Despite the growth of social networking platforms and people’s increasing online presence, the resume is not dead. It is merely changing, according to leading recruiters.

With 100 million people reportedly using LinkedIn and nearly 700 million people using Facebook, the recruitment industry is finding itself in an evolving landscape and the way candidates, employers and recruiters view the process has been transformed.

Cherie Curtis, head of psychology at Onetest, told Human Capital that the resume has become more of a supplementary document rather than being the primary method of picking a candidate.

“Many organisations are now using online application forms and e-recruitment methods, where the resume is uploaded as an attachment and it’s really just reviewed if additional information is required,” she said.

“I think the idea of resumes as a summary of your experiences and attributes as a profile, will begin to refer to more broad applications in the market. So I think eventually it will refer to a LinkedIn profile, maybe even your behaviour on Facebook and Twitter will be considered. Your profile as an individual, which is potentially the combination of a range of things, is considered when looking at bringing someone into employment."

John Rawlinson, Group CEO of Talent2, told Human Capital that the resume is not becoming irrelevant, but that it is clearly in a state of evolution.

“I can actually see a time when the whole resume ends up online and it will have more than just a profile, it will incorporate some testimonial, like on LinkedIn, it could include psych assessments,” he said.

“I see an evolution of the resume where more and more people will direct potential employers to their online resume space. A resume is a resume whether it exists online or not.

“The other really important thing about a resume is it’s a bit like a living, breathing document. If you can’t pull out your resume on a regular basis and update it, then you’ve actually stalled. A candidate should really have two or three different versions of a resume – perhaps a short version, a longer version, one that focuses on the different aspects of a job. It’s not gone, but I think more and more people are sharing the information in a resume via social networking sites.”

Guy Cary, managing director, First Advantage - Australia & New Zealand, told Human Capital that the resume is still important for a candidate to present themselves to an employer the way they want to.

“While the employer may have seen a candidate’s profile on LinkedIn, it may be somewhat generic and not appropriately targeted to the company or job in question,” he said. “A strong resume that represents what a candidate brings to a particular organization or role is still critically important.

“Candidates should be aware that many employers may review their online and social networking pages and compare what they find to their resume. Employers’ use of social media is the hot topic at the moment and whilst we can discuss the privacy and legal ramifications, the reality is that unless your organisation has a clear and documented policy, the practice will continue, informally or otherwise.”