In part one of our series, A Better Approach to Résumés, we discussed what makes a résumé great (creativity and a well-thought-out design helps) and why the traditional résumé needs to be put to bed (it’s boring).
Not conforming to The Industry Standard and having a slick presentation is a good way to become a memorable contender for a position, but if you’re not careful, you can become memorable for a whole different reason…
Image may be NSFW.
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You Can Over-design
You can overshadow your experience by taking a design or concept too far. Remember, you’re trying to get attention, not to show everything you can do in your job. A résumé still has three categories of information:
1 Experience
2 Qualifications
3 Contact info
If you’re wondering where education is, it’s in qualifications. Many companies do not hire based on education, they are looking for experience and qualification. Although many still require specific education background, it falls in the same category.
Your résumé isn’t a portfolio. It doesn’t need images, lists of everything you’ve done, or fancy charts and graphs, although some infographics can be used and be extremely effective. The most important thing to remember with any design choice is it needs to be an extension of your personal tastes and experience.
GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR!
Wanna look bad? Easy. Make grammatical mistakes on your cover letter or résumé. I don’t mean the complicated, convoluted rules of the ardent grammar nazi, I mean simple spelling and punctuation. Use your spell check, then use your grammar check. Then do it again, and after that, have friends read it. They love finding errors.
A Great Cover Letter
Your cover letter is another pivotal aspect of your résumé. It’s an opportunity to make yourself memorable, so listen closely all résumé senders: STOP USING TYPICAL CANNED PHRASES.
Be honest, individual, and dare I say it, casual in your cover letter. Be yourself. If you’re applying for a web developer position, go ahead and use web jargon to describe your skills. But, remember one caveat… the first person reading your résumé could be an HR professional and they might not get the inside jokes. Solve that by providing two cover letters, one for the HR professional and one for the representative of the team for which you’re applying. Yes, this is unorthodox, but, unorthodox also means memorable.
Another important aspect of your cover letter is personalization. If it’s simply the same letter repurposed with the company name and position changed, the impression is you don’t care enough to put in the time necessary for the job/company you’re applying.
Don’t just say you learned a lot about the company and they seem like a great fit. Tell them instead how you are uniquely qualified.
OVER the top
Years ago I created a résumé by writing my qualifications on the bottom of a pizza box and having it delivered to a small design agency I aspired to work for. It did the trick and they hired me. Their only complaint was I sent just one pizza.
Consider taking a further step and making yourself so memorable that the job you want remembers you instantly. It requires a bit of finesse. It’s not likely a company would hire a director of finance if they delivered their résumé on a pizza box, so it pays to know the intricacies and nuances of the culture where you’re applying.
To Sum It Up
There’s nothing wrong with the old school, word processor designed résumé, but there’s nothing great about it either. Now imagine if you are in the position to go through résumés of potential employees. Are you more likely to be inspired and influenced by a potential employee who took the time to create something personal and distinctive or the typical, standard fare?
Be honest. Then decide.
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Dave Woodruff
Dave is one of the founding partners of meltmedia and currently serves as our Chief Creative Officer. He has an affinity towards good wine and fish and chips. He can usually be seen yelling, "Who's going to Four Peaks with us?!" throughout the office every friday at noon.