Whither the Resume?

It didn’t happen overnight, but was once a dull murmuring that the resume is becoming extinct has risen in recent months to a fever pitch.

The paper resume went the way of the caveman nearly a decade ago. Web 1.0 recruiting technologies, such as big job boards and vendor-powered ATS ATS (application tracking systems) on corporate career sites effectively killed the need for a paper resume on 24-pound ivory stationary stock.

Now, Web 2.0 recruiting stands to rid candidates altogether of the need for a one page summary of their skills and experiences.

“Let’s face it: The traditional resume just does a woefully inadequate job of telling your career story and showcasing your brilliant work to a recruiter,” writes Bryan Person on his social media blog Oct. 8, and feels that it would be more current to adopt a social media resume as its replacement.

Person argues that one-page resumes don’t reflect the thought leadership of any blogs a person has, doesn’t tell potential employers about online conversation an individual may be contributing to, and it doesn’t tell them about a job seekers professional network or online presence.

Though he is speaking largely about creative professionals, the trend of having a one-stop homepage that serves as a portfolio which gathers different aspects of an individual’s professional life could work in a range of fields.

“I know this process won’t work for every type of hire or every type of industry, but in the Marketing, Communications, Advertising and Public Relations spheres, it seems like a no-brainer,” writes Mitch Joel on his marketing and communications blog.

Considering that a recruiter’s or interviewer’s first destination after they receive a resume is to search for more information on that person through Google, Facebook or LinkedIn, Joel says “Why not stack the odds in your favor and have a space that unifies who you are, what you’re about and how you think?”