50 Shades Of Resume #14: The Google-Alike

Resume 14

Chris Liu is someone you might search for online if you were looking for a creative person. He’s one-upped that and made a resume last year that looks like a Google Search. He’s even got his own logo variant. It’s one of those web pages where you have to go “wait, what” and then you realize what it is.

Of course I had to analyze this.

Chris’ resume has some standout traits:

  • It’s close enough to a past Google search that the shock is kind of impressive – when you realize what it is, it’s a tad jarring. That’s pretty clever – it’s a “finisher” move without having to have an interview.
  • It shows serious attention to detail to get this to look right. That’s testimony to personal traits and skills without having to actually say anything.
  • His use of the “search results” to show all sorts of different things, from his blog to his LinkedIn profile is clever and shows a lot of diverse things people can look at.
  • The inclusion of various photos of himself is good for establishing some personality – as if duplicating Google results doesn’t say enough.

There’s a few limits on this resume:

  • It’s so close a Google search that you might not “get it” right away, and the minimalism is a bit too minimal.
  • It’s going to be a total pain to update.
  • I’d have a regular resume easily noted, visible, and available for download.
  • His “personal info box” should have more skills in it – it undersells him.
  • There are “blank” links that could probably be replaced with actual links.

Steve’s Summary: If an applicant pointed me to this resume, I’d like the cleverness and the varied links – if I’m interested in them, it lets me know them better. I’d definitely want a standard resume easily available.

[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]

– Steven Savage