Blog Post: Are resumes dead? Or just getting a makeover?

Is it time to retire the resume? That’s the supposition of Allan Schweyer of the Human Capital Institute, who several years ago wrote a white paper arguing that e-profiles, not paper or electronic resumes, would eventually become the standard job-application procedure.

In the paper, he asserts that the ease of applying online has made the tough job of drilling down into resumes to find the best candidates even harder:

“Rather than making life easier for recruiters, the Internet has made it more difficult, at least in one respect. Where jobs advertised in the newspaper in the past might have attracted dozens or even hundreds of responses, today the same ad on a major job board might attract thousands.

Large firms like Boeing and Microsoft receive millions of unsolicited resumes each year, and all of this information is unstructured. Today, many recruiters complain that as opposed to becoming more strategic, their days are mired in screening countless resumes...”

Schweyer’s solution is for companies to adopt online-only application procedures, and require all applicants to fill out profiles that capture their relevant employment data in a format the employer can use for his or her specific goals and needs. E-profiles have several advantages, he says, including reducing the time needed for HR to pre-screen submitted resumes/applications, scoping the amount of information desired to the job being advertised, and providing applicants with the option of updating an existing profile and applying for another position without creating a duplicate submission to the company.

While Schweyer’s prediction hasn’t come true, yet, it’s undeniable that successful resume writing continues to evolve. Darlene McDaniel at Interview Chatter blog recently asserted that objective statements at the top of resumes should be abolished. She notes that many are poorly written, and many people apply and secure jobs that have nothing to do with their stated objective, so why bother taking up valuable resume real estate with it?

On the other hand, Katherine Hansen at the blog Tell Me About Yourself, recently took on another top-of-the-resume standard, the summary/professional profile section, in a series of brief posts. She asserts that the opening bullet point in a summary/profile section should tell the story of your professional identity in a nutshell and that all bullet points in the summary section should be buttressed by mini-stories and examples. She also provides many, many examples of story-based resumes to illustrate the points she makes.

ASU options
Whatever the health or fate of the modern-day resume, it pays to get a second opinion on your career-search strategies if you feel like they could be getting better results. Arizona State University Alumni Association members can receive unlimited free career advising sessions with ASU Career Services staff by calling (480) 965-2350. Alumni who are not members of the association can receive three sessions for $25.

Additional career resources for Sun Devil alumni

Sun Devil Career Network
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