Zoli posts over here, saying that resumes are a thing of the past and not needed any more.

In principle I agree with Zoli – my writing (both i virtual and print media), my business experience and my network should be more than enough information for any prospective employer. The reality however is very different from the concept. The vast majority of people cannot hope to be shoulder tapped for a role, rather they have to apply. When applying to an organisation what do they first ask for? You guessed it, a resume.

So yes, my blog is indeed my resume, but how many prospective employers will read it I wonder?

Post Script – No I’m not looking for a job!

Ben Kepes

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

6 Comments
  • Ben, I won’t claim it works 100%, and yes, if you are targeting an entirely unknown large organization, you’ll need to send the resume. But you won’t be selected anyway….

    I’ve seen several cases where the blogger simply announced he/she was ready for a move and that’s all it took. And even if you actively approach a company, you can refer to the blog – at least for startups.

    Yes, the corporate world requires a resume… so I wasn’t explicit enough, my other point is be selective, you may be better off going after opportunities where you are more than just a resume…

    The other thing I forgot was LinkedIn – a quasi-resume.

  • Makes sense Zoli – cheers

    Here goes…

    I am not actively looking for a role but I’m always interested in talking about opportunities…

    Now let’s test your theory Zoli 😉

  • Haha, false test, since your readers know you don’t mean it 🙂

  • Hmmm – but you also said that one didn’t need to be actively looking either…..

    😉

  • Hi Ben / Zoli

    Ben your test worked : come over here and work at Virgin, it’s done !

    The whole issue of resumes just takes on a completely new meaning over here in London, especially if you are contracting….

    I had always been self-employed until I came over here, and had to learn, fast.

    Basically, over here your resume MUST be summarised on one page only at the front, and can then have detail attached at the back. The consultants over here just bung keywords into a database, and when contracts come in, they simply do a match on key words like “SQL Server” or “IIS” or “ASP.NET”. They never, ever actually READ your resume. B*astards, the lot of them….

    Now I don’t know about you guys, but it is literally impossible to summarise my career / skillset in one front page. Can’t be done.

    So what I ended up doing – as do many contractors over here – was that I now have multiple different “versions” of my resume, and I select the most appropriate one to send to people ( not that I have had to do so for a long time now, I was hired in my present contract for 6 weeks in 2004 and I am still here ).

    Rock on

  • John I’d love to – but I’m not overly mobile right now. Got any telecommuting able roles? 🙂

    But seriously your comment is interesting and shows the reality of a more conservative employment situation which is, sadly, the norm for most situations

    Rocking on as you suggest!

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