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Recruiting 2.0: Are résumés a thing of the past?
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In an era of online portfolios and networking on social media sites, are résumés a thing of the past?
“Yes,” said Jeanine Tanner “J.T.” O’Donnell, a career coach, workplace consultant and founder of Careerealism. “To me, a résumé in the early stage of students’ careers—while they are still in college—is useless.”
O’Donnell runs a year-round internship program and says she’s been extremely successful in choosing candidates without the use of a résumé. “For the kind of candidate I desire—proactive, smart, resourceful, well-read, passionate, accountable—I want to see their thought process. So, I use behavioral interviewing extensively, in both the written—application sent to me—and verbal—group interview with their peers and myself—forms.”
The application process is extremely straightforward. Students provide their names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, college majors and written answers to 10 essay questions.
“The 10 questions weeds out any lazy candidates who just want to send in a résumé. If you want the internship with us, you'll write great answers to the questions,” said O’Donnell. “Second, the answers tell me a ton about how you look at work and the best way to approach it. I can tell from these questions what kind of person you will be like to work with and whether or not you will fit our corporate culture. Finally, it's a test in communication. For what we do, I need people who can articulate themselves well in the written form—this type of application weeds out those who just don't have the skills.”
But, those truly aren’t the only reasons O'Donnell makes young professionals answer essay questions instead of turning in a résumé. “When you put that much time into an application and were brave enough to put that time in knowing you might not get the job, then I know you really want the job, and you'll do what it takes to get it and keep it. That has been proven to me repeatedly in the last two years I've been running the program,” she said.
A few of the questions she asks, which very well could pop up during interviews at any organization, are:
- Why are you seeking an internship right now?
- Give three reasons why you are a good fit for this job and provide specific, detailed examples to
- support your reasons.
- What is the biggest mistake you’ve made in your life and what did you learn from it?
- What is your personal achievement are you most proud of and why?
“I get fewer candidates applying for my internship, which is good—less time spent reviewing applicants. Better still, the caliber of talent is 100 times what other internship programs get,” said O’Donnell.
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