Traditional resumes in today's business world.
Read an interesting theory on why your resume isn’t meaningful in today’s business world the other day. Written by Adam Singer, a blogger friend of my Priceless Writers partner Danielle, the post in question laid into the traditional resume as being worthless and offered reasons why you need to change tact and go with a more tech-savvy resume instead.
While I can see where Singer is coming from on some points, I have to disagree with a lot of his post. I feel strongly that a resume is still meaningful in today’s business world – here’s why (with quoted reasons from Adam Singer):
“You have probably been taught all of your life that a strong resume is vital to getting a job… by people who were content to settle for average.”
Actually, a resume isn’t vital for getting a job, and if anyone is teaching this (or being taught it) then they’re at fault. A resume has always been vital at getting you seen – the rest is up to you.
“A daily, nonstop influx of electronic and mailed resumes… means yours probably won’t even be looked at.”
This quote follows Singer’s view that mailing in a resume is worthless due to the amount of other resumes being sent the same way. So why send emails at all, then? With sophisticated Spam filters on company emails, there’s a very good chance your more tech-savvy approach won’t even make it past first base. So, no advantage over paper there…
“That cover letter you submitted along with the resume gushing praise for the organization and talking yourself up doesn’t prove a thing… You don’t make a great initial splash with a piece of paper. It’s just not impressive, sorry.”
This is (arguably) true – however, Singer’s alternative (which he discusses later in his blog) is to go down the multimedia route instead. Submit a PowerPoint presentation with your achievements; a case study on a project; or links to blogs or websites about the person applying for the job. This approach, while workable, is also fallible in a few ways.
Using multimedia for your resume.
The first is that to send a PowerPoint or link to a potential employer, again you have to get past the email filters, something that becomes even more difficult if there’s an attachment. If you manage to bypass the filter, then you’re still going to have to sell yourself and why your potential new boss should follow your links or open your PowerPoint. This harks back to selling yourself with a cover letter – they both are aiming for the same result, which is getting you seen. So if a cover letter is useless, isn’t this saying the same about an introductory email?
The other way this multimedia approach is fallible is the age-old discrimination factor. Another method of multimedia approaches gaining popularity are video resumes, where candidates send in a short video shoot of themselves. This offers employers the chance to see what a potential new employee looks and acts like, offering an instant information hit that other mediums simply can’t offer.
Yet according to Dennis Brown, an attorney from law firm Littler Mendelson in California, companies should stay away from video resumes. Brown’s main concern with video resumes is that they reveal information about a person’s race, sex, disability, age — all details that could wind up in a discrimination lawsuit. He believes that employers should stick to the old-fashioned paper resumes and avoid the potential legal hassles of video resumes.
Building your personal brand.
This isn’t to say that Singer’s views are wrong – personally, I agree with quite a few points that he suggests. Personal brand building through the likes of LinkedIn, Twitter, etc, as well as mentoring and contributing to trade publications are definitely excellent ways to impress potential employers.
However, saying that resumes are meaningless and then offering slightly different electronic approaches instead dilutes his arguments somewhat, at least in my opinion. Personally, I would go with a joint approach – combine a traditional resume with a more tech-savvy version to really cover all bases.
An effective way of combining both types of resumes – and something that Singer mentioned, in all fairness – is via blogging. For a great example of this, check out this sample resume used by Christopher S. Penn, co-founder of PodCamp and Chief Technology Officer of the Student Loan Network. His mix of using a blog to promote his achievements and links to his various networks offers an instantaneous reference point. Yet he still has his traditional resume uploaded for anyone wishing to download and print – Penn obviously knows the value of the old yet proven resume format.
While there’s no doubting that today’s job market is changing, and the opportunities offered by the online business world means that employees are truly international, there is still much to be said about the traditional resume. Far from being worthless, your resume is still the key factor in getting you seen. Agreed, getting it seen in the first place can often be the trick – but then the same can be said for the social media approach.
Until there is a guaranteed way for all job seekers to get their 15 minutes of fame in front of The Boss, your resume is still meaningful in today’s business world and will continue to be so. Happy hunting!
Filed under: Business Talk | Tagged: adam singer, are resumes relevant, building an online brand, christopher s. penn, resumes in business, social media and business, social networking, the future buzz, video resumes, why you need a resume, writing a great resume
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Danny, you rock! This is an awesome article my friend.. Good job..
Randy
Great points Danny!
While I agree with Adam that the resume is not as meaningful as it was just a few years ago – it is NOT an obsolete document.
In my opinion, the best results in a job search comes from a resume that harnesses the power of web 2.0 by adapting the traditional format to reflect your own personality and passion.
I disagree that video resumes pose discrimination issues — it’s no different than showing up for an interview…unless in-person interviews are obsolete as well?!
@ Search Engine Marketing: Thanks Randy, glad you enjoyed the post. Hopefully I can keep you entertained with future blogs.
@ Danielle: Thank you! I agree 100% about the Web 2.0 approach, but only as a means of using the traditional format that still holds a lot of sway.
With regards the discrimination point, I think it’s more to do with there still being bigots in charge and with prehistoric attitudes. “Oh, he’s black, he’s not trustworthy” or “she’s a woman, she’ll get pregnant and we’ll have to pay her child leave” or “he’s Indian, could be a terrorist”.
They’re all backward views, but ones that sadly exist, and I think Dennis Brown’s points are more geared towards minimizing the chances of any lawsuits against your company.
Interesting post. I would have to agree with Danny on the video resumes. While the approach is clever and opens many doors in regards to creativity – I do see the potential for increased discrimination. For instance, I once received a comment on my resume that took me by surprise. The interviewer stated, “You’ve done so many different things, I couldn’t tell WHAT you were.” They then went on to mention the various “groups” and activities I’ve been involved with. Ummmm – how am I supposed to take that comment? It rubbed me the wrong way even though they didn’t mean it to.
Thanks for reading and commenting, artpark.
I’m sorry to hear about your example – “I couldn’t tell WHAT you were” is a terrible slur.
Sadly, it seems to be a growing concern, as stated by this story from Toronto last summer:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/238744
Thankfully the guy in question now has his ideal job in that Government office, but this was a ridiculous and degrading example of how discrimination still takes place, whether it’s via a resume, social media application, interview or otherwise.
Great post, Danny! “I couldn’t tell WHAT you were…” ???
Just another example of ignorance in the world. I do, however, love the idea of video resumes – especially in cases where you could display some of your best work through the video. :0)
[...] here, you’ll have a far better chance of being seen by the people that count. Just remember that writing a killer resume is half the battle – the rest is up to you. Good luck! Posted by [...]
Submitting a traditional resume to a company also demonstrates one key thing: you know how to follow the rules.
Yes, you as the job hunter have 2 challenges. You have to stand out from your competition. That means you have to be different. And you also have to demonstrate that as different as you are, you know how to get along with others.
@artpark — It’s extremely understandable why that happened to you. It’s all about the employer’s mindset. Even in a company that seems so advanced like Google still demands resumes in 2008 –why?
Resumes are meaningless in one key sense. They only speak about what you have done. They don’t say what you can do. What you experienced was the tremendous disconnect between “this guy has done all that” and “I need someone to do this work.” I’d be willing to bet that if you submitted a video or other material that said how you would do the job the employer wants done today, the employer would not have had the chance NOR desire to speak about your past.