Diversity & Inclusion

Why Recruiters & Job Seekers Should Consider Firing the Resume

Aug 13, 2014 11:00 AM ET
Why we need digital solutions in the career hunt.

Fire the Resume

Some may consider the writing and review of a resume to be compared to the pain and unfairness of life the prince bemoaned in his opening soliloquy of the Nunnery Scene in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. To the delight of these “Prince Hamlets,” some forward thinkers and futurists think that LinkedIn will eventually replace the resume. However, according to Glassdoor, you need both. They compare the resume and LinkedIn profile as a marriage of sorts, creating “a beautiful career communications union” while maintaining independence where values and personality are concerned.

Conversely, Workfolio claims their web application is the resume of the future. Bloomberg TV recently featured aninterview with Workfolio founder and CEO Charles Pooley, who claims that 90% of first impressions are now made online and that “self promotion is the new self preservation.” To help the viewing audience understand why their application is effective and catching the attention of hiring managers, Pooley provides some pretty dismal statistics:

  • 70% of job openings are never published
  • On average, 150-300 resumes are submitted for each posted job position
  • A typical job search takes 8 months

And as if that cloudy forecast isn’t enough, consider the recent survey results published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on how HR professionals view resumes. Work experience gaps on a resume often result in automatic disqualification, even when there may be valid rationale behind them, especially in the cases for individuals pursuing ventures not directly related to their career or military veterans transitioning back to civilian life. And while job-tailored, chronologically ordered resumes tend to get noticed first, your resume could likely get overlooked as 76% of recruiters spend less than 5 minutes reviewing a resume to determine if the candidate is qualified for a job opening.

So what can you do to make yourself visible to employers? Should you create resume or not? Read on for our take on this debate. 

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