Anna Yenina’s resume looks like it’s made from things lying around the house – a piece of paper, an old photo, pieced of paper, cloth doodads, and a post-it note. Sure, it’s a resume, but a resume meant to look like it’s made from other things. It’s a scrapbook in resume form.
She also disposes of the standard resume format, focusing on skills first, then an introduction, and finally providing more detailed information. The chaotic design is reflected in the arrangement as well – and actually seems to play off of it. The resume makes you pay attention with its unusual nature – and that helps draw you in.
The high points of this resume provide us some instructional lessons:
- Like other, similar resumes the fact she can make the resume look like something else shows a level of artistic skill and creativity. That’s automatically a way to show talent.
- The non-standard resume outline actually works here, because it plays into the chaos. That’s an interesting lesson in breaking form by breaking physical form.
- She very cleverly calls out a basic personality statement with “highlighting” and an arrow at the top, and the green post-it-note is bright enough to call out her skills. That’s a clever way to use the metaphor to emphasize specific traits and keep the non-standard arrangement of the resume working.
- The informal look of the resume is reinforced by the non formal writing style. That might not work for everyone, but it does maintain the spirit of the resume.
- The little fine details really draw the eye and get attention. It makes the resume fun. For instance, the little exclamation point at the top is a cute touch.
- As always, including a photo adds a human touch.
- The resume itself, via its design, has a more personal feel.
- The links to portfolios and examples are a good show of “putting your money where your mouth is.”
A few issues:
- Some of the text seems to have been added via graphic tools and it shows. It could be messed with a bit, possibly to keep the informal feel.”
- The non-standard arrangement is a bit of a gamble.
- I think it could have used a career history in some area. It’s worked into the large descriptive paragraph, but it doesn’t give a “feel” of history.
- There’s a slight glitch around the star on the hobbies page where the text overlaps it. Yes, I do fine detail.
My ultimate takeaway here is using the “chaotic” nature of the metaphor to both work with a non-standard layout and at the same time to highlight important points. There’s something very clever about both subverting the standard resume – and then making things stand out.
Steve’s Summary: If I got handed this resume I’d get a kick out of it – and enjoy the whimsy and the personal touch. It’s clear she’s imaginative and creative off the bat, but it’s almost a humble way of showing it.
[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]
– Steven Savage