5 Current Trends in Job Résumés

(image from rayvinmedia.com)

With the globalization of business and advancements in technologies, businesses are making a lot of changes in an effort to gain a competitive advantage in today's fast-paced business environment. Similarly, job seekers should be looking for new ways to stand out and gain their own competitive advantage in the selection process.

There are a number of good resources for sprucing up a traditional résumé (two that I think have a number of good points are from U.S. News and Business Insider). But even the Wall Street Journal reports that the traditional résumé is losing its relevance in an increasingly competitive and technological job market - particularly for positions that require innovation and creativity. Below are five trends for job résumés that are currently gaining momentum:

 

(image from mylifeaudio.com)

The Storytelling Résumé
This trend moves away from simply presenting general, static information to actually weaving a narrative that tells the hiring organization what you bring to the table and how you can meet their needs. This can be done in a number of ways. For example, instead of just listing past employment, show how your experience is relevant for the current job opening. Or highlight your accomplishments by showing the numerical value of your work (i.e. "Reduced production costs by 33%," or "Expanded our customer base from 35 customers to over 400 customers").

Another example is to highlight your ambition and promotability by listing multiple job titles (with dates) under the same employer. Take, for example, someone who started as an intern for an organization, then was hired as an administrative staff member, and subsequently became a supervisor over other staff. Those three job titles (Intern, Administrative Staff Member, Staff Supervisor), each with their specific information as described in the previous paragraph, tells a prospective employer (1) that you take advantage of growth opportunities, (2) that you were successful in your previous job(s), and (3) that you would likely stick with the company for a long time.

One article even goes as far as to suggest creating a personal bio in lieu of a résumé, answering five major quesions: (1) Who are you?, (2) How can you help the hiring organization?, (3) How did you get to where you are?, (4) Why can you be trusted?, and (5) What do you share in common? (i.e. Why would you be a good fit for the job/company?)

 (image from brainzooming.com)

The Creative Résumé
Other than the information it contains, what makes your résumé stand out from others? It used to be that printing a résumé on professional-looking cardstock (i.e. marbled, ivory, or parchment) or bright colored paper was enough to draw attention to it. Today, job applicants are often asked to submit their résumés electronically, without printing the résumé at all. But that doesn't mean you can't be creative. If anything, it has increased the creative options for job seekers.

Examples such as the job seeker who formatted his online résumé to look like an Amazon product or  the 15 creative résumés found here show how you can set yourself apart for other job seekers by showcasing your talents and creativity. The trick is to be creative in a manner that accentuates the positive knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies that an organization and/or hiring manager might be looking for in filling the type of position you want.

(image from ksl.com) 

The Visual Résumé 
The visual résumé is a specific type of creative résumé in which your past education, work experiences, accomplishments, etc., are presented in an "infographic" form. Basically, this information is presented visually (typically through graphs and charts) in an effort to draw and maintain the attention of the person reviewing the résumé and to highlight the information that best sells the job candidate. The picture above is just one example of how this can be done. Other examples can be found here and here.

(image from usatoday.com)

The Video Résumé
Using a video presentation as a résumé allows a job seeker to literally tell his/her story and create a personal environment where the hiring manager gets a glimpse into the professionalism, communication skills, and personality of the applicant.

Both USA Today and CBS News share some pros and cons of using video résumés, along with tips for increasing their quality and impact. These links also suggest some sites that are available to assist in creating and hosting video résumés.

One of my favorite examples of a video résumé is found below. It is far from the ideal video résumé, and showcases some of the pros and cons of this résumé medium.

The Google Résumé

The idea of a Google résumé is the idea that your online presence creates its own résumé that can be found when a hiring manager "googles" you, or searches for information about you using an internet search engine. This could include personal webpages, social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn), blogs, etc. More and more hiring managers are using these resources during the process of recruiting and employee selection in an effort to find the best candidate and/or dig up red flags that may indicate that a candidate is not a good fit for the company.

Socialmediatoday.com has a great infographic that details why a positive online presence matters and how one can go about improving his/her Google résumé (or social résumé, as they term it). One of the best ways to first approach the situation is by going ego surfing, using the mindset of a hiring manager to critique the information you find.


Utilizing and managing any of these five current résumé trends takes varying amounts of time, effort, and skill. It is important to understand the job market for the kinds of jobs for which you are applying and whether utilizing these résumé trends would be beneficial in your own job search. Typically, the more creativity and innovation that a job requires, the more many of these résumé trends would apply.

The Purpose of HR

I am working right now to put together a training on the subject of effective HR practices, and one of the first questions I plan on asking the training group is this:

"In one sentence, how would you describe the purpose of HR?"

In my research (a.k.a. Google search), here are some of the answers that I came across:

• HR's duty is to bring the best people into the best position.
• HR exists to protect a company from its employees.
• The purpose of HR is to fulfill organizational goals by implying tools which focuses on enhancing performance with concern for its employees.
• The purpose of human resources is to live.
• The HR department is to is there to guarantee that the right candidates get appointed to the right task at the right time and the job offered to them utilizes their capabilities to the maximum, adding to self-motivation and leading to better performance.
• HR is there to hire and fire.
• The HR function is to hire, train, motivate and support productive employees.
• An effective Human Resource department facilitates the execution of your company’s mission within the boundaries of employment law.
• HR's sole purpose is to take the fun out of work for everyone.

I have my own thoughts on the issue, which I will save those for another post. But I want to hear your perspective. Do any of the answers listed above ring true to you? Or is there a better way that you would describe HR's purpose?

Technology in the World of HR

A recent article regarding the DOs and DON'Ts of using Facebook while maintaining your professionalism got me thinking about how technology (specifically the internet) has changed the business landscape for both employees (those currently employed and/or those seeking employment) and those who manage and hire employees. Here is a list of pros and cons that I quickly came up with.

JOB SEEKERS

PROS:

• Access to numerous open positions through job search websites (i.e. Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com), company websites, and non-traditional job search outlets (i.e. Craigslist.com) make job seeking more effective.
• The ability to develop your online profile can make you and make your resume available to those searching online in need of employees.
• Search engines, company websites, newsfeeds, etc., offer the ability to quickly and thoroughly research potential job opportunities and hiring organizations.
• You have access to countless online resources for effective job searching, writing your resume, and having a positive job interview.
• The ability to utilize online social media networks can help you find otherwise unknown job opportunities.

CONS:

• A lot of personal information may be avaialable online that you do not what prospective employers finding.
• Getting into a habit of only searching for and applying for jobs through online channels can be a monotonous and ineffective job search.
• Even with online professional profiles and resumes, it is hard to convey your true personality and professional motivations without face-to-face personal contact.

CURRENT EMPLOYEES

PROS:

• Internet research can assist you in finding the lowest cost, most effective, and/or fastest solutions to the problems you face at work.
• Utilizing online training, remote network meetings, etc., can cost travel costs and increase the effectiveness of long-distance work groups and organizations.
• Computer and internet resources have aided employees in accomplishing more and being a more valuable asset to the company.

CONS:

• From watching YouTube videos, to online shopping, to playing games, to reading online news, the internet can be a huge distraction at work.
• Since most information is just a mouse click or online chat with a co-worker away, there is potential for reduced time being physically active at work.
• Relationships with coworkers, customers and/or supervisors may suffer with reduced personal interaction.
• Technology at times may make some employees obsolete, leading to job losses.

MANAGERS

PROS:

• The ability to quickly disseminate information to your employees is increased through email, company intranet, etc.
• Time and effort spent managing "paperwork" (i.e. payroll, contracts, employee records, etc.) can be greatly reduced through technology.
• Recruiting is greatly facilitated through online job boards, websites and professional networks.
• A quick Google search on a job applicant and/or current employee can uncover important information that otherwise would not be brought to light.

CONS:

• Reduced personal interaction with your employees can decrease employee job satisfaction and can take a toll on your relationship with your employees.
• Focusing too much on internet recruiting may increase the quantity of applicants without increasing (and potentially decreasing) the quality of applicants.
• A quick Google search on a job applicant and/or current employee can uncover unimportant information that should probably not have been brought to light.

What are your thoughts? What are some of the positives and/or negatives that you have seen in your own experience with increased computer and internet technology?

To Get a Job . . . You Need to Already Have a Job?

What if you lost your job, and when you start searching for a new one, you were repeatedly turned away from job openings because you were not already currently employed? Sounds a bit ridiculous, right?

Well, CNN Money ran a story recently about a new recruiting trend, where phrases such as "applicant must be currently employed" or "unemployed applicants will not be considered" are cropping up on job descriptions. And even when such explicit statements aren't spelled out, it seems that recruiters give preference to applicants who are currently employed over those applicants that are not.

To me, that's just a lawsuit waiting to happen. If you have a solid potential job applicant, and the only reason he/she is not considered is because he/she isn't currently employed, it feels an awful lot like discrimination.

What are your thoughts? Have any of you run into this kind of situation as a job seeker or as a recruiter/hiring manager?