Greg Dizzia loves a good graph at a level that I almost envy – I might need to try to convert this guy to a career in Project Management. This is just one of his charts, he has others up at Deviant Art.
In this case he mapped the history of his career in one chart. Mixing color coding, timelines, and icons, it’s a mindbendingly dense summary of, well, his career. As a devotee of good info graphics and charts, it’s a bit overwhelming in a delightful way. Ok, delightful to me and people like me.
When you dig deep into what he created, these lessons stand out:
- This shows a sense of organization – yes, that’s obvious, but that’s not something easily communicated in a resume. Greg really thought this thing through, and tells me he’d probably be easy to work with organization-wise.
- It communicates a serious love of graphs and designs – as does his other work. It shows not just a sense of organization but serious skills.
- It says a lot. You can, if you break it down, really get a deep idea of what he did, learned, and what skills he employed.
- The use of icons is very effective – something I’d like to see more of, and something I’m noticing more of in resumes.
- It’s visually very appealing. These are good color choices.
Now there’s limits to this:
- It’s not a traditional or scannable resume. It’d probably have to be paired with a more traditional one.
- If a person doesn’t take the time to look into it, they won’t really get anything out of it – it’s not a resume to hand to someone for casual viewing.
- It is impersonal – it says a few things about him, but there’s no sense of “person.” A picture may help out – or an illustration.
- It’s a testimony to his skills, but it showcases only a few of his skills, and thus needs supplements.
- Some people might find it overly showy.
I think that this resume and others may be good in a portfolio, supplemented with a regular resume. He might even be able to create a whimsical “graph series” for display – since he apparently loves doing them – and that might be an idea for you, dear reader, to consider.
Steve’s Summary: Hand me this resume and, beyond my deep envy of his charting skills, it’d be a clear testimony to a very organized person that knows how to do specific graphic design. I’d want to see a regular resume and a larger portfolio though.
[“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
