Resumes – Do They Still Make the Cut?
A century ago, word of mouth was as good as gold when it came to getting a job. However, as the economy developed and jobs that were not related to trade or skilled work became more readily available, it seems only natural that a new medium for getting hired gained precedence: the resume.
For much of the 20th Century the resume proved the hottest ticket for job hopefuls in a variety of fields. A concise, compact representation of you and your best assets, the resume served as the best flyer to promote yourself to potential employers. Plus it was easy to send resumes to multiple employers, all over the country or even across borders, without having to meet every employer in person or talk to them on the phone. Unlike the curriculum vitae, the resume was especially useful for applicants and employers because of its brevity and direct relevance to the job the applicant was seeking.
If the resume was a common and resourceful application tool in the first three quarters of the 20th Century, with the advent and popularity of the Internet in the late 90s, the resume became a golden standard for employers and job applicants across the globe. The Internet offers an almost limitless supply of possible career avenues and as accepted vehicles for marketing yourself, resumes have flooded the job market like SPAM. Now, employers are faced with the task of sifting through hundreds, if not thousands of resumes for jobs they post online. What was once a unique way of standing apart from other candidates has become a sign of conformity. It’s clear that today, a resume alone will not give you an edge over the competition. Though a useful and valuable self-marketing device, the resume has become a dated method of applying for a job when used on its own. Why is that?
1. The Resume Doesn’t Provide Proof
- We’ve all heard that showing, not telling, is what strengthens the validity of any argument. While the resume offers a concise presentation of your skills, education, and professional experience, it does not, can not, provide concrete proof of your qualifications. The resume attempts to reconcile this need to support your claims by providing you with the space and format to supply examples. In this way, you can demonstrate your assets throughout your resume, but again, you can not actually prove all of the details on your resume without providing supplementary documents. For example, the only way to prove you have a degree is to supply that degree or other supporting documentation, such as a transcript.
2. The Resume Can Not Explain Everything
- The resume is meant to be a short, succinct 1-2 page summary of your relevant experience and background. However, its brevity is both its strength and its weakness. Because it is short and concise, employers are able to assess a candidate’s fit for the position easily and quickly. On the other hand, there is not enough room to elaborate on key areas, such as gaps in your work history or personal qualities that make you suited for the position.
3. The Resume Conceals Your Personality and Uniqueness
- You can use special fonts, borders, different templates, and change the features of your resume as much as you want, but in the end it is still a flat document, words on a page. As meaningful as the words and descriptions you include on your resume may be, they are simply not enough to truly convey your best attributes. Many people list generic skills and character traits like “friendly team member” or “ “excellent communication skills” on their resume. However, demonstrating these qualities with just the conventional resume is nearly impossible.
The job market is constantly in a state of development and evolution; many jobs that are available today were probably inconceivable in the past. As the job market changes, so must recruitment tactics and the application process. Our methods of applying for jobs must evolve in order to grab the attention of employers. In this era of the Internet, applying for jobs using solely a resume has become obsolete. Though we can not completely do away with the resume, since it is a widely accepted and valuable application tool for employers and applicants alike, we can provide and develop supplementary information and resources to accompany the resume. In the past the resume was the best known marketing resource to promote yourself to employers, but with so many new innovations in technology, multimedia, and the Internet, we would be selling ourselves short by relying solely on the traditional 2-page summary of our qualifications. Let’s face it, if we want to make the cut in this day and age, a resume just isn’t enough.
