cREate a creative resume-writing process for professionals in all fields

EXPLORE THE ART OF résumé DESIGN

The word résumé comes from the French verb résumer: to resume or to summarize. Okay, to “summarize” I get – a summary of your experience, your accomplishments, your skills, etc. But, to “resume”? Resume what?

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the earliest uses of the verb “to resume” as used to mean: “to take to oneself anew… courage, hope, strength, power, influence, or a rightful seat or place.” One of the earliest uses is Milton’s Paradise Lost:

     If once they hear that voyce,… they will soon resume

     New courage and revive.           i. 278

Upon reading this, it struck me that we usually approach the task of making a résumé in a polar opposite way – not from a place of courage, but a place of fear. And that makes sense. Usually, we have to sit down to create a résumé when we’re out of work – which is admittedly a scary place to be. And our résumé is the piece of paper that may or may not convince some powerful person to give us the chance to do whatever it is we love to do. We have a lot riding on it, so no wonder we’re plagued by fear and concern:

Will they think I’m good enough?

Will they think I’ve done enough?

Is my experience the right kind of experience?

Should it be flashier?

Should it be simpler?

Longer?

Shorter?

Should it be more this or that?

Should I be more this or that?

Am I enough?

Everyone responds to this fear differently. There is an overwhelming desire to prove ourselves by making our image into something it is not. Some, understandably, embellish their list of credits. Some limit themselves and don’t list everything they’ve done out of embarrassment. Some overwrite. Some hide. What seems pretty universal, though, is that what we, as a society, do NOT do is to “take to oneself anew” courage, hope, strength, power, influence or our rightful place in this world. And I suddenly realized that this is exactly what we all must do right now.

It starts by reclaiming our history – the personal story of all the things we’ve done and all the things we’ve learned that make us who we are and shape who we dream of being as a creative professional. I use the word “creative” whether you are an artist, a lawyer or an accountant, because everything in that history of yours is something you created – every opportunity you’ve had you somehow created for yourself. It starts by telling this story fully and truthfully. It starts by looking at all of who you are as a creative professional and “resuming” courage – the courage to accept that who you are and where you are right now is exactly who and where you should be. Celebrate that, and others will celebrate with you. Honor who you are and others will honor you. Have the strength to reclaim your story, the courage to tell it fully, and the hope with which to dream up a new vision for your future.

So, once you have “resumed”, the next step is to summarize, which is the more traditional definition of a résumé: a summary of one’s work experience, accomplishments, skills, etc. This is the practical part, but it is also the design part: what I call “the art of the résumé.” Not only is your story unique, but how you choose to summarize your story on the page can be different from how anyone else would and can get just as much across about who you are.

There are, of course, some rules that have to be followed. In some industries, it must not be longer than one page. If you are a word processor, you must list your typing speed. And so on. But there is only one major rule that must be followed at all costs:

Your résumé must be easy to read.

That’s it. Other than that, there are no rules. So, you can try to make it look exactly, perfectly like what you think THEY think a résumé should look like. Or, you can dare to choose your own unique way of expressing yourself with this document. Now, ask yourself what kind of a person YOU would want to work with in your chosen field, a person who must have everything look exactly, perfectly like what THEY think it should look like? Or, a person who’s willing to play, to create, to try new things, to express themselves truthfully? Even if you are the type of person who always plays by the rules, a 12pt-Times-New-Roman-with-1”-paragraph-indentations-please-kind-of-a-person, that’s still your choice and the strength of standing by that choice in a world where people are hiring résumé designers to choose new, exciting fonts for them is powerful – that is a unique expression for the world to respond to.

I invite you to take this journey with me. To reclaim the story of your experience and to find the courage to express it fully, truly and uniquely through the art of résumé design.