Monday, October 11, 2010

Resumes...

... and such. So, nobody probably cares because I don't ever post really anymore but I am looking for jobs for when I graduate. After having a good conversation with my old teacher and great mentor I have decided to go big or go home (which means staying in Provo, heaven forbid!). Becky and I will be shooting for the stars and will work to land gigs in NYC, NY, SF, and many other cities with short acronyms (or not, whatever).  I spent a couple hours tonight doing my resume in InDesign (thanks for the help love) and I am fairly satisfied with how my new resume turned out.  Feel free to critique.  I wanted to be creative but stay organized.  Be original, but not annoying.  I wish I was a font pro and then it would be even cooler.

Anyways, here it is:

I really do want to know what you think.  Would you hire me?  How can I make it better?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

because you're going for such a grid based design, it might be better to carry that concept out throughout your job descriptions and education... if that makes sense

having it pause and start up again makes it look cluttered and wordy, which contrasts with the clean look i think you're going for

cole said...

a couple small-ish things…

1. the bar that runs down the left of the page is ALMOST aligned perfectly with the T. I would make that perfectly align.

2. I would organize your skill and interests somehow. right now it just kinda feels like whatever came to your mind next is the next one on the list. And, I don't know if this is intended or not, but the way it's laid out, I'm reading column by column, so that's how I would organize it.

3. I agree that the general organization feels a little cluttered, but I don't have a quick-fix solution.

If you need any help on layout and/or typography, let me know. Sometimes, it just takes digging in and getting your hands dirty to figure problems like that out…
I helped a friend out with a resume a couple months ago and, although it's not really my forte in the design field, we both felt it turned out pretty ok. let me know.

Brad said...

I'd push your internship to the bottom. Start with most impressive looking credits first. Explain Beehive Stories as a PBS-affiliate documentary series. Most importantly, take this to Monte Marshall in the career advisement center in the wilk. He sits on the TMA Alumni Networking Group with me and jeff and tom and kelly and is really terrific at helping tma students polish their film resumes for the types of opportunities they want. He rox. Good luck. You guys will go far I'm sure.

Unknown said...

Separate your skills into categories e.g. computer, language, etc., also put you GPA next to your degree.

Marge Bjork said...

ooo i'm working on my resume too. anyway, we'll probably talk about that later.

Chris said...

Travis.
First of all it LOOKS good, which is good for a creative, but the tweeks mentioned are important. White space is a must, but it is important to accurately and completely describe yourself, so don't believe the myth that your resume has to be one page. If it is, great, but crowding it or leaving important info out just to get it to one page is a mistake.

Second, you have LOTS of experience. Good experience. It is more important than your degree. I know they probably tell you at school to put your education first, and that is probably true for most students who worked at Fudge Hut while they got their Lit. History degree. But you, you have real experience in your field and your future bosses are going to care about that more than your GPA or whatever (outside of academia, a degree is a threshold requirement, you got it, great, move on. Applying for an internship, different story)

Under your work experience, list your accomplishments, not your responsibilities and duties. Be as specific as possible in a short sentence. I don't know what you artsy fartsy people do, but in my field I wouldn't say "in charge of sales". I would say "increased sales at least 50% every year as sales director." It is ok to put aside humbleness in this document!!!! Need some more help getting started? Here you go... instead of writing "creative director of fresh take packages" (blech, that sounds like you were making toilet paper or something) you would say "As Creative Director of Fresh Take, organized a crack team of A/V nerds to produce a hot new PBS docudrama that had the highest ratings ever" ......”Direct, produce, shoot, edit 3 episodes under Brad Barber” SNORE, plus was Brad Barber laying on you? Who is Brad Barber? Isn’t your wife like some sort of copy editor. Whatever, you get the drift. Having trouble thinking of specific awesomeness? Ask your boss, "Hey what great things do I do here?"
Hey I just noticed that under freelance it says Help raise $15000 for Wishbone. That is exactly the kind of specifics I am talking about, but I don’t know how you did it. Did you sell candy bars? It should probably say something like, “designed, filmed, and edited Wishbone’s fundraising campaign video which generated $15,000 in new donations”

Next up: Skills
Final Cut Pro is not a Skill, it is a computer program. Do you know how to use it? Are you an expert? Can you teach me how to use it. Can you make movies with it? Editing a commercial with Final Cut Pro is a skill. The ability to teaching your staff how to use Final Cut Pro is a VALUABLE skill.

DSLR. See above.
35mm Film. See Above

Spanish Fluency is a skill. Leadership is a quality. If you really have it and can demonstrate it, we are going to want that up near the top.

An effective way to separate these is to list “software proficiencies” and “skills” separately.

Do gooders like you and Becky don’t have interests, you have Passions. Is that professional? It’s on the edge, but it IS interesting and I think fairly safe. It also tells the employers something about you in a subtle way. Also be more specific. I was a developer for years. I bet we don’t care about the same kind of development. Mountain biking is not the same as road biking. Do you love Macro photography? Be specific! I think too many people think you need to play it really safe and concervative on a resume. I think you want to get the job that you would do for free. The best chance of that happening is telling employers who you really are.

More to come?

Chris said...
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Chris said...
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