The End of Résumés

It used to be that composing a quality résumé and wearing pants to a job interview were critical to a successful job hunt. But that's changing. Well, one of them is. Hiring managers are increasingly looking toward applicants' web presence to gauge what they have to offer:

Instead of asking for résumés, the New York venture-capital firm—which has invested in Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and other technology companies—asked applicants to send links representing their "Web presence," such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog. Applicants also had to submit short videos demonstrating their interest in the position.

Union Square says its process nets better-quality candidates —especially for a venture-capital operation that invests heavily in the Internet and social-media—and the firm plans to use it going forward to fill analyst positions and other jobs.

Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.


Do you think that the age of the résumé is over?

Link -via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: Flickr user bpsusf

Comments (10)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

So now people will be discriminated against if they don't like posting their personal details for the world to see? Yeah, I see a lawsuit or 5 coming out of that. :P

Simply speaking, that method just isn't going to work effectively for a number of job types. There does seem to be a movement to match positions to people rather than resumes - and that's a good thing, since most resumes are full of BS and many degrees don't have as much value as they should - but social media isn't the catch-all replacement.

Good management with strong character judgement and a helping of common sense will net even better candidates...
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
So a company that invested in social media and web presence is looking at that for applicants...color me shocked. It's just a way to push interest in their product. Resumes will be here for awhile longer.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Firmly agreed with the other two comments so far - for certain professions (say, social media manager) it makes sense to a degree. Same thing as you see with graphic designers creating hybrid portfolio-resumes or graphical representations / interpretations of resumes, or with web designers using interactive resumes... But for an accountant, secretary, senior executive, factory worker, etc. this is totally impractical. Everyone, however, really DOES need to remember that no matter what you submit (or don't submit) for a job opening, if the employer is interested in you, clean up your online presence!
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
This article was actually uncharacteristically weak-sauce for Cracked.com. Normally they're pretty good on the science issues, and indeed the author of this piece has written some good stuff for them in the past. But this article constantly confuses "unexplained" with "unexplainable", and human-combustion has been thoroughly explained by Joe Nickel.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
It is very nice to see that even in 2009, we still have enough phenomenons in the world that we live in that we still do not fully understand. :-)

...Okay, some of the unexplained things here are a bit on the edge of "unexplained" and "understandable" -like said human combustion, the upward discharges from clouds during storms, the light-phenomenons just before nad during earthquakes and the animal-rainfalls- Nothing fancy about them- only just not yet fully prooven down to the last drop, atom, inch.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I agree that the article was pretty weak for a cracked article, but it was still a neat read. I specially thought the Naga Fireballs was pretty darn interesting.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Email This Post to a Friend
"The End of Résumés"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More