Creativity in a resume does not mean that you wrap your resume around a champagne bottle and mail it to the CEO; it doesn’t mean that you create a YouTube video where you rap your resume; it doesn’t mean designing a resume with twenty fonts and sixty colors. Very few organizations and no computerized applicant tracking systems are geared up for that kind of creativity.

So how do you show creativity on your resume?

• You might, in fact, create two resumes: one traditional resume suited for applicant tracking systems and a first look by recruiters and hiring managers; the other “creative” resume to hand out during your interview, or maybe a creative online resume that links to your traditional paper resume. If you do go the creative route, make sure you are as creative as you think you are. Hiring managers and interviewers will be turned off by poorly executed, inappropriate, difficult to fathom creativity. Moreover, you never know if your resume will have to pass through an applicant tracking system, and most of those systems cannot handle a creative resume. For those reasons, Robin’s Resumes® does not recommend using two resumes. Instead, we recommend one traditional resume that is suited to applicant tracking systems.
• Your resume should show how you applied creativity and demonstrated it as part of your current job. Perhaps you contributed an idea that helped your company organize better, increased productivity, improved internal or external relationships, or transformed a marketing campaign. Perhaps you quickly understood a new product, service, or solution and then creatively explained it to confused customers and fellow employees.
• Consider the challenges faced by the company or industry where you want to work. Do you have a creative solution for a consistent problem in that industry? For example, one of my clients realized that everyone in her industry used offshore teams to finish parts of their project, which led to communications chaos. She highlighted in her resume her skills in finding creative solutions to the problem, including arranging internships for college students who were native speakers of the foreign language.

Like the other soft skills I’ve written about in this blog, creativity has many definitions. Robin’s Resumes® will help you find the right definition and the right way to express creativity to fit the job you want.