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An Archaic Term: Résumé?

(The Verge)-  Résumé, in the old sense, may be starting to disappear. As employers begin to use  technology more to discover, track, and interview potential candidates, résumés are becoming practically obsolete.
For so many years, résumés and cover letters have been traditional forms of prior work experience and showcases for skills and accomplishments. Now, with jobs becoming more difficult to find, the search for employees becomes more competitive. Additionally, the economy is still struggling, which also contributes to why résumés are slowly, but surely, starting to fade away. There are numerous reasons why this beginning to take shape.
First off, and most importantly, technology is changing the employment game. Yes, there are well known websites like monster.com among many others, that deal with employment, but the power of LinkedIn is really starting to flex is proverbial muscle.
Lindkedin.com has been a fairly popular website for adults and professional organizations over the past several years, but it is now becoming almost essential to college students. Previously, LinkedIn was almost exclusively used by people out of college. Now, students of all ages are beginning to create their own accounts (if they don’t have one already).
Monmouth University sophomore, Mike Giannini, had this to say about the direction of résumés: “I see that technology is becoming bigger and bigger in today’s world. Businesses and corporations are mainly computerized and it’s easier to pick one network and see who is interested, who has the qualities, or to see who has the experience in the field. It is easier and faster.”
Why is LinkedIn so important? Well, employers can search for students at particular universities, or search skills, positions, and other types of work experience. Your LinkedIn account is essentially a virtual résumé. You can list your work history, contact information, skills, even activities and personal notes. When that much information is present with just a few clicks, why bother asking for someone to send you their archaic résumé, when you can access their information at any given time?

Image taken from: blog.firefishsoftware.com.
Image taken from: blog.firefishsoftware.com.

Employers are really beginning to use LinkedIn to their advantage. For example, some students applying for jobs/internships are only required to attach a URL to their LinkedIn profile. That basically eliminates the need for a résumé.
Next, employers save time using LinkedIn. Being able to pull up an online profile is quicker and more efficient than emailing a résumé and a cover letter to an employer. This saves time because the employer can choose to message the candidate directly via LinkedIn instead of creating an email thread. This allows for quicker and more informal communication that can get directly to the point. Also, more employers are choosing to interview candidates over Skype, or other types of video conferencing systems.
Being able to view a candidate while simultaneously viewing their LinkedIn profile is extremely advantageous. This interactive site allows employers of all sorts to scroll for what they’re seeking in a candidate.
One more quick note–companies that don’t have résumés sitting on their desks save paper. Therefore, they can angle that from a public relations standpoint. They can say they are a “greener” company, which looks great in the press. Saving on printing costs is always a plus.
What else does LinkedIn have that a résumé does not? A illustrious picture of yourself (cough, cough, choose carefully)! This may be seen as irrelevant at first glance, but think about this scenario: Is the candidate whose picture is him or herself in a collared shirt and tie more likely to be noticed than a person whose picture is from the party they were at last Friday? You’re darn right. That level of professionalism is easily noticeable, and something a résumé can’t provide.
Before concluding, let’s get something straight: Make sure you still have a résumé handy. As positive as it may be to have a well rounded LinkedIn profile easily accessible, résumés are still essential to most employment processes.
Many jobs will still require you to provide a résumé at some point. Although LinkedIn may be starting to take over, the ol’ paper copies remain crucial.
The purpose of this article isn’t to get you to pick one or the other, it’s to get you to identify trends in business and technology. More importantly, it’s about staying prepared and helping the college, or graduate student, in the employment process, to hopefully make it a less daunting process!
Image taken from: totalfratmoves.s3.amazonaws.com.
Image taken from: totalfratmoves.s3.amazonaws.com.