Saturday, September 14, 2013
Death To The Resume? How To Go Paperless And Score Jobs Socially
Fast Company | Business + Innovation: I’ve never liked the idea of a resume. Partly that’s because I haven’t had a normal job since 2002. At any given point, I’m writing for five to seven different organizations, and I’m also in a line of work that’s more about output than anything else. If you’re thinking of hiring me, there are examples of my work all over the web. A resume won’t add much to that, which is why I don’t have one.
But it turns out that in the social media era, I’m not the only one who doesn’t bother with a one-page summary of my work history--and who doesn’t use one to get a foot in the door somewhere. Much about the traditional approach to getting jobs is changing. The resume is “quickly becoming archaic,” says Ian Ide, president of the search division at WinterWyman. “People still like that concise document for purposes of interviews, but the front end is changing pretty quickly.” These days, “Many first interviews are granted on LinkedIn profiles, not resumes.”
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9 comments:
For once, a suggestion about social media and the workplace doesn't make me roll my eyes. While I don't think we as a workplace culture are anywhere near ready to ditch the resume entirely, Linkedin feels like a much more holistic approach to recruiting because members have compiled their accounts over years (or months, or whatever), so though there's still a spin, it's less likely to be a complete and total lie.
One of my jobs this summer was take a pile of about 80 resumes and job applications for a coordinator position with the organization I worked for. It was really frustrating to see how many people with masters degrees didn't know how to put together a basic resume, and I ended up tossing a lot of them just on formatting alone. Then there were a couple whose job experience was clearly made up, Linkedin could have provided some basic fact checking in a way a piece (or pieces...) of paper didn't.
I feel I actually got something out of this. I have been considering joining the linkedin community and by reading this I feel more inclined to do so. It makes sense to start bringing job opportunity without resumes to the internet. It seems more resourceful and makes it easier to find what you are looking for, instead of hoping it walks into the door for an interview. The only issue I can foresee are those that originate from people who put up a front on the internet to make themselves look good in order to get a job. Otherwise, I think this is a great way to start going about getting and finding jobs.
I thought this article provided interesting tips, but it seems to me that the people I know who are most active on LinkedIn are either looking to recruit or be recruited. I think it would be more useful to hear what someone else has to say about not appearing desperate. This is a tough job market. And I think the world is full of advice about resume guidance, and cover letters etc...But what about how to make your virtual self appealing in ways that outshine the competition. This article briefly touches on the approachability thing, but I think more than social media (especially in our field), word-of-mouth is how people get hired, especially if a resume never passes hands.
Our world is based off of who knows who, so OF COURSE social media is taking on a larger roll in getting people work. I have had a linked in account for a long time, and that is a really great way to find designers in my area to hit up for work. There is one thing I can say that really bothers me about a lot of these sights, they do not let me enter my resume the way I want it formatted, so it looks on my account that I am far less experienced than I actually am which gets me to think, well, how accurate are people's profiles?
I don't think that we are near to the end of paper resumes just yet. Yes, LinkedIn and other social job sites are becoming more popular, but I don't think that this is anything that can be achieved in the near future. There is still paperwork/documentation procedures that all companies have to follow in hiring and HR protocols.
I think that we are moving in a direction of companies utilizing all forms of social media in order to find information on potential employers and this could have negative impacts. Why should employers look at my twitter, Instagram or Facebook page? LinkedIn, yes, the previously mentioned, no! This would only work if people had a personal and a professional page, because most people wouldn't say or do things that they would on a personal account as they would on a professional.
This article really effectively explains that your online presence can have more value than you might think. A lot of what I have learned about social media in school is that you have to be super careful about what you put online because future employers might see it. But I hadn't really thought about social media as a resource that you can turn into something that you want possible employers to see. I knew that LinkedIn was a site intended to help people connect for work-related purposes and it seems like it could be very valuable, especially in the arts and entertainment industries. This past year, I worked at a small production company in Providence and I helped with making their LinkedIn Profile more informative. Twitter and Pintrest however, I would have never thought as being useful in impressing employers. That's a really interesting perspective, and seems very relevant to our industry. It is definitely something that I will keep in mind.
I think that resume's are definitely more useful than this article is giving them credit for. I think that you can tell a lot about a person by how put together their resume is, specifically in organization and presentation of content. I think especially in theatre a resume is a great snapshot of who a person is and what they've done without having to do a lot of digging or fussing on the inter webs. Also they pose the first step of a process about having to submit materials to the correct place and on time. People don't understand how not following those basic instructions are obvious signs to employers that someone who can't even mail in paperwork on time, will probably suck. I personally don't know much about LinkedIn, and maybe it has a lot more assets than paperwork does. But I do know in theatre that no matter how people find a candidate, they're still going to utilize their references. Because in our profession it's so much about what you know and WHO you know.
I agree with what many people have said above: this article made some really interesting points, but I don't think that our industry is anywhere close to chucking the traditional resume in favor of something like LinkedIn. Sure, some industries like Graphic Design, are very visual-based, and so a paper resume with a list of jobs wouldn't really be very useful. In the theatre industry, however, a lot of hiring is about who you know and who you've worked with, and so a list on a resume is a handy way for a potential employer to know that. Especially for managers, there isn't really another way to represent what we've done that is as concise and easy to reference...
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