AW WebBiz & Social Media Blog » Resumes and Portfolios

Dynamic Digital Resumes – How To Differentiate Yourself

Gretchen Glasscock — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:42:12 +0000

9 Dynamic Digital Resumes that Stand Out From the Crowd

It’s all about standing out from the crowd when you’re trying to get someone’s attention and get them to focus on you and your abilities. What better way, then to show off some of your skills or your ingenuity and drive by presenting a more polished and graphic presentation of who you are. Sharlyn Lauby writing in Mashable.com shows us several eye-catching ways to do that:

1. Give the Reader Your History

Michael Anderson’s infographic resume turns his employment and academic history into a colorful visual journey.

And, jumping ahead:

3. Make It Personal

Traditional resumes can be “humanized” by a well-written cover letter. Graphical resumes can add a whole new dimension by visually introducing the person behind the experience.

Federico Moral went with an anthropological theme, placing his skills into the timeline of human evolution.

Francis Homo turns his own silhouette into a frame for his achievements.

Brandon Kleinman adds a really creative twist by making a short presentation out of his Facebook photos.

You get the idea. Make it interesting, make it compelling, make it fun. Show employers you are not only smart but creative and a bit driven, willing to go the extra mile. That should at least take you a long way down the road to your next great opportunity.

For the complete article go to 9 Dynamic Digital Resumes that Stand Out From the Crowd

Beautiful Visual Resumes (labnol.org)
When a Contact Invites You to Send a Resume (money.usnews.com)
A Facebook Style Resume [PIC] (penn-olson.com)

Great Resumes Answer One Critical Question: What’s In It For Them?

Gretchen Glasscock — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:33:28 +0000

The critical resume question.

Great resumes, the only kind you ever want to have if you want an effective job search, answer one critical question for any potential employer who looks at it:

WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM?

If your resume doesn’t answer that question in a few seconds, it’s garbage. It’s worse than worthless for you, because it can lock you out of that prospect.

Nice paper, or an Ivy League education, or fancy titles won’t impress as much as answering that single question quickly, and in a compelling way.

Ask yourself how people read a resume.

Have you ever been to a retail store, and had an overbearing salesperson try to sell you something? He wants to tell you about how great it is, how it’s a “bargain”, and how it’s…blue! Did you care? Not so much. You had a need, and you wanted it met, the sooner, the better.

Prospective employers are the customers in the retail store. You’re the salesman. The employer won’t buy something that doesn’t meet a current, or known future need.

A prospective employer certainly wants to know the high points of what you’ve done, but only so he can determine if you’ll contribute to his organization in the way he wants you to. Achievements are good, but achievements matching needs are what you’re after.

So, when you start to write or revamp a resume, ask what the target employer needs. Then describe how you meet that need.

Make the most compelling case for being the person uniquely capable of meeting that need, and you’ll get the job.

( For some professional customization, see AW Career Portfolios, Customized For You)

Roy Miller, creator of Job Search Guide Post: sign up for Roy’s free weekly newsletter.

Want To Look Just Like The Competition? Use A Resume Template

Want To Look Just Like The Competition? Use A Resume Template

Gretchen Glasscock — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:43:00 +0000

: Image by lumaxart via Flickr

How to look like everybody else.

Want to get a great job? Do you think the best way to do that is to look like everybody else, blend in, fly under the radar?

Bzzzzz!!! That is the beeper going off if you answered yes to any of the above.

If you’ve been reading AdvancingWomen.com‘s blog at all, you know by now, your key strategy for your entire career is to stand out. And remember, your resume is key to that. “Your resume’s primary purpose is to make you stand out as clearly the best candidate. Your resume has to stand out in the way it looks, and in what it says.

So, you want to stand out. But you’re using a resume template. See the problem? A template makes you look like everybody else.

Just to be clear: the odds of coming up with a completely novel resume format are pretty low. In many respects, it really has all been done before.

But you’re not competing against the entire universe of resumes that have ever been written. You’ll be up against a much smaller subset – the group of applicants for a particular job.

The story goes that a bear was chasing two men ( or women). One guy/gal stops to change to his good running shoes. The other says, “What are you doing?! You’re wasting time! You gotta outrun that bear!” The first fellow replies, “Nope. I only have to outrun you.”

You’re trying to outrun your competition, and slapping together a quickie resume in a cookie-cutter resume template puts you at a disadvantage.

Look at templates, and learn from them. Then create your own custom format. Better yet, get some help doing that, so you can focus on the content of the resume.