Telling a more compelling story is definitely a big part of it and another thing to consider is doing something simlar, but not on Facebook. If you can control the surroundings and the interaction mechanism, you can create a much better experience (hopefully with fewer clicks/hopping around).
Being unique and visual is a good way to get "noticed", but you have to weigh that very carefully against being overly taxing on the reader. In this case, the amount of increased interest is not worth the effort it takes to get through it.
Apologies for hijacking this thread a little. I have a lot of ideas about this subject. Just before Christmas I got to thinking about how it was about time someone refactored the résumé format. So I've been building a service called Mighty CV to scratch that itch.
It has some cool features like being able to create a résumé in seconds if you use the LinkedIn profile importer. You'll have a web address for it to live at along with a nice clean readable design. You can also generate a PDF of your current résumé whenever you need to email or print it for traditional channels. I'm just putting the finishing touches to the cover letter/video feature that will allow you to pitch potential employers with text and/or video using a unique private URL that integrates with your résumé page. This is how I intend to send out my résumé in future.
It's a little earlier than I had planned but this thread seems like a good place to launch the private beta sign-up. I'm giving away 1 year free to the first two hundred private beta users at:
The service will initially be aimed at the sort of people who hang out here at HN. If I get traction I'll open up the service a little more broadly.
I'm still a week or two away from my MVP and being ready to send the invites out. I have lots of other features I want to add in the future. This is primarily to be a platform to help you manage the process of finding your next dream job along with making it easy to create a killer résumé. I'm not planning to run any sort of job board or recruitment service off the back of your information either. Hope you like it when your invite comes through.
Being unique and visual is a good way to get "noticed", but you have to weigh that very carefully against being overly taxing on the reader. In this case, the amount of increased interest is not worth the effort it takes to get through it.
Lose Facebook, tell a story, and make me care.