Resumes have been around since the mid-20th century, and it was the 1950s when having a written resume became a prerequisite for getting an interview. By definition, a resume is a document created and used by a person for the sole purpose of presenting their background, skills, and accomplishments and displaying one's qualifications for the job applied for. But over the years, the idea of a resume has become more of an appealing factor through the industrial revolution and information technology ages. The two-dimensional nature of the resumes no longer reflects the highly digital world and are no different from bio-data - wherein information is personal and direct but not enough to satisfy recruiters of today. Hence, it is no doubt that over time the idea of traditional resumes is increasingly becoming obsolete. Consequently, the conventional one-pager approach is being rendered outdated.
Why are resumes endangered?
A recruiter typically takes just 6 seconds to scan a resume. However, one has to ponder - if that is enough to understand everything about the candidate who is a human capable of learning, reasoning, problem-solving, creating, coexisting, and empathising. A resume comprises the skill set, experience, and college CGPA which opens it up to conformity bias. But there is more to what a recruiter expects to know about a candidate, given the kind of job roles and dynamics in workplace culture that are to be considered.
Interestingly, 75 per cent of recruiters usually catch a lie on a resume, according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder. It is pretty easy to identify a lie in a conversation, and that too in one where both parties face each other. And since 62% of employers are keen on knowing how good a candidate is in the area of soft skills, written resumes add little value in that aspect. Soft skills generally encompass the ability to manage time, solve problems, get along with people of different backgrounds, strengthen emotional intelligence, display a positive attitude, show tolerance to ambiguities and engage in teamwork - hence there needs to be a better strategy that helps communicate all of these abilities.
Additionally, a new challenge that has come forth in the past few years is AI abuse on resumes, which in its exponential cycle is now ready for a pandemic-level breakout. Yes, It is a thing; and it's taking place because of the ease at which AI is able to flawlessly tweak resumes to meet the requirements of any job description. The existence and practice of such manipulatory practices is another factor that makes resumes undependable in the current age of Generative AI. Also, the use of Generative AI and Agent AI will cause resumes and all online profiles to become infected by what it perceives and not what the candidate actually is. Therefore, we must look at better ways to do the first-level filtration than resumes and online profiles, and hence, any tool based purely on parsing those will never solve the problem.
Do we need an alternative?
Although finding a direct substitute is not the primary concern, there are specific practices that can enhance the quality and security of resumes. Firstly, we must refrain from incorporating demographic information (such as educational or work background) in the initial stages of the recruitment process to eliminate subconscious biases. Secondly, any AI tool must be exposed to curated and preprocessed datasets to ensure they are free from biases; instead, diverse demographics, backgrounds, and perspectives must be brought into the spotlight. And lastly, recruiters must start holistically evaluating candidates by going beyond just parsing textual information to gain a panoramic understanding of candidates' qualifications and potential. For this to prevail, candidates must also know not to depend entirely on a single resume but to bear the responsibility of getting well-versed with modern ways of communication and coming up with new ways to express their abilities and skills.
In conclusion, resumes do have to be deemed endangered, and there are brave reasons to expect their extinction, however, the present times demand more than just a resume to be a projection of one's self-worth regarding being qualified for a particular job. The use of AI might lessen the burden of preparing your own resume, but the cost paid for it is losing authenticity in the process. Something like a resume; a first impression material must be crafted by the owner and can be sided with other documents like a short video byte in the place of a cover letter. Thus, it is not about eliminating the dear resumes but about using the right elements in the right proportion to make them relevant and as genuine as possible.
Alternatively, responsible use of AI-based Intelligence tools to provide deeper potential hidden-talent matches works better than objective-skill matches. Imagine a scenario where you can hire, say Apple's Steve Wozniak for you, but will he execute your vision? We are sometimes limited by our fundamentals. Back in the day, it would have been a factor that eased distribution and comprehension on a mass scale and appeal. But, we must accept the fact that in today’s age of AI, automation, communication and distribution advancements it is not the same case as it was.
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