5 Steps for Creating an Infographic Resume
By Laura Callisen
When you create an infographic resume, you create a document that uses the elements of words, graphics, and storytelling to communicate your skills, education, and experience to the person who will be hiring you. The infographic resume is gaining the most popularity in fields that require creativity and visual thinking such as design, but expectations are also high. The concept has not gained much of a following in other fields, however.
What this means is that you should think long and hard before replacing your traditional resume with an infographic one, and that if you do go the visual route, you must be sure that everything is spot on. If you're still on-board, keep on reading. We have 5 steps you can take to build your first infographic resume.
Step 1: Write Your Resume
That's right, you'll need to start with an old-fashioned text based resume. In fact, there are many resume hacks, that will work just as well with a graphical resume as they will with a traditional resume. You won't need to be as detail oriented when you write this resume, but the information needs to be complete and accurate so that you can work from it as you create the infographic.
Step 2: Select Your Platform
Unless you are an expert in graphic design, you'll need a utility to create your graphic resume or CV. There are several options available. One, vizualize.me allows you to utilize the information in your LinkedIn profile to create your resume. Other tools such as easel.ly require a bit more work on your part, but give you greater design control.
Step 3: Make it Easy to Understand
The moment that somebody accesses your infographic resume, they should be able to read and understand the document. Withing a few seconds they should be able to discern...
- Which positions you have held
- Your skills
- The level of each of your skills
- The amount of experience that you have had
- Your educational history
- How to contact you
Step 4: Consider the Visual Elements You Will Include
Graphics are wonderful. They convey in a single picture what could take dozens of words to communicate. Unfortunately, it is also very easy to misuse visual elements and creating a document that is busy, confusing, or communicates something unintended. Here are a few tips about selecting visual elements to include:
- A great head shot is always welcome in an infographic resume
- Charts and graphs are a great way to show experience and skills if the right type of chart or graphic is selected
- Logos can be used to demonstrate that you have worked for or been positively acknowledged by well-known institutions
- A time-line can show hiring managers how your career and education have developed throughout the years, and see your important milestones
Color scheme is another visual element that many people only consider as an afterthought. This is a shame because a great color scheme can help the reader's attention exactly where you want it, and a bad color scheme can be absolutely repulsive. A monochromatic color scheme using various shades of the same color is a safe yet attractive option to take.
Step 5: Consider Your Deployment Options
Now that your infographic resume is done, you must decide how you are going to get it to the intended recipients. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Is my infographic resume a replacement or a supplement to my traditional resume
- Will I distribute my graphical resume with my traditional resume or on its own?
- Will I distribute only my traditional resume, but link to my infographic resume on LinkedIn, my personal website/blog, and on social media?
So, what do you think? Is the infographic resume an indulgent trend or a creative and compelling way to communicate your story to hiring managers? Do you have a story to tell about your experience with using visual elements in a resume or CV? Let us know in the comments.
Photo from Glassdoor
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