The Living Resume

I looked at some visual resumes on flickr.
See examples of them  at http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=visual+resume
(Thanks again Nish , for the reference).

This is a wonderful idea for people in the design and creative industries and I for one would be more impressed  with such a representation of a person's talent.

However I get the distinct impression (from experience), that in the traditional business world, such a resume might cause some confusion and even fear!
How many times have I encountered fear of the unknown, of the 'different', in my corporate life.
I can see such resumes working against a job applicant in an industry where conformity to business procedure is required. I have worked in such environments. It is not unknown for some hiring managers to weed out the creative types who display a penchant for asking questions, as possible disruption of the smooth running of the company ship.

But if you are a hiring manager in a traditional industry ( say legal or finance for example) or the person with the decision-making power, would you not want to know what manner of beast you might be bringing into your workplace. In Canada many employers use the 'reference' system where they reward current staff who refer people they know, to the application process. It makes sense in cases where there are huge numbers of applicants and most have the same level of skills, training and experience. Most employers would know from experience  that a well written resume is no guarantee of the applicant's fit for their organisation. People pay other people to write resumes after all.
So a reference from an employee that is known and trusted, gives an advantage to Jane Smith, unknown person, over the other faceless names.

After looking at the visual resumes on flickr (above), it occured to me that my blog should be my Living Resume. How great a way to get to know a personality!
You have a chance to peep into someone's mind, and get a sense of how they think, and how they may possibly react in certain situations. Of course employers have been looking at people's Facebook and LinkedIn pages for a while now, and countless articles have warned of controlling the content that's available publicly, from the eyes of peeping bosses. I observed that over the last couple years, giddy partyers have got wise and restricted public access to their Facebook pages.

But coming back to my blog, Yes!!, this will be my Living Resume for all the world to see.
Not that that was the intention of having an integrated personal and professional blog in the first place. Here is the place where I can think out loud, wonder about things, and express how I see the world. It's a diary and a soapbox. I hope to connect with you, whoever and wherever you are. I think people wonder about the same things and have different takes on the same matters. And I would love to connect with you on that basis.

Next post coming up!