Logos, Coke, Irrational Hiring Managers, and Resumes

I was reading an excellent book, The 7 Triggers to Yes: The New Science Behind Influencing People’s Decisions, which is based on new research about how people make decisions.

Here’s an excerpt:

“In taste tests of Pepsi and Coke, the results were about even when people didn’t know which was which. If they were told which one was Coke, however, Coke would win, usually by a wide margin with the same group of tasters. This is important, because it means that people cannot tell you how they are choosing one product over another.”

What does this mean for your job search?

Hiring managers are like cola tasters — they are irrational humans who make decisions emotionally.

In my view, Coke won more taste tests among people who knew they were drinking it because the Coke brand is better known and more loved than Pepsi’s.

Which is the same reason why my colleague David Perry and I suggest you include logos in your resume from past employers and schools you’ve attended. Because, by tapping into the existing brand equity of a well-known logo, you get to piggyback on the millions of dollars in advertising that others have spent to publicize that brand.

And your resume gets a HUGE edge over others that lack logos.

Plus, because people always look at pictures before text — especially in color, which is how you should print a resume with logos — hiring managers will see the graphics before reading the body of your resume, so you literally bypass their logical “hiring” brain and create an instant, positive impression with their emotional “monkey” brain by including 2-3 well-known logos.

What kinds of logos can you include in your resume?

• Fortune 1000 companiesyou’ve worked for. Obviously, leave out those from places like Enron and Bear Stearns, and try to include logos from America’s Most Admired Companies.

• Fortune 1000 clients. Hey, even if you didn’t work there, if you sold to them or serviced them as customers — and can talk intelligently about their corporate culture — throw them in.

• Well-known schools you’ve attended – the tonier, the better.

• Fraternities, sororitiesand other collegiate social organizations.

• Charities and organizationsyou volunteer for or support — the more apolitical, the better. No Moveon.org, Young Republicans, etc.

Are you starting to get excited about the possibilities? The advantage this can give to you is almost unfair.

Now. Two questions come to mind …

1) Is it legal? Might you be infringing on a trademark by including a logo?

I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but if you’re at all unsure about using logos, just ask permission from the organizations involved.

(Personally, I’ve always preferred to ask for forgiveness later rather than for permission beforehand. And, FYI, there’s a long discussion against using logos in a resume here.)

2) What will people in HR say? Won’t this sort of resume drive them nuts?

Yes, there’s a distinct possibility that you may be seen as a square peg trying to squirm into a round hole if you include logos in your resume. Plus, if your resume gets dumped into a company’s applicant tracking software, the graphics might cause your data to scan incorrectly.

Which is why you should avoid going through the HR Department at all costs, with this or any other resume. As a fall-back option, you can always submit a standard resume with no logos, but why be standard?

Using logos in your resume is something David and I discuss in great detail in our Guerrilla Resumes ebook and Job Search Bootcamp. 

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 1:12 pm and is filed under job search tips, resumes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.