Lifehacker describe ResumUp as “not just another visual resume creation tool, it’s a gorgeous way to plan your career path.”
There are countless examples on the web of people who have created visual resumes but traditionally these had to be painstakingly put together in graphic design packages and took a considerable commitment in both time and effort. Assuming that the individual had the design flair to pull it off in the first place! ResumUp promises to change all that with a database driven design engine which turns the user’s traditional (text based) curriculum vitae data into a personalised visual resume.
I stumbled across the site around a year ago and I was immediately impressed with the ease by which you could create a very professional looking visual resume. By simply adding the details and the dates when you worked (or studied) the software will generate a professional looking diagram which represents the story of your career.
ResumUp currently offer three plans ranging from completely free to $3 per month. With the free plan you get the tools to create a basic resume online and it is a sensible way of getting people interested enough to consider a subscription. There are two levels of paid subscription currently charged at $2 for their “Winning Resume” package or $3 per month for their “profile pro” package. The main difference between the two packages is the addition of career guidance on the latter package in the form of career planning, connections, job advertisements and skill set guidance.
I should point out that the currently advertised prices are displayed as an 85% discount from the normal monthly pricing. This makes the current annual subscriptions either $24 or $36 per year which is to me a reasonable price for their current offering. Having said that I would certainly not be paying for the service if the discount is dropped and they start charging the advertised rates which would be $180 or $240 respectively!
If there are any downsides to the tool it is that the choice of content is still quite limited – i.e. you have to insert the topics they have and there is minimal opportunity for customising the colours and fonts used on the resume. Having said that the site is still in its infancy and I would be surprised if it did not add features such as these as time goes on.
Some of you may be wondering “why would I want a visual resume?” Well the old adage “a picture says a thousand words” is probably the best justification. I don’t think that the visual resume will entirely replace the traditional one anytime soon but I feel that it is a valuable addition as it helps the reader to visualise your career progression.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject of Visual Resumes – are they worthwhile or not? If you were applying/interviewing would they be looked on positively or negatively? Are they purely for “creative types” and would traditional employers frown on them?
In case you are interested, my full CV (as produced by ResumUp) is below or you can link to my page on the site directly at http://resumup.com/johnortt:
