In this pervasively digital age, is the traditional “paper” resume obsolete?
I started thinking about this question when I stumbled upon some articles introducing the “visual resume”. What is a “visual resume”, you may ask? Essentially, with the advent of user-friendly design software, free images, a creative approach and good ol’ Powerpoint, you can set up a visual representation of your resume – which may be more impactful in helping you stand out from among a plethora of other potential job candidates.
My initial reaction to this idea was one of wonder: “Wow! What a great idea! I’m done with boring paper resumes – this is the future!” But as I thought about it further, I also realised: contrary to common misconceptions that it’s “out with the old and in with the new” especially when it comes to digital media, digital media merely expands the channels for communications rather than replaces them (hrm… something to expand on in another post).
Still, the idea of visual resumes are quite compelling and this is the presentation that set me off on them: