do, whether that’s parking a car, deciding what TV show to watch, or applying for a job, results in a winner and a loser.  Some of these acts are more clearly competitive than the others, but perhaps none so much as the act of applying for a job.

When we seek to secure a new position, regardless of the nature of the company or organization we are applying to, we are fully aware that we are going to be pitted against others, all of us vying for one, singular position.  This begs the question, what can we do to stand out against the crowd?  How do we make our knowledge and experience more appealing than our competitors?  How do we leave a positive, lasting impression on our potential employer after we leave the interview?  The answer is simple: our résumé.

A carefully crafted résumé can be the single most effective tool in landing that dream job, but also in ruining our chances.  This is where the alternative résumé debate begins.  A traditional résumé—one that merely lists our qualifications and experiences—is arguably going out of style.  Instead, employees are becoming more inclined to favor job candidates that find alternative ways to showcase the same information.

An alternative résumé gives an applicant more control over their professional presence and personal representation, which can allow the individual to present an image of themselves that distinguishes them from others with a similar background.

With a nontraditional résumé comes freedom from the conventions and restraints generally associated with building a résumé, and this can help one applicant distinguish themselves above others.  When strategically and carefully constructed in a memorable and professional capacity, it becomes an opportunity for the applicant to showcase not only their credentials, but to provide a practical demonstration of them, too.  If the applicant is pursuing a job in a creative industry, such as I will inevitably do, this opportunity is unfathomably valuable.

Take, for example, the following traditional résumé for copywriter Adam J. Fleischer.

traditional resume

While Fleischer’s information is presented in a neat and precise manner, his résumé is nondescript, dull, and easily forgotten.  On the other hand, the following nontraditional résumé for Ariane Denise, also a copywriter, leaves a lasting impression.

MY_RESUME_by_arianedenise

Denise’s résumé adheres to the basic principles of information design that are expected from any job applicant: all of the necessary bona fides are present, but they are not just merely present; they are striking and impressive.  The layout of her résumé is a direct representation of the job she is undoubtedly applying for, and her dedication to the craft.  In our current job market—overcrowded with highly qualified applicants but lacking available positions—this type of résumé lends a much needed competitive edge.

WORKS CITED:

AdamFleisher. “Technical Marketing Copywriter in San Francisco Bay Area CA Resume Adam Fleischer.” Mixed Media. Docstoc. 23 Dec. 2009. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

arianedenise. “MY RESUME.” Mixed Media. deviantART. 29 June 2009. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

Beyond the Resume, Blog Project Prompts, Uncategorized

Blog # 3: Beyond the Resume

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This week, everyone will post in response to this prompt by midnight Sunday, September 13. Make sure to identify your post with the category “Beyond the Resume.”Do organizations still want a traditional resume? What about alternative resumes? What about social media profiles? Leslie Stevens-Huffman (2014) reports that a recent survey indicates “although a great majority of companies use platforms such as Twitter or LinkedIn to source candidates, 77 percent always ask for a resume before scheduling an interview and 19 percent request one most of the time.”Simply put, we’re in a transition period, so as a job applicant, you need to be prepared to provide prospective employers with a traditional resume and a presentation of your qualifications in several other formats.

These alternative formats include:

  1. an alternative resume (some creative version of your professional presence, which might be as slight a change as a use of job annotations or as dramatic as a video resume)
  2. a social media presence (some combination of a website, LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook)
  3. two versions of a prose biography, one a max of 50 words and a second one 100 words (“Prose versions” of your resume are narrative descriptions of your qualifications and experience, the sort of thing you would include in a cover letter, or an “About Me” page on a social media profile or website. So you should have a longer prose narrative of 100 words, and a shorter version of 50 words.)

For Project 2, you will create a professional website, using a public hosting solution, so that it can become part of your professional presence outside of the university.

This blog post is an opportunity to begin creating or updating alternative presentations of your qualifications, so that you have them available when opportunity presents itself and so that you can integrate them with your online professional profile.

What constitutes an alternative resume? Changing the design or medium. Changing the selection or emphasis of content. Changing the examples.  These are some possible alternative formats (and you can find more by goggling images of alternative resumes):

In your blog post, discuss your choices about your professional presence—and your thoughtful decisions about how to depict yourself. For example, what image do you want to create? What about your experience and strategic knowledge do you want to emphasize? How do you want to distinguish yourself from others with a similar background? How can you use the basic principles of information design to help create strong, effective resumes.

In your post, provide or link to examples of two alternative resume formats (from the bulleted list of alternative/creative resume formats above) for presenting your experience and qualifications that you would like to use when creating your own online professional profile. You don’t actually have to create an alternative resume presentation of your skills, experience, and qualifications, just provide examples of two formats you would like to use when you do create the revised version of your professional profile for submission. In your discussion, provide your rationale for why you think these alternative formats would be appropriate and effective in helping you stand out from the crowd.

Posting: Groups 1 &  2 (by Sunday at midnight)

Commenting: No comments unless you’re doing so for extra credit

Category: Beyond the Resume

References (Use these to generate ideas and learn strategies for alternatives to supplement your traditional resume)

Diaz, Charlsye Smith. (2013). Updating best practices: applying on-screen reading strategies to résumé writing. Business Communication Quarterly, 76(4), 427–445.

Dockweiler Scott. (2014, January 22). The key to answering “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” The Daily Muse. Retrieved from http://www.thedailymuse.com/job-search/the-key-to-answering-where-do-you-see-yourself-in-5-years/

Lauby, Sharlyn. (2010, Oct 05). 4 digital alternatives to the traditional resume. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/10/05/digital-resumes/

Laya, Patricia. (2011, June 11). 13 insanely cool resumes that landed interviews at Google and other top jobs. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/insanely-creative-resumes-2011-6  [NB: And links to more. A good idea? It depends.]

Lipman, Victor. (2013, June 6). Is the traditional resume dying? Forbes. Retrieved fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/06/06/is-the-traditional-resume-dying/

Manovich, Lev. (2012, February 26). 5 minute guide: Graphic design principles for information visualization. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CVbRgxAby5AdS6ERCmAde69v7_gXSWoK-YcJZzs-KKY/edit

NHS Designs. (n.d.). Graphic designs: Principles of layout. Retrieved from http://www.nhsdesigns.com/graphic/layout/principles.php (NB: The four graphic design principles are important for you to know and use regularly, including in this assignment; the examples, however, are amateurish.)

Nixon, Barbara B. (2009). Principles of effective design: Joshua tree epiphany and CRAP. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/bnixon/principles-of-effective-design (NB: These 10 PPT slides offer a useful, illustrated review of Robin Williams’ graphic design principles. Borrow the Williams’ book from the WCP intern office for a more in-depth review.)

Stevens-Huffman, Leslie. (2014, January 22). Are traditional resumes passé? Dice. Retrieved from http://news.dice.com/2014/01/22/traditional-resumes-passe/

Weber, Lauren. (2014, January 23). In a tough job market applicants try résumé gimmicks. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://on.wsj.com/KRvJQR

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