Write It Yourself, or W.I.Y, will be a series of little projects that I have found in those ah-ha! moments when groping for little paper gestures for the effect of the recipient's surprised amusement.
Today's W.I.Y is the Charming Resume.
Approximately one year ago I was pursuing a barista position at a thriving little coffee shop of great repute in my college town. This local business has the cozy-cafe charm, bakes the best scones and desserts in town (not a biased opinion but a city-wide survey fact!), and roasts their award winning beans a block away. As a coffee shop is due, this spot is heavily pursued by job-seeking college students. I was one of them.
I've heard of creative ways to present le curriculum vitae, such as the Resume T-Shirt, which looks exactly as it sounds and leaves little for mystery where revealing your work-experience to everyone else is concerned. Chill-y jobs, like our Hippie Gypsy on 4th avenue, takes an artistic or crafty submission first and asks questions later!
Standing out in a stack of computer paper can be difficult, and especially so if its THAT sort of establishment or position where the expected resume style leaves little for personal touches.
Luckily, my coffee shop was not so.
I faced minor obstacles like living out of town for the time being and lacking a working printer, but the effort put in to hand writing my resume on a pretty shade o' blue paper with mindful attention to layout, spacing, font size and fancier things (like bold or italic print, hey it's a 'simple-fancy'!) paid for itself.
A couple weeks later I got a favorable response to the charming resume and an interview with the managers who thought it was very appropriate to the space.
and I am trying to repeat my luck!
Today I entered a favorite vintage clothing store and found that the business was purchased by a sweet lady that I know from my coffee shop. One good talk and the suggestion to bring by a resume later, I devised a scheme to get a second job in a familiar, creative way.
Behold!
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| First half picture frame fodder... |
I visited a nearby book shop to pick up an art print.
I was hoping for a vintage-y clothes related print but happily settled with a flower-y still life by Picasso.
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There was some print on one side. I chose a gray-toned paper from my sketchbook to cover it up.
The aesthetics of deviating from the sterile white works too well sometimes.
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| ...second half CV! |
I had my computer with me so I settled down at my local Time Market, opened my most recently updated resume document and scrawled it out.
Tools:
-Straight edge
(ie. ruler, postcard, architect's transparent triangle edge
-Lite pencil lines
-My blue-gold Gelly Roll pen
(for the heading and contact information)
-Two black ink-y pens of varying line thickness.
-Steady nerves and legible handwriting.
-a cold bottle of Maine's Ginger Beer.
Cheers!
