Resume Assistant will detect that you're writing a résumé and offer insights and suggestions culled from LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a vast repository of both résumés and job openings and lets you see how other people describe their skillsets and which skills employers are looking for.
4 comments:
First, I had no idea that Microsoft purchased LinkedIn. The acquirement makes sense at first glance because it is just a tech company acquiring another tech company. However, from what I can gather it doesn’t seem like LinkedIn’s goals necessarily align with that of Microsoft’s but this Resume Assistant is actually an interesting integration. The Word templates for resumes are really problematic and simple, so this will ideally increase Word’s usage and productive features. I also recall us discussing in Professional Prep that there are websites that can pull the information for you. I do see this specific integration to be able pull that information more successfully and be able to parse out the data better. I do worry that Word will not put enough focus onto different variations of this information that comes out of LinkedIn’s data. I’ll be sure to try out this feature with the next update that is rolled out.
I’m not quite sure how I feel about this feature. Getting advice on resumes and building a strong profile are keys to getting a job. What I’m most curious about is the feature of showing job openings within Word. Terms that we use in theater – like project manager or production manager, are often used in other industries. If this new app can locate theater or entertainment specific jobs with these titles, then I’m all for it. I also question the types of help tips that this new feature will offer. Will it help with formatting or just content? As we’ve discussed in professional practice, the layout of a resume is just as, if not more, important than the content. It also sounds like there will be some sort of ads associated with this feature. Even if the ads are useful, I can see it becoming overwhelming and distracting very quickly.
This is a very interesting program and I am not sure how exactly I feel about it. For some types of jobs the resume assistant could be useful, but for theatre jobs I do not think it will work as well. I hope that it does not do anything related to LinkedIn without your permission, like applying for jobs that are related to your resume. It might be cool when it detects what jobs you have had in the past and what skills you have and find jobs that you could potentially apply for. It most likely would not work for stage management because it will connect to a lot of corporate management jobs because it does not really understand our field very well. I wonder if there will be resume templates to use and if you will be able to make your resume look exactly as you want it and it will still recognize it.
Hmm this is weird. I have a great love for LinkedIn and all it does and offers, but I'm not sure I see it integrating well with Word. Sure, the "biggest revenue generator" for LinkedIn is its ability to connect applicants and recruiters, but why should that mean I want it when I am writing my resume in Word? ...also, who writes their resume in Word anymore? I imagine that this will be nothing more than an annoying, distracting feature that does not help very much with building a resume. As a few people mentioned above, job titles are incredibly different depending on what industry you're in. That doesn't just apply for theatre. My theme park Entertainment Operations job gives me "related titles" at many companies that are in totally different Entertainment worlds that require totally different skills and knowledge. Also, in theory, I should know what types of jobs I am looking for. Why is Word going to tell me what kind of career I should be looking for based on my skills? And the other way around...why point out what skills a certain job usually wants? If I have the skill, I have it. I am not going to add a skill just because one job wants it (especially if I don't really have it).
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