A French job-seeker Phillippe Dubost seems to have quashed the age-old tips for an ‘impressive’ CV with his innovative resume uploaded on the internet in Feb. Here is what job-seekers can learn from his experiments

Google Phillippe Dubost and you will find a man offering himself for sale on Amazon. No, he isn’t on sale. What shows is just his resume which looks like an Amazon page. Dubost experimented with the design of his resume out of sheer boredom. His resume looks like an Amazon page which tells user about the ‘product dimensions’, ratings (five stars in this case) and free shipping facility. Dubost created this resume in the beginning of Feb 2013. Almost three weeks later, his resume link has received more than 1.3 million unique visitors from 219 countries.

Dubost's initial plan was to share this resume as a link with the job application. Things took a turn when, two weeks ago, he shared the link with a popular French tech blog Frenchweb. For Dubost, it has been a crazy ride since then. While this news was being filed, his Facebook page had gained 39,000 likes. His Tumblr page says he is in the process of discussing various job opportunities. According to some media reports, he has received more than 100 job offers in last two weeks.
Dubost's success (considering job offers a measurement here) shows that for a resume to click, creativity is more important than set rules. His resume is a perfect example of fun, innovation, relevant information AND the right marketing strategy. What clicks about this resume is the way it has been used to show relevant skills (An Amazon page for a Web Product Manager, nothing clicks more!) and desired skills (quirky and fun, that is the kind of job Dubost wanted). The standard text resume format is based on the assumption that in a resume, qualifications are all that speak for one. What this Amazon resume tells is that sometimes it is better to ‘show’ your skills. Unarguably, this resume stands out. It can be easily guessed that the success of this resume will ‘inspire’ job-seekers across the world to model their resumes on similar format(s). While modeling resumes on different lines might be a welcome change, there is less chance that a similar resume will garner this much success again (after all, first is always the first and usually the most successful). Still, Dubost's success can be used to draw some useful tips for a quirky and innovative resume:

1. Think out of the box: Manisha Shukla, an HR executive with a Gurgaon based advertising agency says, “A resume that stand out is sure to win some favours. If you have relevant education, experience and really impressive qualifications, innovative presentation will help you get noticed. ” The presentation should reflect a candidate’s strength and not just look good. Not every self-projection attempt that has used an auction site has been successful. Website 'newsfeed' mentions the unsuccessful attempt of a lab technician Sonya Williams who put herself on auction on eBay to get a job. It gives these reasons for Sonya’s unsuccessful effort, “A real eBay auction page seems creepier than a copycat Amazon website, especially when Williams starts the bidding at a mere 99 cents and describes herself as being in just-okay condition, with “no defects or wear and tear” — hard to compete with Dubost's super-detailed, five-star version of himself.”. It is essential to think of an idea that will help you establish your personal brand. And yes, for a change it is okay to give yourself some good ratings. But then you should have sufficient data to back your claims. In Dubost's case, his resume mentions comments from a few of his ex-colleagues who substantiate his five star ratings.

2. Highlight your skills: Dubost’s resume clicked because it highlights his strengths relevant to the profession he is in. List your professional achievements, relevant qualifications, desired and critical skills and show what you can bring to the table. An innovative resume will click only when it will have some substance in it. Innovation shouldn’t be confused with ‘design elements’. It should be relevant to your skills.

3. Use it at the right place: It is essential to know whether a quirky resume will work in your industry or not. While creative industries may welcome this idea, this may backfire in industries like Banking or IT. Cnn.com quotes Dubost as saying, “"If I was an accountant it's not the same (sic). But you can always do something that is relevant to the industry you work in.” Imagine a Software Engineer sending a colorful CV to the recruiters. It will hardly impress anyone. The trick is to think of a new idea keeping your industry in mind. Similarly, one resume (how innovative it may be) may not click everywhere. One has to know what will work in his industry and what will not.

See Phillippe Dubost’s resume here