Is the resume dead? Thomas Friedman on 'how to get a job' in the 21st century
How can we match extremely talented job seekers with companies that are desperate for skilled new employees?
That question has been preoccupying the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and, in Tuesday’s New York Times, columnist Thomas Friedman.
Scott Temple, a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University, spoke at the Governor's Economic Summit about his job search.
Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit
HireArt, a venture-backed startup company, believes they can help improve the process by creating custom tests that require applicants to demonstrate skills they will use on the job. According to Friedman, applicants need to focus on showcasing their skills in tests like these, because employers no longer care if they were acquired at a university or self-taught online.
Ann Arbor-based startups like Seelio and Meritful have taken a different approach, helping high-school and college students develop interactive portfolios that showcase practical application of their talents.
According to Friedman, whatever path job seekers and human resources professionals choose, the days of just sending in a resume and hoping for the best are over.
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2
Comments
sttc
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 10:02 p.m.
noo way. i've sat on both sides of the interview table more than once and, while you might think the resume is dead from the apparently low amount of effort many people put into them, a nicely typeset resume with a real strong, pertinent work history and/or credentials will DEFINITELY catch the hiring team's eye. same now as it's always been. also, write a cover letter, people! barbarians! dirty mouth has it right. if you have a valuable skill and your passion shows in your work history, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting hired. but others are right, too, a little bit of luck never hurt anyone, either.
Kellie Woodhouse
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 4:28 p.m.
The idea of an alternative to a resume is in part to make yourself standout. If the resume is truly dead and everyone is doing videos and sending pictures or whatever, then I imagine it becomes extremely difficult to stand out.
Jay Thomas
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 7:18 a.m.
Simple. Get into an Ivy League school where they hand out A's to 90% of the class and not some state college where they grade on a curve.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 2:19 a.m.
If they were so desperate for new employees, they wouldn't be offering unpaid "internships" that last a year or more, or demanding 5+ years of work experience for an entry-level job.
GoNavy
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 11:27 a.m.
It's not entry level if you have 5 years of experience, period. However, some people confuse "low level" with "entry level". You can indeed have 5 years of experience and still find yourself in a "low level" job.
YpsiYapper
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 12:14 a.m.
After pounding the pavement, pounding the keyboard, pounding every help wanted ad and sending cover letters and resumes all over, my conclusion is either you have to know someone or just simply have a stroke of luck that puts you in front of the right person(s) at the right time. It took three years after a lay off and working two crappy paying jobs to survive in the meantime and I hit the jackpot in September. I never spent a day in college, graduated high school and gained hands on experience throughout the years. I started at 45k a year with guaranteed raises over the next 5 years. I have old school work values and thank my parents for never handing me anything after the age of 16. Just be persistent, don't get discouraged and dress to impress, Arrange a face to face meeting whenever possible and be there 10 minutes early. Smile and know how to walk the walk and talk the talk. Of 450 applicants I was narrowed down to 1 of the 9 that were hired. NO RESUME REQUIRED for this job.
GoNavy
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 11:26 a.m.
Your experiences were highlighted by Mr. Friedman in his piece. You mentioned that you sent out a resume and cover letter for "every help ad wanted." Were you qualified for every job you applied for? Mr. Friedman noted that qualified candidates are often drowned out by individuals who simply send their resumes out like spam. Job openings get 500 "applicants", of which perhaps 10 might actually be qualified. Because applicants simply send out resumes to "every help wanted ad," it puts employers in the position of having to filter through hundreds - even thousands - of resumes to find a few qualified candidates. In other words, a huge waste of time. Targeting job applications, with resumes that show an employer how you can contribute and a cover letter that says "I actually know how to communicate in a business setting", was how I managed to land more than one selective job out of the pool of applicants described above. Applying to "every help wanted ad out there" does little but fill the Internet with more data, and corporate inboxes with more spam.
Dirty Mouth
Wed, May 29, 2013 : 11:43 p.m.
Industry, industry, industry. You want a good job? Pick the right industry and always give a 110% percent. Think the résumé is dead? Check out Linkedin and please start thinking for yourself.
Morris Thorpe
Wed, May 29, 2013 : 9:22 p.m.
I don't get it. They provide online quizzes. So what? And how many types of job other than new media can be tested like this? So how does this new company get a high-profile writeup like this? The answer is in the editorial itself: "The way HireArt works, explained Sharef (who was my daughter's college roommate)..." Yep, there you go. *Who* you know is often more valuable than *what* you know.
Ann English
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 12:01 a.m.
Some companies do quiz applicants online about what they would do in various situations. And decades ago, if you just walked into a store and asked for an application, there would be questions on the application about what you would do in various situations with customers. Just yesterday, I was starting to get the impression that companies hope you can answer "yes" on their applications to the question, "Do you know someone who works here?" As you said, it's "who" you know that gets you on the inside track. It's easier on employers not to take some valuable worktime and find out a lot about someone who wants to work there, but is known personally by no one there. Employees tell their bosses about friends, relatives and spouses who may qualify before strangers ever find out about the job openings.