10 Web Designers Create a Resume

The Web Design Source had a really cool contest to see what 10 great designers would do with the same person’s resume.

Click through to see all the designs, but here are my personal favorites:

(Note this is an English website, so they’re including some personal info that would be a no-no here in the US, such as birth date and marital status).

The post also includes some great resume tips, all of which I agree with, but I do have a couple of concerns about these resumes:

1) Unless Steven has a version in MS Word, or text only, his resume won’t work with applicant tracking systems. This means his data won’t be found 3 months from now when the HR department needs to hire a designer, and scans the database for candidates.

2) The focus of this contest was on visual appeal. The contestants weren’t actually given enough information to write strong content. (You can see the rules here). A strong resume should communicate what makes you different. How are you uniquely valuable? What impact has your design work had on your employers/clients? Has it increased sales? Driven leads? Improved conversion?

Unlike most professionals, web designers are able to measure the impact of almost everything they do. A resume that doesn’t communicate that impact is an ineffective one – no matter how pretty it looks.

My own advice to web designers is to create a practical, easy-to-read, impact-filled resume in MS Word (here’s an example) and then go a little crazy on a PDF version that demonstrates your design skills. When you apply for a position by email, send both. That way you are sure to make the most of all the opportunities available to you.

Check out the rest of the designs here and let me know what you think.