Resume, Meet Medium
Technology is adaptive (and revolutionary) because it not only dares, but exists to be experimental. As techno slaves (of course I meant ‘users’, we have everything under control here … at least until the wifi signal dies or our batteries run out), our pastime of choice has a welcome by-product. Daring to try out new things, even if only in 1s and 0s, has become the raison d’être of many a generation alive today. Here’s looking at you (looking at the dangers lurking between the folds of your grandkids’ selfie mania), dating app-surfin’ Baby Boomers!
So when I read the article Put your resume on Medium: Don’t be limited by a piece of paper by Facebook product designer bryant 🌊🔥, I had to put sleep aside and try it out for myself.
The proof’s not in the pudding. This is more of a ‘the fault’s in the absence of a hypothesis on my end’ kinda story.
___________________________________________________________________
— Meet My Medium Resume —
[Editor’s note: In case you didn’t notice that this resume is under the exclusive custodianship of an earmarked publication, “Nadja Bester”, please note that the owner of this resume is to be viewed as a Writer | Journalist | Eco-Tech Warrior at all times. Due to formatting restrictions of this medium, this version cannot reflect the stylistic convention of pinning one’s professional tagline in font size 48 at the top of the PDF.]
SUMMARY
I am, at the core, a storyteller and an agent for social change. I seek out purpose, passion, and creativity in every endeavour I take on, and empowerment stands at the forefront of everything I get involved in. Ultimately, I am fueled by enabling growth, shifting perceptions, and giving voice to the previously unheard.
My passion lies in the role emerging technologies play in environmental protection, social good, and emerging markets such as India, Africa, and South America.
This resume provides a top-level, boxtapositioned overview of my professional experience. A more detailed resume can be found on LinkedIn.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
My professional experience is varied and spans the following industries:
- Blockchain and cryptocurrency
- Environmental
- Health sciences
- Business and commerce
- Education
Within these sectors, my professional roles have included the following skills sets:
- Writing
- Communications
- Marketing
- Advisory
- Coaching
- Teaching
- Counselling
- Medical testing
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
Writing
- Head news editor at a blockchain publication
- Contributing writer at a leading investment publication
Communications
- Owner and agency director of a blockchain communications agency
Marketing
- Core team member at an eco currency
Advisory
- Digital marketing advisor for a cryptobank
Environmental
- Independent environmental marketing consultant for environmental projects in Thailand and Viet Nam
Health Sciences
Marketing and Communications
- Global multichannel marketing and multimedia communications lead at a multibillion multinational pharmaceutical company
- Group digital marketing associate (before I got promoted)
Medical testing
- Clinical research technician at one of the world’s top clinical trials service providers
Health therapy and counselling
- Co-owner and health therapist at a health clinic
Business and Commerce
Marketing and Communications
- Owner of digital marketing agency
- Marketing and operations manager at an aerial productions company
Education
Coaching
- Program director and career development coach at a
Writing
- Founder of an alternative education publication
Teaching
- TEFL teacher in Viet Nam
- High school teacher at 5 different high schools, two in disadvantaged communities, one catering to special needs, and one a reform school
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Thought leadership
- Organiser, curator, and executive producer with TEDx
Counselling
- Rape counselling at a rape crisis centre
Coaching
- Independent startup business coach to entrepreneurs in disadvantaged communities
- Entrepreneurial art facilitator at a not-for-profit program at underprivileged schools
EDUCATION
- Degree in Psychology
- Degree in Education
___________________________________________________________________
Final Thoughts
Bryant, the original ideaist for this strategy, clearly demonstrates his product designing whiz skills by wrapping the good ol’ resume we all know and hate into a pair of fresh hipster-worthy dungarees (I dunno, do hipsters take to wearing the Original Onesie, or is that just too retro — and onesies too trip-it-up trance fest, besides?).
Unlike him, I probably won’t be forwarding anyone this link to a prospective client or employer anytime soon. Not even considering the fact that I went to the trouble of making my narcissism triumph over my insomnia by creating an especial Medium publication with my name on it in the dead of night to house this thing.
Not because my resume isn’t flexible. As this post illustrates, curriculum vitaes don’t only fold up into tiny little CVs. My Medium resume’s — probably (but let’s hear it from HR) — way more suited for a quick What’s What of Who’s Who assessment than a boring (albeit design extraordinaire) PDF will ever be. In fact, my Medium Resume is so phat, it got the Bruce Lee fistbump (he might’ve been talking about something else, but I’m convinced he’d have been with me on this):
“[Resumes] must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water, my [resume].”
Rather, I’d be upending my own citizen activism set by abandoning standard practice. Which happens to be LinkedIn, for all those goblins* who still dare to ask you (in this day and age!) to forward the piece of art you birthed from Adobe Illustrator to Reader in 10 sec- (ok, hours) flat.
The world might not be ready for resumes rapping in rhyme, but this post is an ode to all those firecrackers who are too busy creating new tomorrows to abide by yesterday’s rules. Cos my LinkedIn profile has more swag than your 2-page email attachment could ever dream of. After all, people I’ve never met get to endorse me for things they haven’t the faintest whether I can do what they publically — in writing — swear I can. Beat that, PDF. Technology is dead. Long live technology!
*If I forwarded you this link, then yes, that means YOU
**Please note that this piece should not be taken as a cry for institutional employment. I might’ve left the Career Recruitment option open on LinkedIn, but that’s only so I can see who wants me. And tell them no. Cos payback time for that time you said I needed experience before applying when that’s precisely what I was trying to do. SMH.
***This is a quasi-legal announcement that the above experimental absu-art piece will, effective immediately, be redacted from all evidence files that form part of any future mental health inquisitions.
****Yup, I lost a bet.
