Can a Microsoft Word Resume Survive in the Creative Field?

Where would your resume land?

As you may have seen on Linkedin or Twitter, Standing Dog is looking for a couple more talented digital media nerds to join our team. We posted the jobs a week ago, and we already have a stack of resumes that would make the leaning tower of Pisa envious for its height and stability.

While going through some of the resumes in my inbox, I found myself sitting frozen in a low-grade form of shock.

“Someone sent in a resume as a Word doc?” I said to myself.

Before I’d even opened the resume, I’d passed judgment, which is why it’s a good thing I’m not the hiring manager. For all I knew, that resume could have listed some impressive job titles at huge social media agencies, but my first impression had already been made: Unoriginal, old-school and, dare I say, boring?

“What’s wrong with that? Mine’s a Word doc,” my coworker Litany said from across the room.

Insert foot in mouth.

“Well… I mean… This is a creative industry. Shouldn’t they have a creative resume?” I asked, picturing my own resume with its red and black LP logo and clickable icons for Twitter, Linkedin and email.

“It’s about the experience anyway, right? Not how pretty it prints on paper.”

She had a point. But how was that killer experience—typed in Garamond size 12 font—going to stand out in our growing stack of resumes currently overtaking our director’s desk? At a time when jobs are hard to come by and competition is a given, we have to do something to stand out, right?

Consider Matthew Epstein, for example, who I refer to as “Google Boy.” He wanted a product marketing position at Google so badly that he created the website googlepleasehire.me and made this hilarious video resume showing off his marketing skills and his nice legs.

Did Google notice him? Yes. He got an interview. Did that interview have anything to do with the website, video or life-sized cardboard cutout of himself he sent to Google? I’d say yes. Not because of his funny mustache or high-quality video production, but because he created the campaign to show what he does best: product marketing, using himself as the product. Matthew is hoping to hear back from Google by tomorrow. I know this because I’ve been stalking his blog.

Mashable did a story a few months ago about creative resumes, and this one by Victor Petit really stood out.

I’m not sure what he was applying for, but this resume would have stood out for a social media job. It shows he understands QR codes and YouTube, which are both useful in our industry.

Instead of guessing what stands out and what doesn’t, I decided to sit down with Jennifer Eaton, our social media director who’s also responsible for hiring the new social position.

LP: What are your thoughts on Word doc resumes?

JE: If I get a resume that’s not a PDF, I want to throw it out. Same goes for resumes that are more than one page.

LP: But you don’t actually throw them out… right?

JE: No, of course not. Although it’s very tempting. I carefully review every resume.

LP: What about the argument that a resume is about the experience, not the pretty graphics?

JE: I don’t think you need pretty graphics. You need a clean and concise resume that shows your experience and expertise. I just prefer PDFs so I don’t accidentally edit the document while I’m reading it. And PDFs maintain the design better, so no matter what computer I open it on, it will always look the same.

LP: So what kinds of things are you looking for on a resume?

JE: Especially when it is a social media position, it is good to share your Twitter name and blog link. This helps me learn about who you are. For social media, I think you have to show that you are sociable.

LP: And what about QR codes? Does that make a resume stand out to you?

JE: We just got a resume that had a QR code driving to the person’s website, and I instantly pulled my phone out to scan it. I love seeing QR codes.  I think that in the right facet it makes sense. If you are applying for a social media job, it makes sense. If you are looking to join a law firm, it may not make much sense to send users to your social sites.

LP: So, what do you think about Matthew Epstien’s video and website he created to apply at Google? If someone had done that to apply at Standing Dog, would you have granted them an interview?

JE: It would all depend on their level of experience and skill set. I would be impressed if someone went to that length to try to get an interview. But that wouldn’t put them in front of people that just submitted a paper resume.

LP: So even if they do something extravagant, they still need the experience to back it up.

JE: Exactly.

LP: So what are some things you think people need to think about when working on their resumes?

JE: People need to be aware that they’re going to be looked at. If they include their Twitter handle, I’m going to check it out. So they should be very conscious of what they’re posting. But if they include their Twitter handle and I go searching for them only to find out their account is private, well, that would frustrate me.

LP: Any other tips?

JE: Yes. Don’t include a headshot.

So, now that you know what we look for, we want to hear what other social media and digital marketing companies look for in a resume. What are some resumes you’ve seen that really stood out? What makes you want to push a resume to the ‘No’ pile and what gives it  guaranteed stamp of approval?