Show HN: Real Resume Examples from 1000s of Top Paid Professionals

Ah, I _knew_ I saw this exact site posted just a few days ago, but searching HN showed nothing recent. The fact that it was flag-killed explains why it didn't show up in the search.

I think https://workstory.s3.amazonaws.com/cv_samples/2360/softwaree... is actually a nice example of good design improving communication.

I can see at a glance that he has experience with frontend developent, clean code and agile development, can quickly see some keywords detailing that and if I'm hooked by that I can then read all that text about his work history.

In Europe, it is generally the norm to include a photo of yourself on the CV... Never seen that in the US.

However given this site is called "VisualCV" (emphasis on visual), I can see why people posting on there would want to include photos, in addition to the nice graphics and stuff.

Depends on the culture. Some will even put their marital status on there - someone who is single has much more time to dedicate to a company compared to someone with a partner and kids at home.

I've heard this is common outside of the US. I have never seen one in real life and it's probably illegal to require it -- even having them is a problem I wouldn't want to deal with.

There are countries where it's reccomended (or even needed) to put a photo on their CV. Here in Italy for example is a common practice.

Same goes for age. In UK you don't need to put your age on the CV since law says you can't be discrimined by how old (or young) you are. But again, here in Italy is a very common practice.

It probably helps to create a positive impression, assuming you're photogenic; photos are kind of biased against the unphotogenic. LinkedIn, for instance, is always haranguing new users to put a photo in their profiles. Presumably, this is because profiles with photos are clicked on a lot more often -- especially if the photos look good. It's just one of those human-nature hacks.

Photos are also problematic, in so far as they allow the person screening the resumes to make hiring decisions -- even subconscious decisions -- on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, apparent age, or even just physical appearance. I imagine that requiring photos of all candidates would be illegal, or at least highly actionable, in the US.

That being said, I don't think there are any rules against putting a photo in one's resume here. I'd just do it with extreme caution. I only see significant upside if you are a great looking person, or have a photo that just screams "Now THAT is a kick-ass professional!" Otherwise, there is just too much risk involved. Risk that you'll be weeded out for "fit" (read: "This person doesn't look like the kind of person who works here"), or for having a weird photo, or even for being the kind of person weird enough to include a photo (since again, photos are not the norm in the US).

I will say this much: as unorthodox as these visual resumes are, I kind of like them. They stand out, and they present the vital information in a much more digestible format than ye olde paper resume does. I just think the photo aspect is tricky. I'd also wonder whether real-life HR managers, recruiters, and hiring managers would grok this style, or whether they'd find it too eccentric. Recruiters are usually working within a mold, not trying to break one.

I wrote a comment about it on Reddit. Apparently in Germany if you don't include a photo of yourself they assume you have something to hide. It seems absurd to me personally.

Agreed - what struck me with that site is that all the CVs had photos of the applicants.

For anyone applying to where I work please please please do not include a photo because I instantly know your age & ethnicity - things that I am not supposed to know about you.

Obviously I am going to see your face eventually (assuming you get to an on-site interview), but seeing it all before I get to talk to you in person can lead unconscious bias which is not good for anyone.

I note that the job titles are not correctly sorted by alpha under their respect starting letters.

It's a dog-whistle to the person they want to work for.

Because it auto filters out companies, recruiters, and HR staff who like fluff and politics, and retains the ones who are more direct and in-your-face. So if you're a person who is very good in a rigid social structure and placating folk's egos and whatnot, using buzzwords signals you're more than willing to buy into company hype and that therefore makes you more employable. To many larger / older corporations who have plenty of momentum and make money just fine, it's more important for new hires maintain (and strengthen) company structure than for new hires to get a lot done.

On the other hand, if you're a just-ship-it no-nonsense individual who likes to focus more on doing things than maintaining relationships, than by all means build that weird personal site that's nothing like a normal resume and that showcases all your relevant skills instead of using buzzwords. Companies with large and rigid internal social structures will probably avoid you, while volatile newer companies will seek you out.

I only implemented as a simple autocomplete for a simple tag search. We actually have over 1400 tags but only about 140 are actually active for searching, I think that's actually an oversight on our end. You can go to https://www.visualcv.com/resume-samples/directory# for all the tags, rails and .net are both on there