Cathy Marion

Late one Friday afternoon, your new international development director, Jason Worthy, requests a meeting with certain urgency in his voice. After months of scouring endless stacks of resumes and conducting countless interviews you finally landed Jason, the highly sought after young ace, to spearhead your marketing efforts in Japan. Armed with a Harvard MBA at 21 and fluent in seven languages, he was already on the fast track to the top by 28. As the recruiting director for a leading biotech firm, kudos soon followed for your outstanding new hire.<br /><br />"Well hello, Jason, how are things going so far? How long has it been, a month or so?<br /><br />"Actually, three weeks. It's been fine, really, but I need to discuss something with you. I have had a change of heart.<br /><br />As yours skips a beat, you ask, "What is it?<br /><br />"Well, I regret to inform you that I am giving my notice. I really appreciate the red carpet treatment I have received here, but I am going in another direction.<br /><br />"Oh?<br /><br />"Yes, I am going to become a Buddhist Monk. I just knew it was my calling when&<br /><br />The buzzing in your ears is compounded by the impending dread of trudging through reams of resumes and interviewing hoards of unqualified applicants in your quest to fill the opening. With as many as 1,000 resumes presented for any one opening, your concerns are founded. Resumes are often outdated, unorganized, impersonalized and limited to static, standard information that may not directly address your company's interests, or unique job profile.<br /><br />Enter the new portfolio approach, a complete paradigm shift from the dated paper resume to multi-dimensional "career marketing. With personal networking at an all time high, this is the latest web trend for job placement. Much more than the traditional resume, career marketing offers employers a better organized, comprehensive and personalized system of exploring applicant qualifications that extends far beyond the printed page. <br /><br />An exciting new aspect of this is the development of the career portal ("CP), an innovative way of displaying a career portfolio on the web. These cutting edge career portal websites (portal known as point of entry), display a 3D personalized presentation including audio, video and youtube links. At a glance, hiring managers can see and hear applicants present themselves by simply clicking on various credential tabs which outline the qualifications that are most important to your corporate needs.<br /><br />A traditional resume format, generally relegated to one page, cannot possibly lend itself to such expansive options. The flat, one dimensional paper resume can never offer hiring managers a true feel for who the person is or how they may fit into the corporate culture. It is like comparing a traditional X-ray to the modern MRI. The MRI yields much more comprehensive, organized information and creates a more complete portrait.<br /><br />The professional state of the art portfolios are organized in a viewer friendly way, with tabs offering information such as a credential flash show, calendar (availability for interviews), salary, job status, resume, and voice/video intro. You are able to view more candidate contents and quickly select the information you need at a glance. A credentials quick view may include employer links, papers/thesis, marketing or business plans, foreign language and international experience. Updates can be made instantaneously.<br /><br />Web career marketing services decrease candidate's interview time and enhance screening insight for hiring managers, saving significant time and money for screening and interview processes. For instance, after previewing the applicant's initial presentation, you could have the opportunity to further evaluate his potential by reviewing his thesis without the time commitment of continual interviews and document requests. Or, if you are seeking a marketing specialist, a look at an applicant's business plan may help you better evaluate her abilities.<br /><br />Jeffrey Calannio, founder and president of MyCredentials, sees the greatly reduced screening time and interview cycle while enhancing the decision process as a huge benefit to employers. After personally reading over 50,000 resumes during the past 15 years, he views web career marketing as a major breakthrough.<br /><br />"Although there is always resistance to something new, we have had an incredible reception for our MyCredentials career portals, he said. "With the success of youtube and the Millennium Generation who grew up on computers entering the workplace in this decade, web career marketing will skyrocket. This service not only compliments but is a dynamic extension of the paper resume.<br /><br />As noted by President John F. Kennedy, "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. Indeed, career portals may be a pivotal point of entry into the future of professional career recruitment.