[Closed] Info-graphic resumes, hit or miss?

aipash

My "current" resume is actually a 3-4 year old design, updated with current information.  I've been out of the 3D Art game for about 2 years now (*crying ensues*) and  it has become more of a hobby where I fit what I can into the little time that I have.  I know many of you on the forums personally/semi-professionally from school and whatnot, so feel free to chime in if you happen upon this.  ((P.S. you guys are killing it and I am so proud of you!)) .....

So the question is, how are resumes being handled these days? Have info-graphic style resumes become cliche and old news, or is there still something employers like to see in a thoughtfully design based one?

How do you handle your "references" section?  I was always told that it's thoughtless to put references on the internet that contains full names/phone numbers of real people. Therefore, mine has always been "References: Available upon request."  Part of me wonders if someone would see that as inadequate references, or courtesy to personal privacy of others. 

Anyway, I making my way back into 3D (lots to learn from my couple year hiatus) and decided the 1st thing I needed to do, or rather the easiest, was get my information current.  I'll post mine for visual purposes, if you see something that REALLY bothers you feel to point it out. 

huffer

I don't mind them, as long as they're easy to read. I think it shows that the artist also has an interest in graphic design and composition, which is cool. BUT, yours is a little hard to read because everything is slanted and because the name in the left is also rotated 90 degrees (making you tilt your head). Also the headers might be a little too much in-your-face.

Kwramm

Resume scanners may have a problem. Also lose the "who isn't looking for that?!" objective and use the space for something more meaningful, for example an introduction of who you are and what you do.

EDIT: I Just realized, the slanted part is how it will look printed? don't do that. Also a bit NO to resumes that have weird color schemes and cannot be printed or copied. Where I work every interviewer has a copy of the resume and we're not into wasting our toner. And the printer does black and white only.

I recommend putting "Ashlee Long - 3D Artist" (I assume you want to do 3D?) right on top - that way it's very obvious what you want, without hiding the info in the cliche objective.
Additional benefit: you're not pigeonholing yourself as a "entry-level" right away. Let the employer decide in what pay-grade and hierarchy level they sort you in, based on your folio and experience in relation to their own hiring standards.

Remove the references available upon request line. It's another captain obvious item. If HR wants references they will ask no matter what.

For any work experience - dates are a must! For any job related to 3D (e.g. IT jobs, jobs where you mentored someone, art job), list briefly what you did. The separation into "work history" and "professional experience" makes it annoying to get an overview because I have to go back and forth. If in doubt, I'd rather lose some of the non-3D related jobs (depending how long you held them).

For professional traits, I usually compare them with your job or volunteer experience. If you say leadership skills, then I'm looking for a job or somewhere where I think you could have shown them. If it's not obvious, then you should make it clear.

Michael_Ingrassia

It's meaningless. I disregard resumes on first contact, in fact I ask applicants NOT to submit them. I only want to see portfolios. The amount of terrible portfolios out there are insane. I'll find only 2-4% good portfolios worthy of looking into further. Another words I have to open 100 emails and click on 100 web links to find 2-4 artists even worth persuing. So I'm not knocking it if you have a pleasing looking resume, but I think you are focusing on the wrong thing. You won't get a job by having a pretty resume.

aipash

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I wish I could go no-resume because I do agree 100% that portfolios are far far more important. Mine has actually never been where I want it to be, which is why I've sparsely ever applied for paid 3D Artist positions.  Unfortunately,  I don't think anyone has ever Not asked me for a resume, 3D related art or not. Wouldn't the world be a better place? lol.  

I should be clear, the color in the resume is Only something to make it match my website.  My actual printable resume is black & white pdf. I would never make someone print this *shudders*.   Alas, Everything you guys have said have been a real help, I'll make some changes!

beefaroni

I think the others have nailed most of what I was going to say.

Seriously though, don't put "looking for entry-level" on your resume. It pretty much tells employers "only pay me x amount".

Arkadius

I would remove the background, I remember a recruiter saying she need to print every resume that got sent in and colored backgrounds were a pain.

radiancef0rge

miss for me. I really dislike graphic resumes. No justification it just looks unprofessional imo.
Also if you can't copy paste info from your resume, its no good. 

m4dcow

You mention that the colour styled infographic would be used to match your website, but if you do go this route only deviate from the traditional style resume if that change will convey information more effectively. So the slanted thing doesn't work, I would lose your name in huge letters along the left side to allow for more horizontal space to possibly allow for better descriptions of responsibilities on your professional experience section.

As others have mentioned, make sure to have a traditional styled resume available for download. Artists aren't the audience for resumes, HR people are and they don't really appreciate anything too out of the norm. Weird resumes can cause you to be overlooked from the get go, and the right people never have a chance lay eyes on your portfolio, so don't sabotage yourself.

pior

I'll be blunt : it looks like an over-designed music event poster. The tilt is the worst part, it almost makes it unreadable since the eye cannot track text lines properly.

Just make it light and efficient with clean text on a white background. It is actually harder to do well but will pay off in the end - it will look better, will be easier to read, and will be easy to edit. Also an employer will be about to print it out for reference if needed.

I know that using oversized fonts (for anything ...) feels kind of cool and fresh at first, but looking back at it a few weeks/months later this sort of design often looks tacky in retrospect

But most importantly : good luck in your job search.

aipash

Thanks everyone. I'm gonna go ahead and edit this for no more replies. You have left good points for me and they are very appreciated, and will be applied. Anything else feels like beating a dead horse lol.  

Eric Chadwick

Apply the changes, and post it here for feedback. I guarantee your resume will improve, if you keep iterating and sharing. This is a proven recipe for success; it is the foundation of how Polycount works. I hope it helps you!