Reaping the benefits of an online resume

During the previous generations the resume used to indicate whether you could perform a certain job or not by displaying one's skills, qualifications and abilities. In the gone century when most jobs were hands-on and based on what you know, answering this question , "can you do the job?" was sufficient.

However, now that most jobs are knowledge and aptitude requiring and business is s much more complicated than pushing buttons, employers need more rounded information on candidates. In short, you need more than your paper resume to stand out from the crowd.

With social media one has the opportunity to not only clarify whether you can do that job but also help a recruiter understand your motivation level and whether you are a good fit for the organization long before you reach the interview stage. Infact, should you have run your job search right by using social media tools available, you may here the talent acquistion specialist say at the first interview, "I Feel like I already know you."

Some benefits of supplementing a paper resume with an online and interactive version are:

(a) One can remain in control of the information put forth in the documents: If any change in once location, everyone reading that document can see the update. For example, if you get a promotion, you just have to update your online resume to let other people know about it rather than send multiple copies of an updated hard copy.

(b) One can show their current value rather than your past: One can customize their online presence to include some details on how they can they can make the company/hiring manager deal with a current issue or problem. One can also incorporate videos, images or some task accomplished or a job well done, or even an undertaken research or project to demonstrate one's skills, professional proficiency and confidence.

(c) One can show some personality: Once you are breaking away from the paper resume formal you can be more flexible and make an impression about your determination to follow through any task given, of being a team player or even a problem solver.

Always remember, when transferring your resume to the web the last thing you want to do is just copy and paste your pdf resume into an online format. If you do that you miss out on the opportunity to demonstrate the type of person you are and how motivated you are. Also, people read a computer screen differently than they read a paper/book. They need to have hyperlinks for any portion in your resume that they might need more information on or go to the page to check-out what a particular skill/achievement really is. Therefore, include hyperlinks, links, any papers/articles that have been used as reference, images, videos or even links to websites that might have your contribution/work or projects posted online.