| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Off topic: "Infographic" resumes - The new standard, or unprofessional? Thread poster: Jocelyn Laney
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What is the deal with this wave of crowded, colorful resumes?
Who started this trend of self-evaluation with ranking of skills like a character profile in a video game?
These resumes are often 6 or 8 pages long and full of icons for every possible thing. Medical? Icon of a stethoscope. History? Icon of a museum. Delivers work on time? Icon of a little clock.
It looks like a poster to teach children about nutrition.
Since last year I have been getting some v... See more What is the deal with this wave of crowded, colorful resumes?
Who started this trend of self-evaluation with ranking of skills like a character profile in a video game?
These resumes are often 6 or 8 pages long and full of icons for every possible thing. Medical? Icon of a stethoscope. History? Icon of a museum. Delivers work on time? Icon of a little clock.
It looks like a poster to teach children about nutrition.
Since last year I have been getting some very colorful resumes sent to the address on my website. Sorry, but I don't have work in any of these language pairs...
Example:
https://smartresume.in/info-graphic-resume/
https://professionalcv.ae/infographic-resume/
Some of the resumes are obviously fake with non-existent phone numbers, impossible variety of language pairs, and a sexy photo that would even look a fake profile on a dating site.
Some of the resumes seem sincere but have been cut and paste into these templates with bad spacing and punctuation that make the translator look incompetent. I feel bad for any translator who is trusting the future of their career with this resume generator services.
I would love to hear the perspective of an HR person who receives a lot of these, and to hear about what kind of resume advice the younger generation is getting. In the US and EU, plain formatting and 1-2 pages is standard. Or is it??? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stepan Konev 
Russian Federation
Local time: 05:35
English to Russian
| HR at a translators' web site? | Mar 20, 2023 |
Jocelyn Laney wrote:
I would love to hear the perspective of an HR person Hardly you can find an HR person among translators, I think you'd better visit an HR portal for that.
And I have to confess I started adding images to my CV about 8 years ago and it worked fine for me. Who cares what is written there in your CV in plain text... but everybody knows the Chevron gas station logo.
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I have been flooded with CVs for a long while, but I have no idea if they have infographics as I delete them without reading. I suppose some are fake because they have mistakes in the subject line. An example received this morning: “Accurate English to Portuguese Translation adn Vice Veras”…
| | | | Jocelyn Laney
Japan
Local time: 11:35
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Spelling mistakes | Mar 20, 2023 |
Thank you for understanding me!
So many of these resumes have bad spelling and spacing. I think some translators are paying a service to create and promote their resume and the results are very bad.
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A resume is probably the first thing a potential client sees and uses to make a flash judgement on the translator, so it’s vital to get it right. It should be not only well written and eye-catching, but it must also have a layout that makes it easy to read and allows for important information to be highlighted. That being said, I don’t think that looking like an ad is the way to go (this may be a cultural thing: AFAIK Europeans are accustomed to presentations that are more formal).
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I will probably risk being accused of being pedantic but when I read ' "Infographic" resumes' I assumed there had been some "Infographic" thing but that it had stopped, and that it had now started again. So I ignored this thread until today when, out of curiosity, I clicked on it.
"To resume" is a verb.
[Edited at 2023-03-20 09:22 GMT]
| | | | Josep Vives (X)
Spain
Local time: 04:35
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Presentation card. | Mar 20, 2023 |
Jocelyn Laney wrote:
Thank you for understanding me!
So many of these resumes have bad spelling and spacing. I think some translators are paying a service to create and promote their resume and the results are very bad.
You are a language professional. Language is your profession, your work, your presentation card; it's who you are as an individual, and as a professional, and how you use it (and misuse it) defines your level of commitment. And you would be surprised by the number of people presenting themselves as linguists, professional translators, and reviewers and filling the texts with errors. Honestly, it's awful.
There is no room in this profession for this sort of thing. That's what I believe. And I understand we are all human and we can all make mistakes, but one thing is to make one mistake (that is understandable), and the other is just to do things.
Anyway, I feel what you say and I couldn't agree more! Keep it up!
| | | | Josep Vives (X)
Spain
Local time: 04:35
English to Spanish
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
I will probably risk being accused of being pedantic but when I read ' "Infographic" resumes' I assumed there had been some "Infographic" thing but that it had stopped, and that it had now started again. So I ignored this thread until today when, out of curiosity, I clicked on it.
"To resume" is a verb.
[Edited at 2023-03-20 09:22 GMT]
Agreed! It's "résumé" though, if I recall correctly (a French loan, as the stress suggests).
Not everyone uses those two stress marks, but I for one do so. Thanks for pointing it out.
Speaking the rightful way of things is not pedantic -what's truly pedantic is being wrong and not admitting it.
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| We want to look at pictures | Mar 20, 2023 |
And we want to be entertained. Is that what today's education is doing? Over 80% of the lectures and seminars I've attended had zero slides and zero pictures (so I had to compensate by drawing things in my workbook). I have read books that were mostly formulas and some text – again, with zero pictures. And I can spend several hours thinking about something without consuming any content except for what my sensory system is naturally injecting into the brain. I guess I was supposed to have died ... See more And we want to be entertained. Is that what today's education is doing? Over 80% of the lectures and seminars I've attended had zero slides and zero pictures (so I had to compensate by drawing things in my workbook). I have read books that were mostly formulas and some text – again, with zero pictures. And I can spend several hours thinking about something without consuming any content except for what my sensory system is naturally injecting into the brain. I guess I was supposed to have died of boredom decades ago but survived by a miracle. On the serious side, I have heard that picture-driven education is superfluous, it's not helping you understand difficult concepts. Judging by the number of superfluous translators whose work I had to review, I have to believe there must be some truth in this statement (although I can't tell what role graphic content plays in breeding that superfluity). Not claiming to have received an education that is superior to anyone else's, btw (most people here are probably better educated than me) ▲ Collapse
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Josep Vives wrote:
Speaking the rightful way of things is not pedantic -what's truly pedantic is being wrong and not admitting it.
Tom is good at that too
I think they look cool and if I was sifting through a million CVs it would make my life easier. I'm sure you could edit them to rule out spelling errors.
Stepan said:
everybody knows the Chevron gas station logo.
I don't...
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 04:35
German to Swedish
+ ...
How ghastly. The sample looks like it was assembled by a high-school student in 1995.
I would immediately question the applicant's taste, self-knowledge, office skills and general good sense. Then spray my desk with disinfectant...
| | | | Stepan Konev
Russian Federation
Local time: 05:35
English to Russian
| Why does that annoy you so much? | Mar 20, 2023 |
Jocelyn Laney wrote:
Since last year I have been getting some very colorful resumes sent to the address on my website. Sorry, but I don't have work in any of these language pairs...
As far as I understand receiving plenty of those CVs is what annoys you in the first place, but not the fact that they are colorful. It doesn't matter whether they are colorful or greyscale because you simply don't have any work for them, am I right? Or is it colorfulness that annoys you most?
I can't imagine why should I discuss other peoples' business unless it affects me. It sounds like making others do things the way you do. Why? If those funny cartoon images work for them, who cares then?
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Jocelyn Laney
Japan
Local time: 11:35
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | If it works, if works! | Mar 21, 2023 |
After checking some blogs/articles on the topic, the internet seems to be about 1/3 in favor of infographic resumes, and 2/3 against. Specifically, if the person is applying for a creative position like illustration, graphics, or web design, then creative is important. If it's not a creative position, then some color added to a traditional layout might be more effective.
agbeat.com/news-business/are-infographic-resumes-really-welcomed-by-employers/
Here are some origina... See more After checking some blogs/articles on the topic, the internet seems to be about 1/3 in favor of infographic resumes, and 2/3 against. Specifically, if the person is applying for a creative position like illustration, graphics, or web design, then creative is important. If it's not a creative position, then some color added to a traditional layout might be more effective.
agbeat.com/news-business/are-infographic-resumes-really-welcomed-by-employers/
Here are some original designs, not templates:
https://speckyboy.com/creative-resume-designs/
Personally I would love to receive more of these resumes as they are fascinating on a personal level, and they show me how the translation (or other) industry is operating in other countries. But when I'm selecting translation partners, too much or too little information is a problem (so far, most the resumes sent in reply to my job posts have been professional and appropriate).
Bad spelling and spacing is a big NO.
As for adding the company logos of companies I have done work for - most of my work is done through agencies, so the NDAs prevent me from claiming any direct connection to or recognition by those companies. It's unlikely the end client would ever see my resume, but if the agencies saw those company names listed they would cut me off. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:35
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
Resumé
...
"To resume" is a verb.
Yes, "resume" is a verb, but what does "resumé" mean?
Added: Here is an interesting (and extensive) article on whether it's "resume", "resumé" or "résumé":
https://novoresume.com/career-blog/how-to-spell-resume
TLDR: Most dictionaries favour "résumé", but some also allow "resume" (but you have to look closely), and a tiny few also allow "resumé".
[Edited at 2023-03-21 07:33 GMT]
| | | | Jocelyn Laney
Japan
Local time: 11:35
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
As an American, I would giggle if another American sent me a resume that included é in all the appropriate places.
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