Switched from paper resumes to digital portfolios after a hiring manager told me they never read the first page

I used to spend hours tweaking the wording on a single page resume, but last year a recruiter friend said she only scans the first three bullet points. Now I just link to my portfolio with project photos and it landed me two interviews in one month. Anyone else found a better way to get past the initial screen?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_davis5d ago

Yeah, I feel this. My resume is basically a disaster zone so my portfolio does all the heavy lifting now. I've got a "worst project" section in mine just to show I can learn from mistakes. Actually got a callback where the guy said he liked that I was honest about a total mess I made.

emma_baker615d ago

and honestly @evan_davis that callback story is exactly why i think more people should lean into the messy parts of their work. like yeah, showing polished stuff is important but there's something about admitting "hey i really messed this up and here's what i learned" that actually makes you look more capable somehow. maybe it's just me but i feel like everyone tries so hard to look perfect and it ends up making them all sound the same. a little honesty can really make you stand out in a pile of cookie cutter applications.

hannahcraig4d ago

Three whole callbacks from that one worst-project section? That's a pretty decent return rate for an experiment like that. I wonder if it's less about the honesty itself and more about standing out from the usual corporate copy-paste. It's probably not some deep hiring revolution, just a weird thing that worked for a few specific situations.