Case Study

With this resume our prime goal was to tell the recruiter “what he really brings to the table” in a matter of seconds. So we addressed each of the problems identified earlier:

Problem: A very text heavy resume that ran into 5 pages

Solution:

We found out that a lot of information on the resume was redundant, irrelevant and scattered. We used the most important and impactful information for each of the job roles he has performed, removing or restructuring rest of them.

Problem: Poor first page and top section that did not demonstrate his expertise

Solution:

First impression is your last impression, and that holds true for a resume as well. Having an impactful, informative and attractive opening page was therefore our priority. We made the first page into a comprehensive resume, which can work as a standalone document as well.

The first page starts off with a title, a crisp yet powerful summary, and two graphics.

• A strong summary: Contrary to many senior resumes with extravagant summaries, we opted for a smaller one. The focus was on optimising the space and giving an overview. So we used power words and phrases like “…transform ‘Commodity’ into ‘Brand’”, and “influential marketing champion” among others. These are self-explanatory, industry relevant, and capture the essence of his career.
• Graphic Elements: The use of a pie chart to demonstrate his key skills under the heading “what I do” immediately stops the reader’s eye motivating them to actually go through the written part of the resume. Another graphic on the left sums up his passion for product management, giving a clear indication that this profile focuses on product management and innovation on a global level across multiple industries.

All of this followed by a neatly placed timeline that runs through the entire page and elaborates on Mr. Saeed’s experiences over the last 15 years. These also map out his strongest contributions to each of his employers. We end the page with another chart, showcasing the industries he has worked in, striking a perfect balance between graphic and text elements, while keeping the reader intrigued yet.

Thus first page typically includes all elements that you would like to highlight in a profile like his. It has

• A strong summary and title
• Key contributions
• Experience
• Career timeline
• Core Skills
• Industrial exposure

Problem: Scattered information that was difficult to interpret at a glance

Solution:

No recruiter even attempts to make sense of scattered information. We didn’t want Mr. Saeed’s profile to get rejected for this very reason. So we worked on grouping information into presentable sections. This approach runs through the resume.

• Work Experience: The first page largely talks about work experience. No other elements or other sections of the resume interrupt the work experience. There are other elements on the first page, but they are kept distant and different in terms of formatting, placement, and content from the experience.
• Key impact areas: The second page is a detailed section on his core skills. We have picked up four core skills that run throughout his career, and detailed those using bullets. This is helping us in many ways- keyword optimization, easy readability, and pointing out areas of expertise.
• Academic timeline: With rich credentials like his, the challenges was to keep all of those in the resume, while managing the space constraint and ensuring a neat outlook. We opted for an academic timeline. The timeline visually represents the factual data as well as his knack for continuous learning and improvement. Achieving these wouldn’t have been possible with the use of text.
• Organizations Served: The approach to this resume is a balanced one. All text heavy sections are balanced with graphic and/ or visual elements. Logos of all organizations served come along vertically with key impact areas to again bring all things under an umbrella. 

Problem: An unorganised format that didn’t inspire the recruiter to read the resume.

Solution:

With all the efforts to consolidate elements and introduce a bird’s eye view, we developed a unique structure. This resume structurally does not follow the traditional approach to resumes. This resume is a classic example of not one size fits all and we need to figure out a format as per the client’s requirements.

• With him being a senior professional, we could not go overboard with colours and visuals; neither could we make the resume extremely simple, as if no effort has been put in.
• The timeline that runs through the resume is built in a deep green colour that looks professional and also breaks the pages into readable sections.
• A timelines again emerges at the end that ties up the entire resume together, keeping the visual theme intact
• All other graphics are circular, against a straight timeline, not making the resume boring