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Online Resumes, And Everything Else: The Wave of the Future
February 17, 2008

After spending three days in a workforce conference last week, it is clearer than ever that the days of traditional HR the way we know them are over. Or at least they are coming to an end.   Take training, for example.  Company programs are beginning to look more like video games than they are classroom-style training, and before long, paper resumes will be a thing of the past as candidates and employers migrate to online resumes.  Even NFL Giant’s kicker, Lawrence Tynes is getting into the game as was reported recently on Workforce Management.  What remains to be seen though, is whether these changes hinder or hurt business goals and outcomes.   Either way, it's only a matter of time before we find out.  It’s interesting, I think, to consider the broader trend and implications here : If it can be done on a computer, chances are, it will be.  It’s a dichotomy between man and machine that we can’t plan for yet in business because it's all so new and we dont' know how it will unfold.

Imagine,  as computers increasingly bring people to life on screen, they are actually replacing much of the human interaction that is implicitly linked to human resources off screen.  So we have the role of human resources changing and a need on the rise to have new skills and technologies in place to support it.  Sites like Second Life have started to see companies recruit and conduct interviews in a virtual world, and You Tube  has candidates posting videos of themselves to promote their credentials and  personalities “live” to potential employers.   

We shall see.  I guess it's a matter of how far the pendulum of change needs to swing before it has no choice but to swing back. 

Posted by Donna Flagg on February 17, 2008 | Comments (0)