"Beautiful" But Mostly Ineffective Resume Designs

I found this blog post on the Internet and was intrigued by the concept -- "beautiful" resume designs. Although I should note that the post was titled "Beautiful Resume Ideas That Work."

Not to be catty, but I seriously doubt that these resumes "worked." For one thing, only a handful of them will work with today's resume management systems, which don't handle unconventional graphics well.

Some examples:
Okay, this guy is applying for a graphic marketing position ... so he gets a little more leeway than most candidates. But really ... writing on your resume with a red crayon? That just screams "I have kids!" (even if you don't). And what's with all the CAPITAL LETTERS? Shouting won't get you an interview. And most important, other than a listing of his "program experience" and educational history, I (the reader) have no concept about his ability to excel in either design (certainly not judged by the design of his resume) or marketing skills. No mention of relevant work experience, internships, projects, or volunteer involvement in any of these areas. Ugh.

Next. In the "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up category" is Jessica, who decided that her resume (for a design position? I think?) should be in two columns. She probably could have fit all of the relevant information in just one column. She has experience volunteering in a pharmacy ... and putting out a publication. You don't have to give us all the nitty-gritty details about your volunteer work, dear Jessica. And putting address "on request"? Please. Are you in the Witness Protection Program? Either just leave it off, or put it on there already!

While these resumes may represent some cutting-edge designs, as resume writers, we need to remember our audience, first and foremost. Many of them will be receiving the documents via e-mail. They prefer Word over Adobe Acrobat PDF (or even .JPG files, which some of these were).

NO ERRORS! I don't care how great it looks. If you don't spell things correctly, the resume will go in the round file.

Most of these were for entry-level positions, so one page isn't unusual. But you don't have to include ALL of your previous work experience in order to fill the page. Instead, elaborate on the client's relevant information. When working with entry-level clients, a common mistake is to include too much of this irrelevant information.

Design for the photocopier (or the scanner). While many of the resumes were pretty, if they were to be scanned into a resume management system, they'd be a mess. Multiple columns, ornate design elements, lightly colored fonts ... all of these are the enemy of the bureaucracy. If you can be assured that your client is going to hand his/her resume directly to the hiring manager in person, that may work. But in today's diversified world of job searching, you need to design resumes that work WITH technology.

"We Do Not Negotiate With Terrorists"

The customer is always right. Or are they?

There's been some discussion recently among resume writers about how to handle true "PITA" (pain-in-the-ass) clients. I'm not talking about your average client, who may be extremely needy in the short term in making changes or "pushes back" when pressed to provide initial information to develop the resume.

I'm talking about the client that orders the service, receives the resume (maybe even starts using it) and then demands their money back, saying it wasn't what they expected ... or that it's not getting results (when asked what they've done to further their job search, they say they posted the resume on Monster, or blasted their resume to 1,000 companies).

I haven't had a client like that in a long time ... although I've certainly had some of the "annoying" brand of client ... but I've had a couple of clients that have made me cry over the last 12 years of writing resumes through my business.

The PITA client isn't just annoying .... they are a menace. They threaten to report you to the Better Business Bureau ... or worse, they just contact their credit card company and request a chargeback. Even if you win the battle through meticulous recordkeeping and documentation, you're out your time ... and it causes a lot of stress and aggravation. They may even cause you to re-think writing resumes -- and believe me, this industry can't afford to lose any more good writers.

So how can you avoid working with PITA clients? I've come up with a couple of guidelines. If you have other "warning signs," feel free to post a comment ... or e-mail me.

• They try to barter with you on price. You are always welcome to negotiate your prices with prospects, but at your discretion. PITA clients, in my experience, usually complain about the price, even as they agree to the service.
• If you ask them about their current or past resumes, and they mention a bad experience with a resume writer, probe deeply. That's not too unusual in my town, as there are two non-certified resume writers who I often hear about (not in a positive way, either). But listen carefully if they describe their experience and have a lot of negative comments about the resume writer that are based on their dissatisfaction with the document itself. It warrants probing deeper before taking them on as a client. Was the problem with the resume writer, the resume itself ... or the client's expectations? Clarify before proceeding.
  
• You're not actually working with the client -- you're working through an intermediary. (Or its corollary ... you're being paid by someone other than your client.) When you're not working with the client directly (for example, a wife that calls for her husband) or when the client isn't paying the bill (a parent is paying for a college student, for example), be careful. You must clearly define the relationship for both parties involved. ("Jane, I really need to talk to Bill directly to gather this information.")
  
• The client has been unemployed for a significant amount of time (more than 6-9 months). Working with these clients can be a challenge because many of them have lost their self-confidence. You're not only working on the resume; you may have to work on their self-esteem. And they may have been employing poor job search habits over the last 9+ months, meaning the results they will achieve with the resume you write may be the same as the resume they wrote themselves -- if they're using the same tactics. When they "blast" their resume out to a couple hundred contacts and don't get any results, they'll get mad at YOU, not at themselves. So beware.
  

Remember -- when working with PITA clients, "don't negotiate with the terrorist" -- remain firm and calm. Offer to work with them to obtain reasonable mutual satisfaction, but remind them of your contract guidelines. If continuing to work with them isn't an option, offer a partial refund, if you feel that will get them out of your hair permanently.

Your best protection is to clearly state the services you provide (in writing), what is expected from the client (and from you), and to ensure that you keep a record of all communication with the client throughout the process (preferably via e-mail).

We can't weed out every PITA client, but we can try to minimize the damage they cause on our businesses (and self-esteem) as much as possible.

You're Only as Good as Your Samples

I'm reminded of a comment Louise Kursmark once made at a resume writing conference -- it was something about the shoemaker's kids not having shoes — meaning, resume writers are often the worst when it comes to updating their own resumes ... and, in my case, their samples.

I was thinking about this today as I sent off a quote for a prospective new client and pasted in my usual list of sample resume links from the template quote response e-mail I use (samples of which can be found in my Write Great Resumes Faster book). The client loved them, and committed to the project, but my inner voice reminded me that it's been a while since I updated the samples. Another item for the to-do list.

I've written before about resume samples -- including whether you should or should not include them on your web site ... but the fact of the matter is, you'd better have samples of your work because SOMETIME a client is going to ask for them. You may do all of your work from referrals (hey, those are your samples talking too — only they're not fictionalized!), but not everyone is going to believe that you can transform their dull, ordinary resume into something extraordinary.

That's another of my goals — to create a set of before-and-after resumes. I've got plenty of the “befores” (I request the client’s existing resume as part of the quoting process), but I haven’t taken the time to match them up with the “afters” and update my sample portfolio. Yet another item for the to-do list.

Take a look at the samples you're using. Are they from two years ago? Are they out of date? Now may be the time to work on that. That may have to be the subject of a future post for new resume writers — how to fictionalize samples.

Comparing Resume Distribution Services

I've written and spoken extensively on the subject of resume distribution services in the past ... and I just keep finding out about more and more of them.

Today, I received a phone call from Martin at ResumeTarget, pitching me on a pre-paid partnership program designed for resume writers and career coaches. I'll write more about the specifics of the program at a later date (I want to call a colleague who is using the program to find out more about her experience with it), but I gave it a test run myself to see what it's all about.

The program is similar to ResumeSpider, an affiliate service I already recommend to my clients. Both firms use an "opt-in" method to recruit hiring managers, recruiters, and employers to receive unsolicited resumes. Instead of just blasting your client's resume to 25,000 contacts (who may or may not be interested in receiving it), these services have your clients narrow down their search, usually by industry and/or geography.

The problem with this, as I found in doing my search, is that you can come up with an impossibly small number of contacts. In the case of a search in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas for a marketing, public relations, or publishing job, the number of available contacts was ZERO.

The good news is, you can preview the number of contacts (and even the list of contact names/firms) before purchasing. So my client wouldn't be disappointed that her resume did not match up with any of the opt-in recipients.

These services, then, are only as good as the lists they are able to compile.

More on ResumeTarget in a future post...