February 1, 2015

Sneak Preview: The Future of Resumes

Resumes. We all have one. Writing and maintaining a resume is a time consuming process that every job seeker goes through. It’s hard to capture your entire professional life on one sheet of paper, but it’s a necessity if you want to find a job.

There are so many tricks and tips for writing the perfect resume, but the goal is always the same: capture the recruiter’s attention, intrigue them with your experience and skills, and make it to the interview round. Unfortunately, recruiters only spend a few seconds scanning your resume before making a decision on the future of your application.

Your entire future can rest on your one-page story. Yikes. This is changing though. Technology is becoming more prevalent in our lives every single day. It’s changing everything in the job search – and the future of resumes looks bright.

It’s almost a guaranteed that recruiters will Google you. They want to see what’s on your social media. Search results can often tell a much more detailed story about you than your resume. Why not set yourself up for success and build your personal brand through a blog? That’s right, the future of resumes is the blog.

Blogging is the new resume. Here’s an article on this exact topic. There is no better way to express yourself than through a brand-building blog. It’s easier than ever to start a blog. Log-in to Weebly, WordPress, or Blogger where you can create and customize your own blog for free.

A well designed blog will highlight your education, experience, portfolios, skills, and expertise. It doesn’t have to be boring like a standard resume. Colors, images, and videos can bring you to life in a way that boring, one-page resumes can never do.

A blog is a long term project that has the potential to land you a job (or even help you to become a paid blogger!). Scour the Internet to find inspiration for your new blog. It takes dedication to create and maintain a professional blog, but it is totally worth every bit of effort.

Content creation is a must. Write about your passions. Try to post several times per week. Posts don’t have to always be job focused, but they can be. The more you write, the easier it becomes. Establishing yourself online is a fantastic way to become a subject matter expert. Recruiters respect this.

On your blog, recruiters can browse through your blog posts, check out links to your professional experience, and see images of how you spend your time. A blog will show a recruiter that you’re more than just a piece of paper. Instead they’ll see you as an established, web-savvy, professional who is ready to take on the job market and the world.

At this point the old-fashioned resume isn’t dead. You still need a single-page resume to tell your story. Job applications require the trusty 8.5″ x 11″ resume, but a blog is the future of resumes. Be sure to include your web presence link on your standard resume. A recruiter will not only link to it, but they will also find it in their Google searches.

Let your blog tell your story in a way that your resume cannot. Blogs are the future of resumes. Start your free blog today and see where it takes you. Good luck.

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