Are visual resumes effective for job seekers?
I've written a blog post, with a number of different visual resume samples, at http://www.design-for-users.com
My question for hiring managers and recruiters is, are visual resumes effective, or just noise? And do you see many visual diagrams, timelines or presentations, or are they just mainly a novelty or ice-breaker that can't possibly hope to replace the standard resume?
I've put up a short 5 question survey at http://www.polldaddy.com/survey.aspx?id=c78acbfc15e054f2 and would love to know where HR professionals stand on this, if you have a moment. :-)
Good Answers (4)
I'll also answer your survey. My answer is yes--ultimately in the future--your visual resume, and online portfolio for that matter, is and will be effective.
Currently, resumes are comfortable to us: they answer our HR questions in order; they're formatted well to sort through info quickly. However, the digital age we're inevitably living through is changing a lot of things--including recruiting. Recruiters 'google' for personal work web sites (many that look similar to your 6 Fresh Brands pdfile). They do this to stimulate applicant flow, making their driving decision before seeing a resume. It doesn't mean a recruiter hires that person, but it means they're interested without the resume info.
I'm unsure about future hiring trends based on work history provided, but just remember that resumes used to have objectives (now it's almost unheard of for good reasons). I might see how we'll reach a point where job candidacy is assessed from a phone conversation or meeting. Various other factors might affect this trend too, such as the frequent job changes employees make these days.
I also want to point out that depending on the job sought, this method might work even now. Traditional-seeming companies will expect a resume for years to come, but a hip new design firm may try different, unconventional recruiting & interviewing methods.
Clarification added July 20, 2008:
I'd like to add that I agree with the above answer. If you decide to send a designed file, including it with your standard resume is ideal. It's great because you can appeal to both audiences.
Troy B.
Denver Recruiting: We're creating a world class city where everyone matters. See us at http://www.denvergov.org/jobs
Kristi -
Your PDF file of your visual resume seems to a collection of work samples, not a true resume. Maybe it's my bad eyes, but I can't see enough detail to tell what you've been doing. While I trust you, there's no guarantee that you did all the work you've presented. As it is, it is a novelty, not a replacement for the standard resume.
The job of a resume is to answer the question, "Do you have the skills, training and experience to succeed in this new role?" A resume provides the data to allow a decision maker to answer that question. The sample you offer doesn't really do that.
My $0.02
Troy
Kristi,
Your PDF is intresting, I could see a visual resume working for jobs that involve creative thinking but I still think it should go along with a standard resume just to make it a easy read. Also standard resume go to length at explaning jobs, skills, published articles etc..a visual resume as Troy mentioned will just be "noise"
Also - I did answer the survey and wanted to know if you are also analyzing how Baby Boomers, X and Y Gen answer that question - I just think it would be interesting to know the results of that.
Suzanne
When we first hear from a candidate, we just want the vitals. As designers and communicators, we expect that a good candidate will be able to get their qualifications across no matter what the constraints they are working within.
At VSA we place a 100k file size limit on uploads to our job inquiry form. You'd be amazed how many people just can't deal with the idea that all we want is a plain text resumé. I get several emails a months from candidates complaining about the limit. These emails go right into my trash.
More often than not, these are folks that are trying to over-represent their work on a team project or are masking a lack of experience with weak visuals. Even in the case where someone has a good reason to create a visual resumé, I'd say avoid it. There's just too much noise-to-signal out there.
