Dead Tree Resumes Live

The tout you’re apt to hear today from all types of business and companies is that “we’ve gone paperless,” and nowhere is that more apparent in the way potential employers accept resumes.

If you scan online job boards, links to company websites invite applicants to file electronic resumes, cover letters, portfolio samples and related information, such as details about special skills, awards and certifications.

This may come as a shock, but the old paper resume still has a prominent place even in today’s electronic age. In fact, it may be preferred for a whole bunch of reasons, according to a Wall Street Journal story.

The piece looks at ways social media can help job-seekers build networks and also snags in trying to find work via Facebook, blogs Karen Schwartz for mediabistro.com.

The WSJ story by Catherine Ngai quotes Lonnie Dunlap, director of career services at Northwestern University, on the balance between using new online tools and time-tested job search practices.

“You really have to be careful with Twitter or Facebook, because it can seduce you into an informality that can really backfire,” Dunlap says. “I do think that the traditional methods have to be there. And they have to be very well done. You can get someone’s attention through LinkedIn, but your goal is to get an interview.”

The WSJ story also notes that hard-copy resumes and cover letters are alive and well, quoting Mary Spencer, director of career placement at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, as saying employers at job fairs are increasingly “asking for paper rather than electronic portfolios.”

Unlike a custom paper package of resume, cover letter and portfolio samples, social media such as Facebook and Twitter may reveal too much personal information to potential employers, who may be conflicted or turned off by the mix of personal and professional details.

While there are no hard and fast rules, Facebook tends to skew toward the personal side while LinkedIn seems to favor professional profiles. Twitter may not work at all, depending on your target audience, in a traditional job search.

We at WMB cross-post on the web because we recognize some of our viewers prefer certain apps over others (A reminder: We do not share personal information with third parties). In addition to regular posting as a Google blogger, WMB sends links to Google Reader, Facebook and LinkedIn to reach the broadest possible viewership.

At job fairs, it’s nice for employer reps to match the paper resume and the person handing it over. It’s a chance to make a full impression that could lead to a follow-up interview and perhaps a job offer.

We at WMB understand and appreciate efforts by everyone to save the environment by sparing as many trees as possible and recycling paper products. However, some things still should require a paper trail, and resumes rightfully fall under that category.

On a personal note, I once applied for a job (not in newspapers) that allowed you to submit your resume and cover letter to the company’s secured website. To be thorough, I also snail-mailed the same package directly to the company’s HR folks.

Why duplicate the job application effort with paper?

As a print journalist, I was trained to follow paper trails – budgets, purchase orders, vouchers, and campaign contributions – in search of rule-breakers, thieves and questionable spending practices. Plus, a certain redundancy makes sense because no system, electronic or otherwise, is fool proof. Anything built by human hands is flawed in some way.

My follow-up with the above-mentioned job proved the wisdom of my redundancy philosophy. After my interview with the HR person, who determined I was “over-qualified” (I wasn’t, but that’s another matter), I watched as she deleted my electronic resume from the company’s HR folder and spoke about other company jobs (unavailable) to which I might apply in the future.

If not for the paper resume (which she handed back to me), there would not be any record of my ever applying for work at this particular company. Maybe that’s the way they do business, eliminate all applicant traces, but I wonder what they’re hiding in guise of saving trees?

It also makes me wonder about the motives of other companies and businesses which go totally paperless – saving space or saving face?

As for me, I practice what I preach (and attempt to save paper, even scraps) at writenowworks.com. Please share this post with others!