You might be an experienced writer with years of experience writing for major publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Or, you could have spent the last few years honing your craft and building up your portfolio of articles while blogging or vlogging about lifestyle topics. No matter what stage you’re at in life, you probably know how difficult it can be to get noticed by major publications and companies while applying for jobs online. That’s where a creative resume comes in. A creative resume is a resume that stands out from the rest by using unique skills and accomplishments that no other applicant shares. The key is to find a way to make yourself stand out from the crowd of other applicants for jobs. While many tactics exist, you can get started by creating a landing page for your resume. This page doesn’t have to be overly complicated; it just needs to have the following pieces of information:
- Your name
- Contact information
- A short bio about yourself
- At least three writing samples (if you’re submitting your resume online)
- A visual button or graphic that leads to a professionally designed landing page for your resume
If you have a specific niche or expertise that you want to target, you can build a specific list of companies and publications that you want to target. Your creative resume could include:
- An experience that you had working for a not-for-profit organization
- A skill that you possess that allows you to work effectively as a team
- A unique hobby or fascination that you have
- A quote by a famous person that you admire
- A video explaining how you solved a problem
- A piece of art that you like
- A play on your name (Marketing McResume, McCreative, etc.)
After you’ve created the landing page for your resume, the next step is to populate it with the necessary information. For the most part, this is information that you’ll find online. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you can get one for free by creating a compelling summary from your own website. You can also populate your page with the following:
- Your name
- Contact information
- A short bio about yourself
- Your website
- Blog
- YouTube channel
- Instagram account
- Podcast
- VR channel (if you’re into virtual reality)
The goal is to have a complete profile that makes you memorable and interesting enough to stand out from the crowd of other applicants. Once you’ve got your profile populated with the necessary details, it’s time to throw away the boring, traditional resume and replace it with a creative version of yourself.