Before snagging his current position as the Digital Media Manager at CampusLIVE, Jack DeManche was on the job hunt. In order to catch the attention of recruiters, DeManche decided to take his résumé to the next level — by designing it after the T map. Yes, really.

Each line on the map is dedicated to a different area of DeManche’s expertise, from his social media skills to leadership experience. He even changed the “T” to a “J” to better reflect his name. It’s cheesy, but hey, it’s certainly clever. We grabbed a few minutes with DeManche to get some insights on the inspiration behind his résumé and how to make yourself stand out.

How did you come up with the idea to model your résumé after the MBTA?

When I was in school, applying for jobs, I knew I wanted to work in the Boston area, so a lot of inspiration derived from that. Also, anyone can submit a résumé and claim to be creative, have design skills, etc. But at the end of the day, you’re still submitting a black and white piece of paper. Nothing creative about that at all. Why say you’re a creative person, when you can show it?

Did you actually share it with potential employers? If so, what kind of feedback did you receive? 

I did submit it to a few places I applied for. If nothing else, it got me a call or in the door. A person in HR sees hundreds of bland, boring, typical résumés every day, so when something visually appealing comes across their desk, they tend to take notice.

Do you have any other ideas for visual résumés? 

I have five or six different versions of my visual résumé. I tried something different for each of them, but the MBTA one was the biggest hit.

Any advice for job seekers out there?

I’m a huge proponent of trying different things and distinguishing yourself to get attention, but something like this only really works in certain industries. I was looking for jobs at startups, agencies and places that creative minds are given some free-range. If you’re applying for a job in finance or something a bit more straight-laced, this might not be your best bet.