I can’t help it, I do, I hate them. I can’t think of many things more callous and bland than having your entire life reduced to a seemingly meaningless collection of dates and one liner descriptions. Before becoming a recruiter I was so adamantly opposed to resumes that I stubbornly refused to write one up. I simply wouldn’t do it. My friends and colleagues thought that I was crazy (maybe I was). I just couldn’t buy into the obsessive neurosis that my friends went through when studying their finely crafted cover letters and fretting over the spacing between their headers and margins. Just thinking about it now makes me sick.

My finest moment and bragging right came when I went in to an interview with a potential employer for a graphic design position without a resume or a portfolio. The interview went well, we talked, I got a quick tour of the work place, and we discussed the direction of the company and how I might fit in. Then I was asked for my resume. I promptly told him that I didn’t believe in resumes. I said, “If an employer is going to make a decision to hire me based on a bunch of disjointed and incomplete facts on a resume then I’m not sure that it is a job I want to have.” My potential boss nodded his head and said he felt that he understood and told me that he wasn’t the biggest fan of reviewing resumes in the first place. Then he wanted to see my portfolio – and that’s an entirely different story.

Amazingly enough, to my friends’ dismay, I got the job. I have since tried repeating this formula as well as combining it with a variety of ‘guerilla job interview‘ techniques with no success. The problem isn’t getting a job without a resume. The problem is trying to get a job INTERVIEW without a resume. Fast forward a few years and now I spend all day reviewing, critiquing, and editing resumes. Oh, the irony.

In the past I’ve used this blog to discuss improving or creating your online portfolio in order to better sell yourself to potential employers. But unlike a website, everyone has a resume. Everyone’s resume is unique. They differ in fonts, styles and layout. Some people insist on putting every detail of their lives while others don’t put enough information. People debate on where to place your education or experience (in the middle!!?? At the top!!?? On the bottom?? What if it’s two pages!!??) and a host of others things that I couldn’t possibly care less about.

Regardless of your style or your preference or your vocation, do your best to keep things as simple as possible. As a creative recruiter I need just a few details to insure you get that first interview. I need your name; I need your previous employers (with dates) with a list of clients worked on for each. I also want your education and any awards that you may have won for your work. That’s all I care about. When it comes to resumes, I’m a bare bones kinda guy. I just want to get you that first interview so that you can sell yourself without having to rely on some jumbled list of dry facts and previous occupational duties.

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