If you’re blessed with a good grasp of web or graphic design, you should have few problems in creating a fantastic, informative and concise resume to put you head and shoulders above your peers. Yet the less tech-savvy among us need not worry, as the web provides many wonderful ways to create stunning resumes with nothing more than a few clicks of a mouse.
A plethora of online tools exist, though there’s one which, much like the job-hunters who use it, really stands out for its simplicity and effectiveness. Greeting users with the tag line ‘Don’t send a resume, send a story,’ Re.vu is an easy-to-use platform with plenty of tools to create a visual resume that not only looks great, but puts the focus on the items you feel are most important.
To make the most out of the site you’ll need an e-mail address and an up-to-date Linkedin profile.
If you’re in the job market, you’re probably already established on Linkedin, but if not, many Lifehack scribes before me have written plenty of advice on how to make the most out of it, so we’ll assume for now that you’re set up and ready to rock.
Getting started
Head to Re.vu and set up free account. You’ll then be given the option to import your data from Linkedin. You can always skip this step, but pulling in your bio and resume will save you a lot of time in the long-run, so it’s worth doing.
That done, it’s time to build your profile.
The basics
Landing on the Personal Data tab, you’ll find that your headline and bio are already there thanks to Linkedin, you can edit this if you wish, include your name, and upload a photo.
You can also add links to your website and social media accounts, upload photos and even include a traditional resume for potential employers to download.
Timeline
Re.vu’s Timeline provides a visually-appealing way of displaying your work history, with the ability to add photos from data already culled from Linkedin.
The result is far more arresting than a basic list of accomplishments, with the added bonus that potential employees can head straight to any particular piece of your history that stands out to them.
Infographics
This is perhaps the most fun tool in Re.vu’s arsenal, and can really add great value to your visual resume, highlighting your key skills, achievements and more.
Here, you can add everything from testimonials to job duties, key proficiencies to personal interests and all manner of information in between, and the site will turn this date into sweet, simple infographs that put the things that matter to you (and, more importantly, to employers) front and centre.
Portfolio and work examples
The great thing about all online resumes of course is that you can link directly to any work your particularly proud of, and Re.Vu is no different.
With Portfolio, you can share images of your work. Naturally, this is great for designers, or others working in visual mediums, though even if that’s not your field, why not upload snaps of a product launch, event or anything else you’re proud of?
With Work Examples, you have the opportunity to share any articles or other documents you’d like to include that highlight your skills, knowledge, or perhaps even both.
Design
With all that done, it’s time to customize your profile using your own background image, a number of attractive themes and the ability to drag individual widgets around the page.
If there’s one gripe against the site, it’s that, once you’ve chosen your theme, it isn’t possible to edit font styles or colors, yet with such an appealing design, this really is a minor quibble when you consider how easy it is to re-arrange, customize and add some great features to a stunning resume that can really help you stand out from the crowd.
