An infographic resume uses visual or graphic elements to tell your career story. Here is an example:
While an infographic resume has visual impact there are some significant drawbacks.
Contents
ATS Incompatibility
A downfall of the infographic resume is incompatibility with the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
An ATS parses out the text of your resume. That is, it extracts data from your resume and imports it to the ATS. If the ATS can not accurately parse your resume the information available to the recruiter will be incomplete or jumbled.
For example, this is a section of the above resume as read by the ATS:
E
D
U
C
A
T
IO
N
2009
Start
End
2011
University of Design
Any City, State
Country 12345
Master of Arts
2005
Start
End
2009
University of Design
Any City, State
Country 12345
Bachelor of Arts
2003
Start
End
2005
University of Design
Any City, State
Country 12345
Associate of Arts
H A R D S K I L L S
123 Anywhere St., Any City
Address
[email protected]
EmailGABRIEL REEVES
This resume will not translate into meaningful data when scanned by the ATS. In fact, the graphic elements (the progress bar in this example), will not translate into data at all. Furthermore, the column formatting will make it difficult for the ATS to match the text with the correct headings.
The impact of formatting on ATS scanning is demonstrated in more detail here: Read This Before You Use a Canva Resume Template
The Progress Bar is not Persuasive
Even if your progress bar did translate into the ATS it is unlikely to persuade a potential employer.
While it may be visually interesting, listing a skill and then highlighting that you are only 50% proficient is not very persuasive. Similarly, neither is listing it as 100%. After all, most people will list their skills as 100%.
As always, the best way to demonstrate your skills is to provide actual evidence.
See Guidelines for a Good Resume for more information on the fundamentals of a persuasive resume.
Static Document
Another pitfall of an infographic resume is that they are a static document. Unless you are a graphic designer or have good knowledge of design software, once created, the infographic resume is more difficult to update.
Taking Risk with Colour
An additional risk of using an infographic resume is the potential to overuse colour. While the example above is conservative in colour, others are not.
The colour choice of your resume is important. It is thought that up to 90% of our first impression assessment is based on colour. For an in-depth look at the impact of colour see: Can my Resume be Red?
One Exception
The one exception to when an infographic resume may be appropriate is for a candidate in a creative field. The infographic resume does offer an immediate opportunity to showcase your creativity and design skills.
Saying this, you should still use visual elements wisely and use an alternative version when your resume will be first scanned by the ATS.
In Conclusion
For most us, the ideal approach is a compromise between the highly visual graphic resume and plain text. Keep your resume in MS Word, but add appropriate visual elements. This can include charts, colour, and call out boxes. Just make sure they add value to your resume.
You can use Jobscan to check how your resume will be scanned by the ATS.
Always keep the focus on quality content. Use examples from your past performance to demonstrate your skills, and where possible always quantify your achievements.
