By Grace Totoro

Is your resume attractive to the eye and does it seduce the reader into wanting to learn more about you? There is no secret; we live in a world where visual appeal generates attention. When you back up visual appeal with product or service performance you are on your way to connecting with your audience.

Since your resume is a visual representation of you, having visual appeal in its look and format will convey something about your personality, and will communicate your purpose, passion, potential and performance in the role you are seeking. I call this the four P’s. A resume should convey and demonstrate what you do, how you do it and how it benefits the target audience you are trying to impress. If this is done in a different more “sexy” and “entertaining” way, you will get noticed. Think of it as performance art.

The retro resumes of over 20 years ago did not do this because they did not have to. Basically the retro resume was a historical view of you, plain, and typed neatly in an organized way with hope that your reader would figure out what you should be doing for them. The work was on the reader to figure it out.

Today with less jobs available and more people available for hire, the job seeker has to do the work and must represent themselves in a unique and extraordinary way to get noticed and hired. The reader must be able to connect with you and see your impact, and feel your passion for doing what you do. As for the resume format, learn what your target audience wants to see and design your resume in a format that conforms with your audience’s requirements, however adds nuances that make you stand out even to the most conservative readers. Unless you know who your target audience will be, this will be difficult to accomplish. Once you understand your value and convey it in writing, your resume format can be flashy or conservative. Just be sure that the four P’s are conveyed in your message.

Ask Yourself:

Why do I do what I do and who is benefitting from my talents and me? How are they benefitting? Am I targeting a conservative or non-conservative audience? What generation are they in? What culture or gender are you speaking to? Who else is doing what I do in my market? How can I put a different spin on me and what I do so that I stand out from others in my market and look current not retro? Am I conveying positive energy and sincerity in all my written collateral?

Your job title may get you noticed, however job titles change over time and some even become obsolete, therefore you must understand that a job title or position alone won’t get you interviewed or hired.

I once saw the credentials of an artist represented on cement blocks along a highway. Each cement block spoke to individuals passing by whether by foot or automobile. It was colorful and artistic, demonstrating the artist’s creative ability to convey her skills in a unique way. This got the attention of the media and gleaned positive and negative opinion, however, the visibility, captured the attention of a prominent toy manufacturer who later hired the artist to be part of their product development and marketing team.

The moral of the story is to stand out and demonstrate your value in a way that lets your message be seen and heard. The more you sound and look like others who do what you do, the more you will blend in with the herd. If you are a prize black cow, in the field of other black cows, you will blend in. However if you paint yourself pink, you will stand out.

Don’t be afraid to be different in your representation of you. Be clear, concise, current, and impactful, and influence the audience you know will resonate with you and your expression of you. Don’t be misled by the in the box cookie cutter resume templates that force you to blend in with everyone else.

Here’s your chance to create your own sex appeal, and tell your story. If you need some direction as to how to get started, hire a career coach who is a visionary, thinks out of the box and enjoys helping you to help yourself standout today, while positioning you for tomorrow.

As a Visionary Career & Life Strategy Coach, and Thought Leader, Grace Totoro has been having fun for over two decades, helping others to see their uniqueness  in refining their Career Objectives, and Job Search Strategies, while maintaining the right job, staying marketable and living a purpose filled life. She is currently President and Lead Coach for TransitionsByGrace, LLC and can be reached at 561-351-9894, or by email: GraceTotoro@TransitionsByGrace.com. Website: www.TransitionsByGrace.com