Two months ago, I was asked from a business professional to make his profile (resume) in sort of a “online-friendly” way. He showed me a professor’s resume as an example, which had different concepts compared to other traditional resumes... It used the same basic format as a traditional resume, but the main difference was that he added hyperlinks to name of companies and schools he belongs(ed) to so that readers can actually visit their websites for more information. He also listed some of his (popular) blog articles and put hyperlinks to them, and I was able to enjoy his blog posts by just clicking the links… He even included small logos of organizations he used to work for in his resume and linked them to their websites. I was very impressed with his creative resume format and managed to get lots of information about his careers for a very short time (by just clicking some links).
After making the professional’s resume like the professor’s, I also wanted to make my resume the way the professor used for his. I mean, I wanted to lead future readers of my resume to actually see my social media involvements, SEO knowledge, my past experience by just clicking links on my resume.
Some people say there is no need to be creative in making resume, and they instruct us to use a standard and conventional resume format (and font). I do not disagree with this, but as the marketing tactics/strategies of companies today have evolved due to the advent of social media, I think the ways of marketing ourselves to recruiters should also evolve to the next level. As we all know, most of companies these days accept resumes (job applications) online, and thanks to remarkable technologies, I heard some companies even use iPad or netbook to review applicants’ resume during their job interviews… In addition, this type of resume formats can effectively expose yourself to online users, specifically to recruiters, in search engines and social media sites…
Anyway, I created my resume in a “online-friendly” way and posted it on my blog… In about two weeks, it’s generated 130 views…I even received contacts from some companies although I didn’t apply for their job openings…kinda surprising… I am still not sure if it will be working as I expected or going to have positive effects on my future job hunting, but we will see :)Here are my 5 tips for people who might be interested in making this type of resume;
1. First, add hyperlinks to the names of the companies (or organizations) that you have worked for so that recruiters or interviewers can get detailed information easily…2. Second, place links to your social media accounts like Twitter, Blogger, or LinkedIn on the top of your resume to bring your resume readers to your social media networks..
3. Save your resume into a PDF form. This makes it easy for readers to go through your resume and click the links.
4. Sign up for Slideshare and upload your resume there. This way, your resume can have an official address in search engines.
5. Embed your resume link (Slideshare) in your blog and linkedin profile so your resume can reach out to your target audiences.
This is absolutely brilliant! Tae-hyun not only recognized a creative and useful idea, he also followed it up with excellent advice about how readers can implement it.
ReplyDeleteI would add one comment that might be too obvious to someone in Marketing: Know Your Audience and its tools. Many managers lack tech savvy and might react negatively to logos and color. Many career portals convert uploaded resumes into plain text for their keyword searches, and others even still require you to cut-and-paste plain text into a form. This can result in URLs in the middle of your form, hindering readability and causing a corrupted appearance.
Also, use good taste. Don't spoil a clean appearance with gaudy graphics. What will your resume look like printed on a B&W printer? Headings that looked great before might lose existing formatting, and underlined hyperlinks might clash with other formatting.
The idea is brilliant, but use it wisely.
Your idea caught my eyes in Linkedin Group. Just wanna share a few comments from Corp world view.
ReplyDeleteAs Richard commented above, lots of colors may ruin your neat CV. So it should be used in very careful way and also depending on which industry you are applying for. Giants like IBM, AT&T etc, it won't work, but young companies will love your idea.
Putting your photo in resume might not be a good idea. Recruiter will google you and see your info in Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter etc, so expose yourself there as profile is be enough. I prefer that way when I hire.
Regarding the pdf idea, I actually share my CV in pdf, but it is only because I don't want folks to use/alter my CV for other purposes. However, please be aware most of recruiters will come back to you to send MS word formatted CV back if they are interseted in saving your information in their database.
However, with ipad usage increases, your idea will be leading the whole new concept, and that's why I liked it.
Wonderful Resume. Even I had tried to make it some different resume which is Visual Resume with the Help of PPT. You can have a look at http://www.jaydip.info/internet-marketing-consultant-ahmedabad-india/
ReplyDeleteKindly share you views and comment too.
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ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments and feedbacks.. I really appreciate it..
ReplyDeleteThe reactions of people to the post have been amazing!! seriously....I am really surprised....
The post has been viewed by more than 300 people yesterday, and I received more than 30 comments from the sites where I posted it on.... I even got contacts from 5 recruiters in just one day asking for my career plan. Even though there were few people who think the new resume format is not going to work, most of them agree that it is a brilliant way of branding ourselves along with new marketing trends...:)
@Richard, I agree with you that Knowing right audience and targeting to them is very important. Main focus of branding/marketing myself should be producing valuable contents with specific target audience and pulling their demands. I appreciate your feedbacks on my resume structures/designs..I didn't think about how it will look like when it is printed out...Thanks a lot!
@Grace, I totally agree with you that this way would not be so popular with the traditionalists and big corporations. I think I need to focus more on developing my resume with clear objectives like where it should be used.. And as you said, by putting away unnecessary contents and reorganizing them in a more professional way, I need to utilize it more effectively/efficiently.. I appreciate your compliment as well!!
@ Jaydip, I heard about the website, Visual Resume, as well and found some useful functions there.. Thank you for sharing it with us!!
Excellent idea, I liked the way you presented yourself via resume.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing idea! Hopefully when I transform my resume to be more "online-friendly," I'll have recruiters coming to me as they did to you instead of the other way around. You are right when you say that especially for someone in the Marketing field that you need to be creative and think outside the box and not so generic with your resume. Because it is all about standing out, not fitting in.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and reading others comment and will really think about changing my resume and will be careful when sending it to recruiters. Thanks!
What did you use to format the email in the first place? You said to post it to slideshare but how to do you guard it for privacy, after all it necessarily has to have your personal info?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question!! Actually, that was one of my concerns that I had before posting it. Speaking of my email address that I placed on the top, I transformed my email address to an image and added a hyperlink there...this way, I wanted to prevent my email address from being automatically read by "spammers"... and at the same time, I wanted to provide the readers of the post with convenice to send me an email just by clicking the image... As you know, we all have received lots of spams online and most of them are kinda annoying...:) There might exist some sort of "machine" that can read email addresses that are put into hyperlinks though...
ReplyDeleteFor privacy, I didn't put my full address and phone number on my resume...But, I received some commemts saying it would be better to provide only my phone number for privacy... Anyway, I have another version of my resume, which has the same format, but involve my full contact information... So, once I receive contacts from recruiters or companies, I send them the one that includes my full contact information....
I hope this would be the answer you want.
I have been doing this similar concept myself. The best thing on company logos and such, is to make sure that it is graphically appealing, not overwhelming. That said, I have used my graphic design skills to hone that idea and make it very classy and useful. I also have a company that does this very thing. If you would like to know more...contact me...
ReplyDeleteIm on linkedin, facebook, twitter, etc...
or brent[dot]jagodnik[at]gmail[dot]com.
Fantastic use of your idea, skills and social media know-how to expose this to the rest of us.
thanks again
This is a unique concept which is very impressive and i think people have to know more and more about this in deep.
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Hey great resume format and impressive
ReplyDeleteI had made up something like that but didnt upload to Slidshare yet as im registered there since long. sooner i will upload it on that and also to my personal blog in PDF format.
you can get it here on http://www.kamalupatel.com
sir, first of all, you did a great job with your resume. i think it's really good. also, i want to ask you how did you edit your picture to look like that? with the round edges and more of a 3D or embossed look?
ReplyDeleteHello Rowell, thanks for your comment..! I used some of functions that Powerpoint provides to change the image...I usually utilize Photoshop and Powerpoint along with other image tools when changing/making certain images..
ReplyDeleteIt helps me to enhance my knowledge thanks..Really you have done a fabulous job
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