Does a Sheet of Paper Work as a Doorstop?
This post comes as a response to a recent article called “Why Resumes Are Lame” by Ryan Stephens. Ryan makes the argument that resumes are a waste of time, especially in certain fields including PR, marketing, social media, and advertising. David Spinks also wrote a post on “3 Reasons Why Resumes SHOULD Be Irrelevant” awhile back.
Here’s an important first note: Don’t throw away your resume. In fact, make your resume awesome with tangible results, relevant job experience, and a few personal interests. While you’re at it, see if you can present that information in a creatively designed manner. The chance you will get any job without a resume is pretty close to 0.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, forget what you’ve been told about a resume. There are only so many ways black ink on a white piece of paper can really speak to the validity of your skill and stick in a hiring manager’s mind.
All I’m trying to add to the discussion is that young people should be using all of the tools at their disposal to get creative and stand in the face of a bad economy to get that dream job they’ve been preparing for. Even the simple things help you stand out. Write a blog. It shows your ability to write coherently and present important ideas in your industry.
Will a blog replace your resume? Absolutely not. But it will create a conversation and build your personal brand.
Consider how designers apply for a job: They often drop off a well-designed promo/teaser piece for their artwork. Then, they follow up with examples of their previous artwork (portfoli0) and support their abilities in text by presenting a creatively designed resume. Why wouldn’t you do something similar for a job in your field? No, it’s not the norm. But unexpected creativity focuses eyeballs. If nobody sees you, nobody can hire you.
For example: You’ve built your personal brand in social media, so run a campaign for your brand to get hired. Call on your community and use the tools and theories you’ve learned, practiced, and discovered to promote yourself.
It all comes back to the age old Journalism saying – Show. Don’t tell.
Allow your creativity and the available tools to open doors. So what are you going to use as your doorstop? A flimsy piece or paper with twisted words, or your confident skills filled with substance and experience?
*for further examples, Ryan Stephens added these two examples to his blog. They are great uses of available tools to build a campaign for an individual to get hired. There’s also one example I added that shows how people are marketing themselves in other industries as well 
Scott – Glad you felt compelled to elaborate and theorize based on the content of my post, and I think you’re absolutely right. For most jobs you probably do need a resume, even if it’s so the person hiring you and pass it around as validation (or just out of protocol) to make other colleagues comfortable.
My favorite line in your post is, “There are only so many ways black ink on a white piece of paper can really speak to the validity of your skill and stick in a hiring manager’s mind.”
That’s really what I was trying to speak to, the fact that you have to find a way to separate yourself from other candidates, and VERY FEW people can do that solely with a resume.
Really valued your insights lately Scott, and appreciate your contributions to these important discussions!
Thanks for stopping by and the kind comments, Ryan. The topic just won’t leave my thoughts.
Creativity is something I value heavily and I believe it can not only open doors, but break them down if necessary. I’ve known people that send a blanket of resumes to all of their target potential employers and they’re lucky to get a response, let alone a conversation or interview. And they look extremely impressive on paper.
Anybody will tell you that you need to differentiate yourself…but nobody says it has to be on the same medium.
Consider searching for a job as a campaign. Campaigns exist across media. The most complete, innovative, and effective campaign will get the most attention. But in most cases, the best product will be the one chosen.
Thanks again for sparking the ideas.