My resume is now in Notion
And why I like it better than a pdf
As a designer, resumes don’t really speak to me. All the information you need about my experience is on LinkedIn and my projects are carefully detailed in my portfolio.
And even when I do hand out a resume, it always leaves me with the feeling that some information is missing. Yes, I can say that I worked on this or that company, but will recruiters really know what that company is, what it does, and how I’ve grown from that particular job? The answer is, most definitely, no.
Also, the need to constantly update that pdf file feels dreadful, and having ten or more versions of the same file named resume-2020.pdf, resume-feb-22.pdf, resume-english-22.pdf also bothered me too much.
Now take all that and add the fact that I am from a non-English speaking country. This means I need to have two versions of each resume for national and international companies, one in Portuguese and one in English.
So being stubborn as only a designer can be, I started looking for a solution. I figured the resume itself would show recruiters my product design mindset, and how I am always looking for a way to improve experiences, no matter how small.
I needed it to be:
- easy enough to edit and update
- available in multiple languages
- succinct enough to fit on a page, but with the chance of adding more in-depth information
A pdf would definitely not suit my needs, so I looked at other options and landed in Notion.
I started writing my resume in Notion just as a test. The whole “let’s do it and see how it turns out” spirit. And it turned out GREAT.
Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Why I loved it so much:
- It has all the info you need from me, such as education, experience, courses, and skills
- I can link my portfolio, LinkedIn, Medium, email and etc
- It supports many languages and you can switch between them directly on the resume
- It doesn’t have the A4 page limitation
- It looks great on smaller screens
- Recruiters will always have the updated version
And it looks just like a normal resume, right? But click on “+ more about my experience at Company” and a new page opens up with more detailed information about that job in particular.
On this page, I can add an image that shows a little bit of the company, explaining what it does, what my responsibilities were, and what I learned from it.
For me, it makes a lot more sense to tell recruiters about what my previous jobs taught me than just writing bullet points about projects and achieved metrics.
Also, with Notion, I can update my resume at any time and make sure recruiters have the most recent version, which is not possible using a simple pdf file.
You can have your Notion resume too!
If you liked the idea and want to have a resume in Notion, I have made this template available for anyone. The link for the resume template is right here, feel free to check it out and duplicate it.
If you have never done this before, just click on the “duplicate” button on the top right corner of the page.
What about the pdf version?
I know sometimes the pdf version is indeed needed, because of that, I also added the possibility of attaching a file for download, so if the recruiter really wants it, it is right there! Just don’t forget to also keep the pdf up to date as you make changes to your Notion version.
Designing for two or more languages
If you want to have it in more than one language, copy the file, translate it and then link it on the top, where it says “Portuguese”. Be sure to add the link for the English version on this new one, too. (and to share both of them on the web, of course, otherwise, you won’t be able to access it from the browser!)
Last but not least
It makes sense for me, as a designer, to question things and look for solutions for daily problems, even when the problem is the way we present our resumes. I’d love to know if you liked the idea or even used the template, so feel free to leave me a message in the comment section!
And who knows, maybe little by little we can make a world with fewer pdf resumes and more Notion pages!
