D(esign) Playbook - People

Recruiting - Resume Writing and Portfolios

Personal Statement: There are so many confounding goals that can enter into making the generation of these required artifacts. Should visual presentation matter, should I include personally identifying markers (headshots/etc), should I be comprehensive or economical is my portrayal of work history, should I attempt to construct for the purpose of “first pass keyword scanning?” The brutal truth is that I have seen examples of recruitments for which each of the polar choices in the stated examples would have been the “right” choice or inversely a “disqualifying” choice. So step once is accepting the challenge of the task. Steps 2 - infinity, below are some ideas.

Keys to Resume Writing and Portfolios:

Many of the suggestions I will share here attempt to balance the challenge of design the smallest number of artifacts (resume, portfolio, etc) to serve the potential diverse set of needs you may have (e.g, very different role recruitments etc). Some would suggest the approach of creating bespoke versions for each recruitment, and I wouldn’t argue that this is “wrong”, rather the unenviable truth is that your choice for the best approach to marketing/branding yourself and your professional practice is a very personal choice. And that choice could be impacted by considerations like what point you are at in your career (e.g. you are at a senior level where it makes sense to spend 6 months through one recruitment track for perhaps the one and last position you feel is the fit you are seeking) or what the condition of the current job market may be (e.g. its a real bear market and you are looking for somewhere to land and now.) Having said that here are some key thoughts on each of these required artifacts.

Resume: i.) Apply consistent formatting and make use of both personal review/editing and review/editing of a number of trusted colleagues. This includes the assumption of absolutely eliminating typos. ii.) Provide dates for everything. This does not mean “to the day” is required (though for some roles it may be), but be thoughtful about communicating the “story” of your practice through careful inclusion of dates. iii.) “Pile on the Buzzwords” - David Silverman (author of Typo: The Last American Typesetter or How I Made and Lost 4 Million Dollars) suggests “Yes, buzzwords are typically bad for clarity, but you have to get past the HR department first, and they're screening for matches with the words in the job description. Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), consumer goods industry, certified project manager, SPL, BMN, FLB…whatever it is that matches the requirements, put it in.” Which leads me to iv.) Consider re-write vs cover letter customization. As mentioned earlier, some may elect to write a unique resume for each opportunity. In my personal experience I have chosen instead to utilize the cover letter artifact to attempt to meet this customization need while keeping my up-to-date resume a single format for all potential opportunities. The key here being converting the requirements and preferred skills/experience of a job description into the body of your cover letter. Basically seeking to make the job of the recruiter/initial reviewer simple towards verifying that you meet (or exceed) the requirements of this opportunity. v.) Choose verbs that mean something. “Assisted,” “worked on,” “contributed to,” and so on don't convey much to a prospective employer. Instead, say what you did: “wrote,” “designed,” or “managed.” The more specific, the better. vi.) The older the role you present, the less detail needed. Conversely, the more recent the role the more detail should be included. This also speaks to the general length, I won’t give a page approximation, but your communication should be economical since this is a forced consumption artifact vs. say your digital portfolio which can be navigated at the unique choice of the reviewer/user.

Design Portfolio: i.) Always have your resume/CV available from the main page, in the case of a recruiter or initial reviewer this may be all they are seeking. Also consider making certain your points of delivery (personal website, LinkedIn, your direct share) are synced to provide the correct version. ii.) Always allot yourself time to be collecting appropriate materials to update case studies and detail your work in the future. iii.) Be very thoughtful and intentional about your approach to displaying work/case studies from the past while demonstrating you understand and respect intellectual property concerns of your past work. This is key, complex, and often times a very personal decision (especially depending upon the biases/expectations of recruiters you may encounter). If you’d like to have a personal conversation about real world examples please reach out…see what I did there ;) this is the general approach I’d recommend if recruiters request more artifacts or documentation of work. iv.) Don’t disqualify yourself. I’m suggesting that you own the responsibility for setting the correct level or focus of role that you believe fits what you are seeking and what is best supported by your skills and experience. Additionally I suggest being open to critique from those you trust in terms of setting these personal expectations, but it has been my experience that it is often more likely that people disqualify themselves before others have even had the opportunity to assess them against a given opportunities. Don’t worry, you will absolutely have the chance to be declined for roles that you would be a tremendous fit for (we all do) but don’t take yourself out of the running before you get started.

Citations/Learn More:

Silverman, David. Typo. Amsterdam University Press, 2007.

Harvard Business Review, and Review. HBR Guide to Getting a Job. Reed Business Education, 2010.

*Last updated 4/25/2020, please note this is for the purpose of allowing me to document and evolve my thoughts, experiences, and approach. I’d very much appreciate the opportunity to learn from you sharing yours. Reach out to me at jaydubois@gmail.com or @jaydubois