2015 Executive Resume Trends

2015 Executive Resume Trends With less than three months to go before we ring in 2015 it’s time to brush up on the latest trends for the new year. Below you’ll find the latest from the industry. Some may surprise you, so we suggest you try to keep an open mind. No resume. You read that correctly. No resume. With LinkedIn rolling out their Resume Builder the old school online CV may be a thing of the past. While a résumé building process is still needed to create robust content that leaves an impact, the content from your LinkedIn profile can populate the résumé template used in LinkedIn’s Resume Builder. If this template works for you, and you have robust, unique-to-you LinkedIn profile content, not having a resume may be a viable option. In fact, creating LinkedIn profiles sans a résumé, was something we did for a number of Silicon Valley/Silicon Alley execs this past year. Infographic resumes with substance. As a former recruiter who still chats with many recruiters, I admittedly was not a fan of the practicality of these types of resumes. However, if an executive job seeker is in a visual-based industry (advertising, consumer packaging, digital media, etc) these documents as a supplement to a résumé/profile are not just a way to stand out, they are becoming a necessity. Hannah Morgan talks about the new phenomenon in her book, Infographic Resume: How to Create a Visual Portfolio That Showcases Your Skills and Lands the Job. In it she describes how infographic resumes can help you build your brand, grab a hiring manager’s attention and showcase your best work. Multimedia presentations of the résumé. There are so many ways to stumble upon resume content, so it’s a wise decision to have your résumé in many formats. Aside from a traditional Word document, other options where robust exec résumé content is used to reinforce your personal brand are an about.me page, a personal website (preferably with your name as the URL), LinkedIn profiles and Slideshare. Use website page design elements when designing a traditional résumé. People scan webpages in six second increments to determine if they should keep reading. Resumes are no different. Effective résumé designs employ webpage design elements and marketing principles to increase digestion of the info by the reader. For instance, the colors and fonts you use to represent yourself can say a lot about your personal brand. Positioning, headers and formatting can also go a long way in making sure your resume is easy to digest. Mobile and device friendly documents. Make sure resumes can be opened on devices immediately without having to log into a platform like Google Docs. If you make your reader work to open your document, you decrease the chances if it getting opened and increase the chances of them thinking you don't understand technology. You can have PDFs on your smartphone, use the Evernote app to save and send files via email or use one of many apps for the executive job hunt to ensure that you have a mobile friendly resume. Sign up for Chameleon Resumes Blog Name: Email: If you are interested in working with Lisa Rangel, an accomplished executive resume and LinkedIn Profile writer, LinkedIn Job Seeker Group Moderator and job search consultant, to achieve the social media exposure and land the interviews you want, sign up for an exploratory call now and learn about how Chameleon Resumes can help.