When you feel like you’ve tried everything in your job search and are getting crickets, you’ve probably thought about taking the creative route.
Well, we’ve seen it all: the infographic resume, the snapchat resume, the honest resume, the resume website, the SlideShare resume, and the magazine CV.
At least, we thought we had, until we recently came across a new and exciting tactic: the Twitter resume, created by Ameena Rasheed.
⚡️ “@AmeenaRasheed's Resume | Editor + Writer | https://t.co/hTf9FT9UL9” by @AmeenaRasheedhttps://t.co/ABI82gGd8c
— Ameena Rasheed (@AmeenaRasheed) July 27, 2017
Inspired by her interest to pursue a job as a digital content creator, and her previous experience as a writer, editor, and social media manager, her “digital resume,” as she calls it, includes articles she’s written, quotes from people who’ve spoken about her, graphics she’s created, responses from connections who have great things to say about her, links to her LinkedIn and personal website, and a Tweet-sized version of her summary statement.
“When I was brainstorming on what to include, I wanted to put a heavy emphasis on one of my greatest strengths, online storytelling. I sought to include a mix of the published articles, social media content, and photography that I’ve done thus far. I wanted whoever took a look at it to quickly get a good idea of the different things that I’m capable of doing,” Rasheed told me when I reached out to learn more about her social media masterpiece.
And turns out, this isn’t her first attempt at creativity in the job search. When I asked her how she came up with the idea in the first place, she said:
I published a Storify resume back during my senior year of college, which gained a lot of traction and helped me secure my first job right after graduation. I knew that I needed to do something creative like that again to stand out from the crowd. In the last few years, I’ve seen how Twitter has become such a launching pad for creatives in different fields to reach their dreams. I first saw Polly Irungu and Xavier Burgin with Twitter resumes. I decided that I should give the Twitter resume a shot and see how it could help me gain some new opportunities.
Since we spoke in August, she’s gotten a lot of positive feedback on the thread—several people have sent her job openings, and she’s landed a couple interviews in Houston (her hometown).
While she hasn’t landed her dream gig yet, she’s still hopeful: “My ultimate goal would be to create social media and online content for different television and film projects. I’m still hoping that my Twitter resume will get in front of the right people and I’ll get a call from Issa Rae or something [laughs].”
We know that a creative resume isn’t for every job, but Rasheed’s bold and beautiful way of showcasing her strengths is a good reminder that sometimes you have to think outside the box when traditional methods aren’t working for you.
And more importantly, you have to tell people what you want—because you can’t expect them to give it to you otherwise. As she puts it:
Closed mouths don’t get fed. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the media industry is that it’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows you. You can connect with a million different people in your respective industry, but you need to find creative ways to advocate for yourself and your work so that you’ll be at the front of people’s minds when different opportunities open up.
So speak up—whether it’s on social media, over email, or in person. The only person who can limit you is yourself.