Thursday, January 14, 2016

Can Your Online Profile Replace Your C.V. or Résumé?

In a recent communique with a potential customer, I was asked to send a resume, even though I had forwarded my LinkedIn profile. I was dismayed that someone in the tech industry would still be wedded to the static nature of a Word document. It is certainly my opinion that the role of "telling who you are" is best accomplished through a person's online presence -- LinkedIn, a professional landing page, or perhaps even FaceBook. If one is in the job market, I believe it makes more send to send potential employers to your LinkedIn page instead of sending a Word or PDF version of your résumé or C.V. If you are like me, you might use your LinkedIn profile to include not only your qualifications, but testimonials from colleagues and clients, and other information such as publications or successful projects. I feel that the need to establish professional credentials is best served efficiently by sending someone to a LinkedIn page. This will convey relevant experience, and in a place that is maintained because it’s easy to update on a regular basis. Further, as an IT professional, I can appreciate the concept of the "single source of truth" model for data -- instead of uploading copies a résumé to job banks, or keeping track of various versions, outdated or otherwise defunct.

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