What Will Resumes Look Like in the Future?

While written resumes are still the standard way to demonstrate your skills and experience when you apply for a job, they are constantly evolving in terms of format and content. Even in the near future, resumes may look completely different from today’s briskly efficient, bulleted documents. This article will cover three ways that resumes may change in the future.

AI Optimization

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being used to some extent to help recruiters narrow down the candidate pool. However, the current process is subject to error and relies primarily on keyword matching. In the future, AI will likely be used to help employers ensure that they are unbiased in their hiring processes and that they are hiring the best possible person for the job.

AI may also be used to evaluate someone’s LQ, or learning quotient. This refers to how well a job candidate can learn and adapt in new situations. This is already happening on a small scale, with employers focusing more on soft skills (which are more difficult to teach and learn) than hard skills (which are easier to teach and learn). For example, for a sales role, an employer might hire someone who is very friendly and outgoing but lacks sales experience over someone who has technical sales experience but isn’t personable.

Future resumes will likely need to be geared towards this possibility, and written to show how well you learn new things in addition to showcasing the skills you already possess.

Greater Focus on Who You Are

Many companies are also shifting towards hiring candidates who will fit into the company’s culture and thrive both personally and professionally, rather than simply hiring automatons who never miss a day of work. To this end, future resumes will probably include more information about your interests, goals, and passions. In the past, resumes have been fairly dry documents, outlining the facts with little room for personality. This has already changed somewhat, but it’s likely that as resumes continue to evolve, employers will expect to see more personal details.

Video, Multimedia, and Social Media Resumes

Resumes may also move away from the predictable one-page PDF format. In some industries, it is already considered acceptable to submit a video or creative resume. However, we may see more creativity in terms of resume formats moving forward. Especially with the rise of professional social media sites like LinkedIn, it may not even be necessary to create a standard resume at all in the future, or perhaps only for certain roles. Even now, it can feel redundant to submit a resume as well as your LinkedIn profile link, since the same information can be found in both places.

Additionally, virtual reality and augmented reality may come into play for resumes as well as the hiring process and even the everyday workplace. For example, employees in New York City can virtually attend a hiring event in Tokyo, or an artist could submit a virtual reality recording of a recent gallery show as part of their resume.