Want to stand out from the stack?
A new resume-building service aims to help job applicants catch the eye of recruiters by spicing up their resume. Sumry says it presents each applicant as "an actual person with real life experiences and a unique personality" rather than just another piece of paper. It does this by transforming a traditional resume into a single webpage.
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Similar to a timeline, Sumry divides a user's resume into six default categories that appear under a profile photo and summary: "my story," "passions," "skills," "personality," "contact" and "links." Users can also add their own categories or delete one they don't want.
"Everyone used to write their resume on paper; Sumry is the new paper," company co-founder Nate Hanson told Mashable.
Sumry is geared toward people who don't want to be another cog in the machine, but who may not have the technical prowess to create something like this on their own, according to Hanson. It guides users through the process step-by-step with prompts such as, "Tell Your Story Here" and "Ok, Hit Them With Your Skills." The resumes, which are available in six different colors, can be viewed as a webpage, downloaded as a PDF or shared via social media.
Hanson and co-founder Sebastian Kade developed Sumry as a different way to look at job searching. They believe the service's emphasis on a person's story as opposed to just their qualifications sets it apart from LinkedIn and other portfolio sites on the market.
Hanson said Sumry will debut more features within the next week, including applying and hiring modes (users toggle to hiring mode once they've found a job). The former, which will cost $10 a month when activated, will give users access to analytics, and makes it easier to request references and send out job applications. The latter, which requires no extra cost, allows users to include their new position, and the story of how they were hired, on their resume. The option to include a 30-second video is also expected to roll out by the end of this month.
Sumry officially launched in January after being in beta since November. Job hunters can get started with a week-long free trial, after which they will be charged $3 a month.
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