New resumés show flair
Megan O'Donnell
Issue date: 2/26/10 Section: Features
For some, a single piece of paper listing experience doesn't cut it as a resumé anymore.
BriteTab.com offers a resumé service where users build and send them electronically. This new type of resumé allows people to upload a photograph and a video, in addition to all the standard resumé information, such as education, relevant experience and special skills.
Freshman gerontology and theology major Alexandra Henry thought the BriteTab.com resumé would be beneficial.
"All your information could be more presentable, and it would have more information than a traditional resumé," Henry said. "It could appeal more to the interviewer."
According to a BriteTab.com press release, "BriteTab.com offers job seekers the ability to create content-rich digital resumés with video clips that convey their personalities and let hiring managers know exactly why they're right for the job."
The Web site offers job seekers a way to take their resumé off the paper using an ever-advancing media. This new way of submitting resumés could give the hopeful employee an edge by presenting him or herself in a new, eye-catching way, according to BriteTab.com.
BriteTab.com allows people to create their electronic resumé for free, but for $7.95, job seekers can choose from different themes, create an unlimited number of resumés and add videos, images and work samples.
However, some reservations regarding an electronic resumé do exist.
"The marketplace has yet to embrace this technology completely," Constance Whitcomb, director of the Career Center, said. "This is still fairly innovative in many areas of the employment market."
With new forms of resumés just starting to come into play, people should be wary of using this as their only form of getting their names out, she said.
"You just don't know what an employer is going to do," Whitcomb said.
When submitting the electronic resumé, people do not know if the employer will open the link to the resumé or even open the e-mail itself. And if the employer does open the link, who knows if this will appeal to them, Whitcomb said.
"Historically, American resumés are documents that are devoid of personal information," Whitcomb said. "You don't put a picture on the paper document. You don't put your date of birth. You don't put your ethnicity, you don't do any of that."
People fear that adding a picture or a video to a resumé, can open up to workplace discrimination.
"It's not necessary because they should not judge you on personal looks - it has nothing to do with your qualifications," said Lauren LaMastra, a senior finance major.
With the new resumé, there would also be new standards; professionalism is still necessary because the old adage still stands: "You never get a second chance for a first impression."
Creating an electronic resumé with a photo and/or video could take away from the employer meeting the job seeker face-to-face.
"It's like having a first impression without actually allowing them to meet you," said Merritt Ward, a senior journalism and mass communication major.
However, Whitcomb added certain majors or fields could benefit from this type of resumé.
"Certainly anyone in an artistic field, the arts, because this resumé gives you the opportunity to showcase (the) product in a very dynamic and dimensional way," Whitcomb said. "And in some ways I guess it's a blend of a portfolio, too. Some of the key skills being sought by employers or some of the key skills candidates should possess kind of revolve around the ability to promote a product in new creative ways."
No matter what field job seekers want to enter, they must create a strong resumé to show off all their qualifications. A low-quality video or film could potentially hurt someone's chance of getting the job he or she wants.
"(If) it's poorly done, you're probably done," Whitcomb said.
The use of this new technology really depends on the audience members and what they expect from those applying. Some may welcome this new way while others could disapprove.
Students who consider using this type of new resumé should send it with their traditional resumé to enhance it, Whitcomb said.
"This is not a product that has negated the traditional resumé," Whitcomb said. "This is a tool that would be a supplement to a traditional resumé."
e-mail: odonnemm09@sbu.edu
BriteTab.com offers a resumé service where users build and send them electronically. This new type of resumé allows people to upload a photograph and a video, in addition to all the standard resumé information, such as education, relevant experience and special skills.
Freshman gerontology and theology major Alexandra Henry thought the BriteTab.com resumé would be beneficial.
"All your information could be more presentable, and it would have more information than a traditional resumé," Henry said. "It could appeal more to the interviewer."
According to a BriteTab.com press release, "BriteTab.com offers job seekers the ability to create content-rich digital resumés with video clips that convey their personalities and let hiring managers know exactly why they're right for the job."
The Web site offers job seekers a way to take their resumé off the paper using an ever-advancing media. This new way of submitting resumés could give the hopeful employee an edge by presenting him or herself in a new, eye-catching way, according to BriteTab.com.
BriteTab.com allows people to create their electronic resumé for free, but for $7.95, job seekers can choose from different themes, create an unlimited number of resumés and add videos, images and work samples.
However, some reservations regarding an electronic resumé do exist.
"The marketplace has yet to embrace this technology completely," Constance Whitcomb, director of the Career Center, said. "This is still fairly innovative in many areas of the employment market."
With new forms of resumés just starting to come into play, people should be wary of using this as their only form of getting their names out, she said.
"You just don't know what an employer is going to do," Whitcomb said.
When submitting the electronic resumé, people do not know if the employer will open the link to the resumé or even open the e-mail itself. And if the employer does open the link, who knows if this will appeal to them, Whitcomb said.
"Historically, American resumés are documents that are devoid of personal information," Whitcomb said. "You don't put a picture on the paper document. You don't put your date of birth. You don't put your ethnicity, you don't do any of that."
People fear that adding a picture or a video to a resumé, can open up to workplace discrimination.
"It's not necessary because they should not judge you on personal looks - it has nothing to do with your qualifications," said Lauren LaMastra, a senior finance major.
With the new resumé, there would also be new standards; professionalism is still necessary because the old adage still stands: "You never get a second chance for a first impression."
Creating an electronic resumé with a photo and/or video could take away from the employer meeting the job seeker face-to-face.
"It's like having a first impression without actually allowing them to meet you," said Merritt Ward, a senior journalism and mass communication major.
However, Whitcomb added certain majors or fields could benefit from this type of resumé.
"Certainly anyone in an artistic field, the arts, because this resumé gives you the opportunity to showcase (the) product in a very dynamic and dimensional way," Whitcomb said. "And in some ways I guess it's a blend of a portfolio, too. Some of the key skills being sought by employers or some of the key skills candidates should possess kind of revolve around the ability to promote a product in new creative ways."
No matter what field job seekers want to enter, they must create a strong resumé to show off all their qualifications. A low-quality video or film could potentially hurt someone's chance of getting the job he or she wants.
"(If) it's poorly done, you're probably done," Whitcomb said.
The use of this new technology really depends on the audience members and what they expect from those applying. Some may welcome this new way while others could disapprove.
Students who consider using this type of new resumé should send it with their traditional resumé to enhance it, Whitcomb said.
"This is not a product that has negated the traditional resumé," Whitcomb said. "This is a tool that would be a supplement to a traditional resumé."
e-mail: odonnemm09@sbu.edu
Be the first to comment on this story