In keeping with our theme of challenging the norm this week, we present yet another proposal for a very different way of looking at something very common: the traditional resume. For too many years we have tolerated boring, linear, monotonous and generally annoying printed sheets of paper, which everyone conveniently calls a Resume, when in fact this monstrosity should really be called an Abort. Resumes as we know them are an excellent example of bad design.
We at The Desi Design are exploring a fresh, human-centric approach to resumes; one that puts the users – the resume maker and the resume reader – into focus. One that makes it easy to highlight the most important info and makes it quick and effortless to consume that info. Just to be clear, we’re not talking about over the top, ridiculously over-done things that routinely feature in lists like ’10 Most Awesomely Earth-shattering Resumes’. Nope.
The New Resume, as we call it, involves presenting useful and meaningful information in a simple, engaging and intuitive layout and offers complete flexibility for customization of any sort. The New Resume is basically a grid made up of several (as many or as few as you want/need) boxes that contain any kind of information or content that you want to include. In part this approach is heavily inspired by Microsoft’s new design language, Metro, but nevertheless applied in a very different scenario.
Let’s see why we think The New Resume is a brilliant idea:
Easy to Make and Easier to Read
Making and customizing The New Resume is simple and fun. No need to beg that friend who claims to know Photoshop for help, nor any need to download weird heavy ass software off The Pirate Bay. Just open Word, type in, resize some boxes if you have to, save, and send off. Now, when the overworked HR Officer who is eager to get rid of the last 3 assigned resumes before leaving early for lunch sees your resume, he is dumbfounded. In front of him is the most intuitive, easy to read and attractive resume anyone has ever seen. It’s sublime. Oh, and while Mr HR Guy is busy admiring it, The New Resume effortlessly tells him about your Educational credentials and allows him to find your contact info just as easily, to be put into the email to you with the subject line: Invitation for Interview.
Infinitely Flexible – Completely Customizable
The New Resume is flexible and customizable to the core. It is equally useful whether you’re a banker, a doctor, a designer, a brand manager, a developer, or President of Pakistan (yep, you can just get rid of the achievements and education boxes altogether).
Whether you want to add a QR code to your latest project, or customize the color scheme to match that of your prospective employer, or just feature that favorite artwork, The New Resume is ready.
WWW: Works with Word
As you already know now, you don’t have to have ANY specialized skills to make a New Resume for yourself. All it takes is dear old Word. In fact, we love you so much that we made a template for you to work with. So it’s ready to roll, right now. Just download the template, fill in and customize away!
Easy on the Eyes
With something so flexible and based on super-simple parts, you’d think it’d be ugly to look at. Well, no. The New Resume is a case study in the beauty of simplicity. Clean lines, lots of breathing space and crisp typography make The New Resume a breath of fresh air amid a sea of horribly formatted documents.
Impressed? Now it is your turn to impress.
I think despite of this brilliant design, many recruiters will still prefer for the conventional design, that is text-tusnami on 1-2 pages. As I guess many prefer more information over a creative presentation of information.
Hmm. perhaps you are right. But then a resume is NOT supposed to go over a page. It has to be a summary of your professional activities. So yeah, maybe the HR guys will still go for the ‘text tsunami’ but that just defeats the purpose of the resume from the get go.
Very well designed, whenever i have looked at resumes i look for key discussion points and any points that captures the individuality of the candidate.
exactly, those are the things The New Resume focuses the most on: individuality and highlighting the important points!
I like this design more, generally having to go through CV’s of illustrators or designers, I’m more likely to call in those who have demonstrated their skill set via the CV. This format should be applied by all the business schools with some noticable variations. Warna agar sab kay paas aikhi CV ho, so that kind of kills the point of ompting originality.
yep, agreed! this design makes it easy to customize, while at the same time preserving a basic structure that makes it reader friendly too.
It is equally useful whether you’re a banker, a doctor, a designer, a brand manager, a developer, or President of Pakistan (yep, you can just get rid of the achievements and education boxes altogether).
Dead at the bit in the parentheses.
🙂
Excellent learned quite alot .