50 Shades Of Resume #30: The Comic Book

Resume 30

Joshua Drummond pretty much looked at the standard resume, crumpled it into a a ball, set it on fire, and said “I’m gonna do it as a comic book.” The result is essentially a small “Scott Pilgrim Versus The Career.”

As you can guess this is one of those resumes so unique that analyzing it a bit of a challenge because, well, it is a comic book. So consider this analysis “in context.”

What can we learn:

  • The entire resume feels personal, which is important for connecting with a reader.
  • The personal intro where he’s speaking right to the audience is a good touch – an effort to connect with the audience.
  • He also has a nice aside at the beginning making fun of standard resume descriptions.
  • He sums up his career history with a series of panels. That’s a different idea because some are obviously not quite “wow look what this did for my career.”
  • He ends with a big panel of “action publishing” that also includes punching a Hitler stand-in, a nice reference to the classic Captain America image.
  • He illustrates his hobbies in a similar way, going into a series of panels.
  • He closes with a very honest statement about his search, and then references.

A few things to change or consider:

  • Since this resume is so non-standard, it’s best paired with a regular resume. Joshua does that, sending it out with a strong cover letter and regular resume.
  • Not sure it’s ever a good idea to include Hitler in a resume, but doing the classic Captain America punch is a nice touch.
  • References may not always be needed.

As noted, it’s hard to critique a resume like this since he’s made this such a personal artistic effort. But there’s a lesson in that – and as we’ve seen in other resumes – that sometimes when you do something different, go all the way.

Steve’s Summary: I’d get a good laugh out of this resume, but also like the personal touch and the detail. It shows an effort to connect and a lot of imagination.

[“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