How creative can you be with your resume?

How creative can you be on a resume? The range of knowledge about resumes is vast among job seekers.

What about color on resumes?

In 2003, Design Resumes started using color on resumes. At the time, I had very top-end printers because of my work with non-profits. The nonprofits needed newsletters, fliers, and brochures and printing in color was ideal.

As I found ways to inject color into the resumes, I found my colleagues globally as well as leading experts teaching resume writing recommending the tasteful use of color and design in resumes.

If you review the resume samples on this site, this is the tip of the iceberg. My resumes are as creative as the industry and client preferences. I work with clients to select a style that works for them and their industry.

Why are my friends saying no color and no creativity?

If you are working with a career professional and then going back to your friends or your brother-in-law for advice, you have to be ready to filter it.

What if my friends say you can’t be creative in a resume?

I am working with a great client who really wants an innovative resume. Her industry targets will be open to innovation.

However, when she shared her first draft, she got feedback from people that wasn’t very positive. To be fair, in her case, her contacts understood she was working with a pro and that resumes do change through the years.

This is not the norm. Your family member or friend could insist your resume style, wording, or format is very wrong and your expert is crazy.

Though your family and friends are looking after your best interest, they may not trust the career industry expert you hired. Their background in resume writing may come from education in the 1980’s.

Filter career advice you get from non-experts

In this case, this is a great client who understands my expertise and can filter her friend’s advice. On the other hand, we didn’t dismiss their thoughts but looked at the recommendations and changed the style.

It was still very creative but the components were different. As we played with the style, we addressed her friends’ concerns and created a resume resonates even better with her message.

A creative resume is a process and you may have to create different versions. I created this resume  with a virtual client who was an active participant on Skype ( I use Zoom today) looking at my screen as we played with options.

My LIVE writing process allows that interaction no matter where my clients are in the world. This one was in Wisconsin but recent clients in Texas and the United Kingdom have remarked on how fun this process is and how well it works.

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