I saw this article about allegedly "impeccably designed" resumes online today:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/impeccably-designed-resumes?bfpi&crlt.pid=camp.W6394YoYFfiL#4eae776

It's from July, so I don't know if this has already been a topic of discussion here, but am I in the minority when I think most of them look flat-out unprofessional? I would never encourage someone to print their picture on a resume (some companies disqualify for that). The one with the thumbprints is ridiculous.

How many of the 27 would you throw straight into the trash based on appearance alone? I would probably give only five of them a serious review.

For website developers, graphic artists, and creative jobs that type if stylized if resume seems rather appropriate. Pictures, thumb prints are to much but some actually looked pretty good.

I would welcome several of these. Much better than looking at the same Microsoft Word resume templates over and over. Fingerprints are much, but a lot depends on the job.

I might borrow a couple ideas from that page for my own resume even though I'm a business professional type. However, there is more to dislike than like, IMO.

Not a fan of multi-color resumes, the infographic look, or especially the overly artsy look. Even creative types need to be responsible professionals who understand the audience. A resume is meant to deliver the right information quickly and easily to a busy reviewer. A lot of those resumes force you to search for information (that is sometimes missing) in unusual places. There's a lot of emphasis of form over function, which isn't good for any job.

Your resume can assert design skill without looking like a flier for story-time at the library; keep your resume and portfolio separate.

My first impression of several of those resumes is that the person did a traditional resume, realized it was unimpressive, and jazzed it up with a bunch of colors and shapes to distract from all the lack of qualifications. A lot of those have tons of wasted space, both white space and huge section headers. If I formatted my resume like some of those, it would be 40 pages long (currently two ruthlessly edited pages). Some others imply good experience but don't quite tell you what that experience might be, which is a double negative.

Bar graphs for skills may give a false legitimacy to a subjective evaluation. I appreciate what they are trying to do by making the information visual and easily understood at a glance, but I can't decide if I like it or dislike it. The answer is not immediately clear, so chances are many reviewers would dislike the graphs. Resume reading programs would probably flip out with the (lack of) organization, too.



I did really enjoy the comments on the article. Half adults saying that these "might" fly for certain graphic design jobs and nothing else, half high school and art school students saying things like "don't listen to anyone else, if you want to go wild, go wild. The right company will embrace it!" Yeah....

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For website developers, graphic artists, and creative jobs that type if stylized if resume seems rather appropriate. Pictures, thumb prints are to much but some actually looked pretty good.

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This. If I was looking for someone to fill a position that required creativity, I'd appreciate a resume that reflected that. If you're going to be working in my laboratory running PCRs, these would not be what I'd expect or appreciate.

Several of these would draw the eye(s) of people in my field. And several more are over the top.

I think a resume has to be about 10% eye-catching and 90% content. If I have to search all over the page, or I find it visually confusing, I would probably not take the time/effort to decipher it.

Unless you're trying to get an acting or model job, save the head shots for your FB profile.

After attending my last career fair as a recruiter, I'd like to have photos on all resumes. I never forget a face and I realize I still know what I talked to each face about. But today, I can't match the face to the name or the resume. When I'm talking to 100 people in a day, standing out can help. If I got a resume with a professional photo (suit & tie headshot), I would definitely appreciate it. Not sure my company would feel the same way.

In my field, this would be entirely inappropriate.

If you like the resume like that, you will like candidates that have resumes like that.

Personally, unless its a creative position, no.

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After attending my last career fair as a recruiter, I'd like to have photos on all resumes. I never forget a face and I realize I still know what I talked to each face about. But today, I can't match the face to the name or the resume. When I'm talking to 100 people in a day, standing out can help. If I got a resume with a professional photo (suit & tie headshot), I would definitely appreciate it. Not sure my company would feel the same way.

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when i was recruiting, i would have preferred someone to have their linkedin profile or something similar on their resume rather than having a headshot included. For one, that seems to be more appropriate. on the rare occasion that i wanted to remember what you looked like, i would go there. Secondly, it usually just resulted in laughter/making fun of that person (unless they were an attractive female). i cant tell you how many times i would see or hear "hey look at this *****". at the beginning of my career, i had ways of notating who was who, so that pictures on resumes were never needed. so when i had their resume in front me, or was discussing a candidate with a hiring manager, i had notes and comments.

regarding the creative resumes, agreed with them only being used for the "creative/artistic types", otherwise, there is no resume that is ignored or thrown in the trash faster. just completely unprofessional. even when i was in IT recruiting, and looking to hire some of the creative types, i wanted to see practical examples, not a flashy resume.