

Resume with horizontal timeline and map - h34t
http://www.scribd.com/doc/9683205/Resume-with-horizontal-timeline-and-world-map

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h34t
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.

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iuguy
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
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?

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raffi
<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
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.

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

