1482
The history of the résumé is a long and winding road. As any job seeker soon finds out, the recommendations on what to include, what to exclude and how to present your résumé are constantly debated. The trends come and go like the seasons, but one thing is certain: job seekers today have immense opportunity to experiment with résumé options, and it all began over 500 years ago.
The great Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci created the first known résumé in 1482. In a written submission to the Duke of Milan, da Vinci cited a numbered list of his qualifications, including his innovative wartime skills in creating new kinds of bridges, mortars, chariots, catapults, heavy artillery and more. In times of peace, he claimed, he could make fine artistic sculptures and paintings. The translation is quite fascinating to read in its entirety.
