Resumes can make or break you. In a world where time is of the essence, and competition intense, it has become all the more important to make your first impression a good one, and make it fast. You will be surprised how much a creative & unique resume can improve your call return rates! At the same time it is important to balance creativity with the amount of information conveyed, in order to not overwhelm the employer, or go too far out of the box. Here are some good examples of beautiful, out of the box resumes that any employer would love to receive. We hope you find some inspiration to build your very own personal resume that helps you stand out in the rat race.

1. Melissa Washin & Her Sewn Fabric Resume
“Sewing is one of my biggest passions, and I wanted to convey that somehow in my resume.” - Melissa
She printed the info onto iron-on paper, transferred it to white fabric, and sewed it to a variety of printed fabrics. The end result is something that speaks a lot about Melissa's personality without one even having to read a word on it. Being fabric instead of paper also immediately sets it apart from the rest. This resume got Melissa a job right after graduation. Very cool!

2. Benjamin Dooling & His Coffee Bag Resume
Benjamin has created a line of craft-paper bags, filled them with locally-roasted coffee and printed his resume - consisting of skills and quailificaitons on them. The coffee bags immediately advertise his artistic philosophy, and the freshly roasted bean will be much appreciated by the over worked HR department at the receiving end of this awesome resume!

3. Shakira Twigden & Her Badass Typographic Resume
“I wanted to grab someone’s attention. People take design too seriously, especially when searching for jobs. I basically wanted to say “Hey, I know that you are busy and have a team full of great people, but I can get the job done too.” - Shakira
This beautiful resume takes the stance that sometimes simple minimal words get the job done if expressed in a way that simultaneously and effortlessly communicates some of the more secondary as well as abstract concepts that surround it. And what better way to do it than with a beautiful typography, something that Shakira seems to have quite a knack for! We love it!

4. Brian Moose & His Vintage Resume Package
As they, sometimes the old ways are best. And who can deny the inexplicable charm of everything retro. Brian recently sent this beautifully packaged old school themed resume complete with faded metal inlays, straps and postal stickers to the boys at Pixar Animation, he hasnt heard back from them yet, but lets hope for the best!

5. Miguel Rato & His Milk Box Resume
This milk box resume was created by Miguel Rato in the process of applying to Wieden + Kennedy, an advertising agency in London. Its a very elegantly executed design and allows a vast amount of information to be conveyed in an interesting but familiar form factor that allows both quick browsing and reference, as well as in depth reading. Excellent use of space, thumbs up Miguel!

6. T-shirt Resume
Back in 2008, Kelly Kinney started wearing a T-shirt that read “I need a job” with her resume printed on the back. Regardless of whether she got any offers ( from hiring managers standing behind her in the queue perhaps ? ), she later turned this idea into a solid business in itself and now you too can order your very own customized T-shirt-resume!

7. Chuck D. Lay & His Old-School Newspaper Style Resume
Chuck, a graphic designer from Louisiana decided to style his resume as an old-school newspaper page. There is nothing earth-shattering about this one, but sometimes its enough to show that you can do simple things extraordinarily well, and Chuck surely accomplished that with this charming resume!

8. Joe Kelso & His Old-School Movie Poster Resume
“This resume was my secret weapon,” says Jon Kelso, presenting himself in a form of an old-school movie poster. And who doesnt love old school movie posters!

9. Jonathan Kaczynski & His Subway Map Resume
Sometimes simple is best, and charting your life out as a roadmap is probably the most intuitive thing to do when we speak of life experiences and qualifications. Jonathan has done just that in presenting his resume in a form of a subway map. Neat!

10. Sarah Odgers & Her 3D Resume
“Why hand a boring, Word-based resume to a potential employer when you can showcase your abilities and personality to create a great first impression?” Though the employer literally laughed to her face because of the resume, Sarah still got the job.

What an exciting way to take advantage of modern technologies and break out of the prison of 2 dimensions that paper imposes upon us!