I hate resumes. I hate creating them. I hate that potential employers expect me to have one, and for it to be current. I find it hard to believe that resumes still exist with all the communication and social technology we have today. Right now, my resume is just a copy of my LinkedIn profile because I hate writing resumes that much. What does a resume do for a potential employer that looking at a LinkedIn profile doesn't? Even Facebook have a place to list where you have worked, at what position, and for how long.
I should really state my problems with resumes instead of just ranting about how much I hate them.
1) They don't do anything better than other forms of communication. In fact, they don't even replace other forms of communication. Resumes are just another useless step in the communication chain. They don't introduce you, that's what your cover letter, or email, is for. While resumes summarize your job experience or skills, the letter or email you write can do the same thing, while also showing off your ability, or inability, to communicate well. Also, most professionals have a LinkedIn account, or something similar (that may be a lie, I don't know of anything similar to LinkedIn, but if there is I don't want them to feel left out). I have many recruiters email me because they found me on LinkedIn. As I said before, my resume and LinkedIn account are the exact same. So why do I need to provide a resume as well? Can't you just send your client a link to my profile, it's public for a reason. Also resumes can't answer any questions a potential employer may have about you. Those are what interviews are for.
2) They are too general. If someone plans on sending out resumes to lots of different jobs, they tend to use the same resume. This means that the resume is generalized. They doesn't make you look as attractive as someone who may have tailored their resume to be more appealing to the specific job. Even with the tailored resume, they do tend to come off generalized. They are supposed too. The resume represents you. Many people just want a job (although some only want a specific job, so their resume tends to be more specific), but the good jobs don't want to just hire anyone, they want a specific person. In fact, it is probably easier for the company to use some sort of network to search for people with specific skills who may be looking for a job. I wonder if such a network exists. Oh yea, LinkedIn.
3) You can't tell anything about a person without ever talking to them. A resume only states what that person has done in the past, according to that person. No one ever hires someone based off their resume. They give out interviews based on resume. Actually, that's wrong. They contact people based on their resume, either by email or phone. There they will ask a few questions to make sure the person isn't totally lying about the skills they have, and THEN set up an interview.
I think it was Leonardo da Vinci who wrote the first resume, and he wrote it as a form of introduction. I don't see how a quick email with a link to a place with more information about you (once more LinkedIn, no they aren't paying me for this post…I just use it) is any different. It seems way easier to me, especially since I tend to lose my resume file all the time or it is horribly out of date for some reason. Having LinkedIn is even better because now I get contacted about potential jobs, although it is starting to get a bit annoying, and I've pretty much stopped responding to anything that doesn't look interesting to me, which is pretty much ALL of the jobs I get emailed about.
I'm going to see if I can get anyone to try to hire me without using an resume. Sounds like a fun challenge.
I understand that many companies won't look at you if you don't use a resume. By all means, don't not use one (double negative for the win), especially if it is a job you really really really want. It is a small hoop to jump through. Resumes had their place back in the day. Back before email was a regular thing. I just feel like the resume is an old fashioned and inefficient way of doing things, or maybe I just hate writing them that much.
