It’s late (after 1:30am) here in the Emerald City; I would normally be asleep by now, but I’ve had a late-night rush of inspiration and had to ride the wave of energy. I figured, why not share my success story on the woefully neglected blog I keep meaning to update?
I’m officially into my ninth month of unemployment since I graduated from the UW CommLead program (formerly MCDM) and I have to say, it’s been a bit rough. I received a couple of promising leads, but nothing panned out, so I decided something needed to change. I elected to start with the basics: my résumé.
I’ve had good luck with my résumé, but if I am honest with myself, it’s stodgy and boring – not at all in keeping with my personality:
I love me some Palatino Linotype, but a prospective employer won’t be wooed by a simple serif font face. I need something more remarkable. How can I stand out, when an employer may never even read more than a handful of my words?
I knew Pinterest would have the answer. A few “résumé ideas” and related searches later, I landed on a graphically interesting design with a downloadable template (because, let’s face it, if I try to jump in and create something completely from scratch, I’ll get overwhelmed and quit halfway through.)
I made a few significant layout alterations and a number of small but important design changes in addition to populating it with my actual information. I switched the accent color from blue to red so it will be more in keeping with my website and business cards, and though it’s still a first draft (anything completed after midnight needs a sanity check in the morning), I’m pleased with how it looks:
Do you have any suggestions for improvements? If so, please share! I’ll keep you all posted of how/whether my revamped résumé performs.