Create Visual Resume to Get Noticed
Increasingly, career experts are advising job seekers to produce a visual resume to complement (not replace) their traditional resume. This is particularly relevant if you’re looking for work in creative fields such as marketing, advertising and sales or graphic arts or high-tech roles, or client-facing roles such as training.
In the Top 10 Job Seeker New Year’s Resolutions, Josh Tolan suggests that if you can find a way to make an impression visually, you’ll be more likely to grab the attention of hiring managers. He urges job seekers to look into infographic resumes, make sure their social media profiles have professional pictures and record a video resume to show off their communication skills.
But just what is a visual resume? In How to Use Visual Resumes in Your Job Search , the author, Right Management, explains that it’s a visual presentation of accomplishments that enhance your personal brand and differentiate you in a competitive job market.
Perhaps the simplest method is to create a 30 to 60-second video of yourself explaining why you are the best candidate for the job. We suggest you use the writing model that the author provides:
Challenge.
Describe a specific problem or goal.
Context: Talk about how you tackled the challenge described.
Action: Describe the specific actions you took to resolve the challenge described.
Result: Give specific examples of the results of your actions in addressing the challenge described, and how they contributed to the company’s bottom line. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.
The idea is to make your personal brand shine.
Once you have completed your video, upload it to YouTube. And you can link your video (and any other documents and presentations) in the Summary section of your LinkedIn profile for each job title. Read Where to Upload Your Video Resume by Joshua Waldman for more ideas.