Even if they’re not for you, the question sparked by these graphical resumes is: What are our options for resume-building in the twenty-tens? We all know a resume is supposed to show off our skills and experience, but in the digital age, there’s no end the ways you might communicate these things.

Let’s put some boundaries around this discussion, then: we’ll talk about paper resumes only. And we’ll assume that the company advertising the job wants to peruse your application letter and a short resume before they visit your site.

Let’s look first at a few of the more common resume tactics from the “naughties” (and earlier).

Where We’re Coming From

The most common, basic inclusions for a resume are:

• contact details
• employment history
• education
• achievements
• referees

In addition to these details, resumes may include:

• a list of relevant skills
• an outline of extra-curricular or spare-time projects and interests
• a career or life objective
• a favorite or inspiring quote
• a personal statement of your philosophy
• a headshot

No we’ve covered the basics and we know where resumes have come from. But where are they going?

Where We’re Going

The graphical resume might be handy for those who are designers themselves, or have a designer on hand to tailor their resume to suit every job they apply for.

But what about you? There’s little point, for example, in me creating a graphical map of my experience, because my skills are neither figures- nor graphically-oriented. It would be cute, sure, but not particularly relevant.

The first rule of resume recreation should be: Let your resume reflect you.

If you love travel, or you’ve worked in a range of different locations, maybe you’ll create a visual resume using a map of the world. If you’re in tourism, or transport, you might consider a roadmap. If you’re in IT, what about a circuit board? If it’s business consulting or project management, can you use a process flow, Gantt chart or venn diagram as the basis for explaining what you do?

Conceptual Resumes for the Non-visual

If you’re not into a graphical representation, you may consider theming your resume document around your work.

The second rule of resume recreation should probably be: Try to avoid being dinky or cute. Keep it simple and respect your readership.

This second rule is a fine line to tread. Let’s look at a couple of possible examples and you can make up your own mind.

First up, a book editor might lightly theme their resume around the structure of a book, for example, describing their work history in “chapters”:

“Chapter 1, 2001-2003, in which I work for Publisher, LLC and learn the fine art of author management.”

The book editor could theme their entire resume in this way, using the parts of the book — dedication, contents, acknowledgments, introduction, chapters, references and further reading — to bring their goals, experience, education, skills, and referees together in a way that might appeal to prospective employers.

A journalistic photographer could present their resume in the style of a newspaper or magazine, with the articles — or simply captions — for each image identifying the photograph’s subject, the year it was taken and which publication it appeared in, the technical or practical challenges the photographer overcame, and the skills they used to produce each shot.

An event photographer might present their resume as an album, listing the project challenges, techniques and skills they used, and relevant referees underneath each image in the same shorthand way we annotate wedding or holiday photographs.

A PA could present their resume using diary format, making each item in their work history an “appointment”, listing their skills under a heading like “reminders”, including their career goal as a “to-do item”, and so on.

In each case, the theme I’ve suggested for the resume reflects something about the individual that’s integral to their success in the field.

For example, the PA could theme their resume around a document like a memo, or meeting minutes, if creating these tools would be part of the job they’re applying for. But the diary format suggests that the PA is focused on time and resource management, that the person gets things done, can juggle many tasks at once, and so on.

So the third rule of resume recreation should be: Choose a resume format that reflects a crucial quality you’ll need to succeed in the role you’re applying for.

Where to from Here?

Once you have your paper resume prepared, you can consider how to translate it to other media you might want to use.

Perhaps you’ll use it to build (or revamp) your web site as part of your larger social media resume. Perhaps, if you’re a creator of some kind, you’ll augment it with an online, physical or CD-based portfolio of work samples.

Have you used an alternative to the standard, old-school paper resume? Tell us what you did — and how it worked.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

Other types of work, like contributing to the digitization at Project Gutenberg, are even more thankless. Adding to the sum of archived knowledge is definitely helpful in a general, charitable sort of way, but is there a more tangible, immediate benefit to you as a web worker as well? In both examples, the answer is yes.

Honing Your Craft

Let’s take a look at the first example, contributing media to the creative commons for non-profit community use. The main advantage here? The ability to work when you’re not working. I know that sounds suspiciously like never taking a vacation, at first blush, but that’s not what I mean.

As freelancers, we all have dry spells. You know what I’m talking about, those seemingly vast expanses of time during which we’re not as busy as we generally could/should be. Contributing to creative commons helps ensure this time is not entirely lost. You can avoid atrophy by continuing to take photos, make music, write, etc., though your reward won’t be financial. Still, it’s better than sitting on your duff.

Generating Business

While you’re honing your craft, you’re also putting your name out there. I know I already downplayed the publicity aspect of doing creative commons work, but that doesn’t mean it’s altogether negated. Your name is still attached to the product somewhere, and, if the work is really outstanding, someone will definitely take notice, and hopefully take the time to track down the source.

Try not to think of this as the central motivator of your work, but definitely keep it in mind to help ensure your quality standards stay high.

CV Benefits

What about the other kind of work, like helping build Project Gutenberg? Aside from the healthy glow your cheeks will acquire after you’ve done something unselfish, you’ll also gain a healthier CV. The kind of work you do in contributing to the creative commons may not necessarily reflect a skill set your employer is looking for, but if you’re searching in the tech industry, it’ll show you genuinely care about and want to help support the development of information and information tech.

There are at least three good reasons to start giving back to the wider internet community. The benefit, for web workers, is that this kind of volunteering doesn’t require you to necessarily go anywhere, receive training, or commit for a definite period of time, so you easily can do it between projects from your home office. It’s a definite win-win.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

It’s surprising, then that people so often overlook the value of a personal blog in the social media web.

Not Just a (Live)Journal
Once you’re making your living online its time to say goodbye to the “Dear Diary” mode of blogging. Yes, you’ll miss it, but there are less risky ways to exorcise the exhibitionist in you.

Bidding farewell to the confessional style will benefit you in a number of ways. First, you’ll open up your potential audience beyond your immediate circle of friends/family members. You can keep a private blog for that purpose, but any publicly accessible site should have wider appeal, if only slightly. Second, you’ll avoid embarrassment. We’ve all heard the horror stories of potential employers shying away from employees with questionable content on their Facebook profiles. That sort of thing isn’t limited to banks or traditional employers. Even the most casual web-based employer or client will raise an eyebrow at your four paragraph-long expletive-filled condemnation of your neighbor who has loud parties.

Tend to Your Garden
Dead plants do not increase your curb appeal. Likewise, stale posts do not give off the impression that you care about your blog. A well-kept and current personal blog will show prospective employers and clients that you are a consistent, self-motivated producer who can see a project through to completion. And depending on your content, and the job you’re aiming for, a personal blog could be the perfect place to prove you’re a subject matter expert. Plus its a ready made portfolio of clips if you’re angling for a writing job. Make sure though, that if you’re reprinting material you’ve posted elsewhere, you have permission to do so.

Link (It is Social Media, After All)
A blog is a space for conversation, and with a personal blog, you’re lucky enough to be able to open up dialogues about pretty much anything you want to. Using your blog as a jumping off point for discussion will open doors, grow your network and result in contacts that will only add to the resources at your disposal in your professional life.

Linking (and source linking) also show that you know what you’re doing, if you’re looking for blogging work, and that you can communicate, research, and connect effectively. All skills, you’ll notice, that employers prize.

Personal blogs, in the end, are not so personal after all. If they’re publicly accessible, they’re part and parcel of your web worker resume, which is far more than a piece of paper in the context of today’s social media and online communities. Whether your blog is a practical enactment of the qualities you want to show employers, or a glaring reason not to hire you, is up to you.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

But things don’t stop there. What makes VisualCV stand out is the variety of content that you can add to areas like the Portfolio sidebar. Web sites you’re proud of creating? Put up screenshots. Video or audio recordings to show off your people skills? Put those in too. The end result is somewhere between a traditional resume and a single-page portfolio web site. VisualCV also offers you control over who can see your work, and lets you create multiple versions to put forth a different persona to different readers. Best of all, it’s all free.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks