My favorite television show of all-time is Seinfeld. I have seen every single episode – in fact, my friends always tell me that if George and Elaine had a child, it would be me. I consider that a compliment.
One of my favorite episodes is The Opposite. In this episode, George, who is moaning about poorly how his life has turned out, receives this advice from Jerry Seinfeld: “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.” Think about that for a minute. Should we be taking career advice from George Costanza when it comes to résumés? Should we be doing the opposite of what instincts are telling us is correct?
Since I have been a résumé writer and designer, I notice that people tend to be wary of breaking the so-called “rules” of résumé writing and design. These so-called “rules” revolve around color, graphics and traditional fonts. Aren’t rules meant to be broken?
If you are sending out hundreds of résumés and not receiving your desired response, it is time to pull a “George Costanza” and do the opposite. Get creative with your résumé design! If you are a bit too nervous, some easy ways to make the shift include adding small and appropriate images, utilizing an untraditional, but readable font (a favorite is Garamond) and adding color.
It only takes a quick look around to realize that the world is becoming more visual by the minute. That should give you confidence to make the transition into making your résumé more creative. Do not forget: one of the most crucial purposes of a résumé is to get a foot in the door for the interview. I would argue that showing creativity and innovation are qualities that any prospective employer is seeking. Start with your résumé and you will be working for your ideal organization in no time.
Just remember, if it worked for George Costanza it can work for you, too!
Well yes, if you believe that a resume all by itself will get you an interview and possibly even a job, and your job-search method is to dump 3 or 4 or more resumes into that awesome black hole every day, then by all means spend hours (days? weeks?) creating the most unique, distinctive, graphically-oriented (yet subtle) resume ever seen (and be sure to tweek it for every job applied to). Drop it into the bottomless black hole. And wait. And wait, A n d w a a a i i i t t … and while you’re waiting, and if you have some spare time, you might want to read about a better, a more effective way to find employment. It couldn’t hurt, and it may, just may, actually help.