4 ms·

Resume with horizontal timeline and map

7 points by h34t 18y ago

h34t 18y ago
I've thought about resume designs for a couple of years, and finally took a crack at it. Feedback is definitely welcome. My description as posted on scribd: How do we adapt the resume to the modern economy? I've made a "first attempt" to get discussion going, but I'm interested in feedback and new ideas. I expect the best solutions to be anticlimactic: simple designs that attract as little attention as possible. To understand our problems and goals, let's ask: in what kind of environment did the standard resume develop, and how does that differ from modern needs? 1. The late 20th century assumed stable job patterns, but many of us won't have stable jobs for significant portions of our working lives. We will hop, skip, and jump among the most important projects and jobs of our lives, which will stop, start, and overlap frequently. How do we take make a coherent picture out of this convoluted mess? My answer: a horizontal timeline, with as many levels as you need (I used 3) to make sense of important activities visually. 2. The late 20th century assumed traditional education patterns, but these are now being called into question... so what do you do if your learning experiences don't fit inside the traditional box? In lieu of a formal degree, how can you succinctly explain how you've been educated? My answer: a special row on the timeline to highlight education, set apart from my other activities by a different background shade. 3. The late 20th century has seen the beginning of globalization affecting the work force. How do you communicate cross-cultural experience? My answer: a world map. This is probably the weakest part of my approach, because cross-cultural experience will impact fewer people, and the map has the lowest information density and is less necessary than other elements on the page. But in my case, international elements are crucial element of the whole, so I think the map 'pays for itself'. None of this is really revolutionary, but considering that most creative resume's I've seen do more harm than good, I'd be satisfied with even a modest net gain in clarity. Notes: 1. I deliberately avoided multimedia and all technological pizzaz because the design needs to work now, and at present nothing beats a concise one-pager that can be printed in black & white. 2. Re-working the way we judge and value education is a big problem which will ultimately require a more complex solution -- maybe some kind of "learning portfolio" which includes examples of work -- but I think this goes beyond what can reasonably fit on one page.
iuguy 18y ago
Interesting resume. I hate Scribd, but meh. I can't work out what the letters next to things mean. Also on the world map you haven't included things like your work and education in Canada. Would it make sense to use the shades of grey in the timeline on the map? Other than that it's very interesting - The fact that it's on one sheet attracts me more than the layout, but I guess if you were going for a design job you might be more interested in the layout as an example of your work.
- h34t 18y ago
  Thanks for your feedback. I should have used a direct link, but Scribd made it easy to see stats and allow comments, so I caved.. The letters next to activities on the timeline match up with the places on the map. To avoid clutter I made the assumption that no letter = Canada. However, your comment makes it clear that perhaps this all should be more explicit, or done differently. Will have to work on it. Re: shades of grey -- what for?
JunkDNA 18y ago
I shudder thinking what this would look like after a trip through one of those resume upload tools used by corporate websites. It's maddening how much they mangle even a carefully constructed plain text document.
- h34t 18y ago
  True enough. You could only really use something like this if you knew that a human being was going to see it.
raffi 18y ago
http://www.coderscv.com http://www.coderscv.com - a live version of this type of thing. I've been playing with it. Still needs work but it is a step in the right direction. Ben (the guy behind it) is awesome about accepting and implementing suggestions.
- h34t 18y ago
  Looks interesting. Unfortunately, I can only view the thumbnail of the timeline (I get a server error when I click it). The example he gives is 3 pages long. Maybe that's ordinary for a technical resume? I really wanted to keep mine a one-pager, and that meant displaying the timeline, map, and a variation on the traditional form, all on the same page. Still, looks like an interesting project.

7 points by h34t 18y ago

h34t 18y ago

I've thought about resume designs for a couple of years, and finally took a crack at it. Feedback is definitely welcome. My description as posted on scribd: How do we adapt the resume to the modern economy? I've made a "first attempt" to get discussion going, but I'm interested in feedback and new ideas. I expect the best solutions to be anticlimactic: simple designs that attract as little attention as possible. To understand our problems and goals, let's ask: in what kind of environment did the standard resume develop, and how does that differ from modern needs? 1. The late 20th century assumed stable job patterns, but many of us won't have stable jobs for significant portions of our working lives. We will hop, skip, and jump among the most important projects and jobs of our lives, which will stop, start, and overlap frequently. How do we take make a coherent picture out of this convoluted mess? My answer: a horizontal timeline, with as many levels as you need (I used 3) to make sense of important activities visually. 2. The late 20th century assumed traditional education patterns, but these are now being called into question... so what do you do if your learning experiences don't fit inside the traditional box? In lieu of a formal degree, how can you succinctly explain how you've been educated? My answer: a special row on the timeline to highlight education, set apart from my other activities by a different background shade. 3. The late 20th century has seen the beginning of globalization affecting the work force. How do you communicate cross-cultural experience? My answer: a world map. This is probably the weakest part of my approach, because cross-cultural experience will impact fewer people, and the map has the lowest information density and is less necessary than other elements on the page. But in my case, international elements are crucial element of the whole, so I think the map 'pays for itself'. None of this is really revolutionary, but considering that most creative resume's I've seen do more harm than good, I'd be satisfied with even a modest net gain in clarity. Notes: 1. I deliberately avoided multimedia and all technological pizzaz because the design needs to work now, and at present nothing beats a concise one-pager that can be printed in black & white. 2. Re-working the way we judge and value education is a big problem which will ultimately require a more complex solution -- maybe some kind of "learning portfolio" which includes examples of work -- but I think this goes beyond what can reasonably fit on one page.

iuguy 18y ago

Interesting resume. I hate Scribd, but meh. I can't work out what the letters next to things mean. Also on the world map you haven't included things like your work and education in Canada. Would it make sense to use the shades of grey in the timeline on the map? Other than that it's very interesting - The fact that it's on one sheet attracts me more than the layout, but I guess if you were going for a design job you might be more interested in the layout as an example of your work.

h34t 18y ago
Thanks for your feedback. I should have used a direct link, but Scribd made it easy to see stats and allow comments, so I caved.. The letters next to activities on the timeline match up with the places on the map. To avoid clutter I made the assumption that no letter = Canada. However, your comment makes it clear that perhaps this all should be more explicit, or done differently. Will have to work on it. Re: shades of grey -- what for?

JunkDNA 18y ago

I shudder thinking what this would look like after a trip through one of those resume upload tools used by corporate websites. It's maddening how much they mangle even a carefully constructed plain text document.

h34t 18y ago
True enough. You could only really use something like this if you knew that a human being was going to see it.

raffi 18y ago

http://www.coderscv.com http://www.coderscv.com - a live version of this type of thing. I've been playing with it. Still needs work but it is a step in the right direction. Ben (the guy behind it) is awesome about accepting and implementing suggestions.

h34t 18y ago
Looks interesting. Unfortunately, I can only view the thumbnail of the timeline (I get a server error when I click it). The example he gives is 3 pages long. Maybe that's ordinary for a technical resume? I really wanted to keep mine a one-pager, and that meant displaying the timeline, map, and a variation on the traditional form, all on the same page. Still, looks like an interesting project.