As I have said before, as technology inevitably progresses forward that progress trickles down to the business world. Time-honored practices evolve, change, or disappear and it’s vital to keep on top of emerging trends in order to remain relevant in today’s working world.
In the past, it was standard to mail your résumé to companies. As email and personal computers became widely available the norm progressed to emailing résumés to employers in consideration for open positions.
A new trend has emerged that has the capability to usurp the mighty emailed résumé. Virtual résumés are slowly becoming mainstream and carry with them some definite pros and cons for both employers and employees.
These virtual résumés can take the form of a blog or an actual résumé located on a website. Here is what you need to know about both:
Blogs:
There are some who are quick to jump to the conclusion that blogs are the new résumés but I would personally not go quite that far yet. It primarily depends on the profession you’re in.
For people in the content field a blog may well serve as an important resource for potential employers. I doubt seriously, however, that an engineering or accounting firm is going to consider a blog in lieu of a proper résumé.
Blogs effectively showcase writing, editing, and researching abilities but employers will still ultimately want to know about education and work history as well.
Essentially, blogs are valuable resources for job-seekers in specific fields but in my opinion it’s a bit premature to start using them exclusively when looking for a job.
Virtual Résumés:
Virtual résumés are basically websites that provide the information you would include on your résumé but with graphics and access to a larger breadth of information.
You can include embedded videos, work samples, reference letters, and school transcripts as well as work and education history.
I can see these résumés particularly appealing to people in fields that require portfolios. By combining all your information in one place employers can find the answers they need with a lot less hassle. Trust me, employers love less hassle.
One company, VisualCV, is currently garnering a lot of praise and offers this service for free to members. The sign-up process is easy and creating an online résumé is fairly simple. For those not wanting to link their résumé to another company it’s always possible to create your own website using your own web development skills or by hiring someone else’s.
This new progression in job-seeking tools has the opportunity to work for you. The best way to stay on top of new trends is to try them and see what you think. If it doesn’t work for you it’s not the end of the world but if it does work for you then you’ve found a new way of doing things.
For those of you out there who have either used a blog or virtual résumé to apply for a job, did you find it effective? For those who have not used these before, would you use a virtual résumé or blog to apply for a job?
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