Thursday, December 4, 2014

re: Resume vs Portfolio

This is a tough decisions, because it is a little like show and tell. A resume tells about your experience, skills, etc and a portfolio shows them. First and foremost though, you need to get called for the interview and some companies see hundreds of resumes at a time, so have a well-crafted resume is most certainly important.
    What is it that is going to make you stand out from the rest? Our goal is to impress the hiring managers and HR personnel. Their goal is to weed out candidates as fast as possible. Using buzzwords without keyword stuffing is one way to catch the readers attention. An Art Director I knew said that he would ask for specific things in the cover letter or not to have a cover letter and apparently people don't follow directions very well. But if they don't specially say that they don't want a cover letter then write one. That is besides the point though.
    The second resume you had posted is fun and cool and it makes sense if you are applying for a design position. Jen brought up a good point about resumes being filtered through a computer and I honestly never thought of that. Its okay to have two different resumes tailored to suit whichever job you are applying for. Its important to include skills and experience specific to the job you are applying for.
    I have been trying to put together a portfolio for almost 9 years and still keep scrapping it and starting over. As I have developed my style has changed a bit and some pieces don't belong there. I don't want the person looking at my portfolio thinking I am all over the place. I want them to have a sense of who I am, what I am capable of and more importantly, what I can do for their company.


No comments: