Daype Classifieds

Resumes and cover letters. (woodley wonderworks / Flickr.com / Creative Commons)

(MYFOX NATIONAL) — As everything from mail to newspapers to medical records makes the inevitable transfer to digital form, it may come as no surprise e-resumes are also on the rise.

Multimedia resumes provide free and easy access of video, audio and document applications to employers through the Internet.

Students who create these e-resumes can express themselves in ways that may be the difference between getting hired and combing the classifieds, Omar Gallaga, technology correspondent for Austin American Statesman, said.

“It’s a matter of people wanting to stand out from the pack, wanting to define themselves better than what they can do on a paper resume,” Gallaga said. “It’s understanding that recruiters are looking for more than the paper resume; it goes hand in hand with the growth of social media.”

Web sites such as Visualcv.com provide the tools for people to create free multimedia resumes.

Job candidates can post an unlimited number of resumes and customize each for the type of job they want.

Communication professor Youmei Liu teaches advanced Web technologies at the University of Houston.

She said e-resumes allow people to express their personality and show employers they know how to work with the Internet and its tools.

“Students not only can list traditional items on the resume, but they can add hyperlinks to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Some students’ coursework can be more effectively displayed in an electronic format than on a piece of paper. E-resume is especially powerful when the job market is becoming more competitive,” Liu said in an e-mail.

Many other e-resume Web sites similar to Visualcv.com such as Monster.com , Zolio.com and CareerBuilders.com , are also available.

One way to post an e-resume is through Web hosting companies that provide free server space to post e-resumes. These sites provide simple instructions on how to upload files, Liu said.

Students can also buy Web space from Web hosting companies, which allow them to have complete control of their paid server space, but prices are dependent on services.

“Every student can create an e-resume by using a word processing program on computer, since this is a computer-generated electronic file,” Liu said.

Students working with e-resumes should be aware of the risk of copyright infringement.

Posted videos containing copyrighted images or background music are vulnerable to accusations of copyright infringement. A resume should be the student’s own work, Liu said.

“If they need any supporting materials that belong to others, they need to make clear reference and sometimes they need to get permission from original author to use them,” Liu said.

By Francis Vazquez
April 6, 2009
source: myfoxchicago.com