Escape the Mundane + Experience the Remarkable

Death of the Resume

4 Comments
Digital Nomad

burn-your-resume

Job Seekers: Do you have a resume? If so, please do something for me: delete the file and burn any hard copies.

Done? Cool, welcome to the new decade.

Resumes are boring and filled with fluff. They’re unbiased and only highlight a few carefully crafted bullet-point details about a career. And it is absolutely impossible to learn about someone from a single piece of paper. Instead, employers will now perform a 2 second name search in Google, shedding extraordinary light on potential hires.

The Attraction of Expertise

Compare a typical resume toting 15-year veteran to an industry-specific, high-traffic blogger a year out of college. Who will look more desirable? I’d put my money on the blogger. The college kid has tangible proof of their knowledge. And both colleagues and clients will put increased trust into the new hire with obvious, proven expertise.

Those who can demonstrate they are a source of quality insight into their field will instantly (and subconsciously) be accepted as higher value. And I’m not just talking about 9-5’ers; anyone looking for work will benefit, i.e. consultants, freelancers and other hands for hire. I’m also not saying everyone should start a blog. But a few industry syndicated articles or some well-publicized case studies will do wonders for boosting your name online.

What to do next? Give Yourself an Online Audit

Google or Bing (is Bing a verb?) your name. What do you find? Would you hire yourself if the only mention of you is a second place trophy from a softball tourney two years ago? Probably not.

So register a .com and a install blog. Or at least a landing page with links to your social media usernames. Complete your LinkedIn profile and get active in the community. And regularly join discussions in your industry-specific blogs and forums.

Conclusion: You Must Outshine the Masses

Since this economy has created an almost endless supply of job applicants, consultants and freelancers, anyone looking for work must go above and beyond. In other words, get your name out there and show ‘em what you’re truly made of!

Updated: I found a great website that posts creative resumes.

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  • Kristina P

    Great article, Bradley. Thanks for keeping this “old-timer” up with the times. :)

  • http://www.bradleygauthier.com Bradley Gauthier

    No problem ;)

  • http://www.BriefEpisode.com Gib Wallis

    Hi, I think throwing out the resume depends on the industry.

    When I wrote and produced a play on its way to New York, I had actors who received the director’s bio but were more interested in the IMDB credits. For them, social media meant nothing but IMDB meant everything. In some circles IMDB is the new, hyperlinked, seemingly objective resume showing not only what you did and when, but with whom.

    On the other hand, for my day job in technology, I have seen the world changing from paper resumes to faxed resumes to emailed resumes. It still seems a basic business tool for some industries.

    Some of this is changing, but how it’s changing and which industries and what kind of role seem to depend on whether resumes are relevant or not.

    For instance, secretaries still need resumes for most industries. But personal virtual assistants probably would fare better with good rankings from various websites.

    Wanna be a secretary? Get a resume. Wanna be a virtual personal assistant? Get listed and get good ranking or good feedback for the kind of work you’d like to do.

  • http://www.bradleygauthier.com Bradley Gauthier

    Hey Gib, Thanks for the comment. I agree with you, it truly is industry specific. Especially for unique positions like a producer or director.

    But for the majority of the average working-class world, I’d imagine the “proven expertise without the support of a resume” is the way to go (or is going to be soon).

    Great insight, thanks again!