By Cheryl G. Murphy, OD 
In this new world of social media, LinkedIn, e-mail and web presence, have traditional, paper-printed resumes become obsolete? I had to do something the other day that I haven’t done in about nine years: write a resume. The last time I had written one was upon graduation from optometry school.
Back then, I remember going to an office supply store to get high-quality paper and carefully printing each page, meticulously ensuring that the ink did not smear and that I had picked a standard font that was widely accepted. As I went on interviews in search of a job, I remember being proud to hand the interviewer my resume. The extra thick, high-grade paper felt substantial to hold between my fingertips. To me it meant something. That the eight years of college, board testing, vision research and work as an optometric tech had finally culminated to that moment when I could present potential employers with all of the reasons why they should hire me outlined on one sheet of paper.
If you would have asked me back then what social media and web presence were, I don’t think I would have had a clue, but today these are familiar terms to me and to potential employers. Long gone are the days when the first time an employer digs into your history is at the interview when you hand them your resume. Now there is a high chance that they may have, at the very least, Googled your name ahead of time.
So, are traditional paper resumes becoming obsolete? A Wall Street Journal article that appeared in January of last year thought so noting that for some companies, traditional paper resumes are not needed partly because employers can find out all they need to know about you online. “Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates’ suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.”
In spite of that, Stanford Graduate School of Business argues on their blog that you “[should not] throw out that resume just yet, the majority of companies are still spending their time sifting through the mountains of resumes submitted for each job opening.” This includes the company Google itself which, according to the Wall Street Journal, has assigned hundreds of employees to sort through and read each resume that is submitted to them. If you think that sounds like an easy job, they said in 2011 that they had 2 million resumes submitted for approximately 7,000 positions.
I have to agree with Google. Although professional social media, web presence and LinkedIn may give employers a sneak peek at who you are, they are not worthy replacements for a resume and it seems that the companies that have been the first to ax the resume requirement are industries in which a strong web presence or sphere of influence is required.
In optometry and in medicine I think it is necessary to see a doctor’s qualifications, education, awards and skills neatly outlined upfront, although you may want to skip paying extra for that high-quality printing paper. In my experience I have found many optometric practices and companies are now requesting that you submit your resume online by uploading it or by sending it as an attachment in an e-mail. Of course, there are still some employers who will ask for a printed, paper copy of your resume, so it’s good to have them handy, but will there be any need for paper-printed resumes nine years from now in 2022? Perhaps not.
As a practice owner, are you having OD applicants submit paper or electronic copies of their resumes? What are the advantages of a paper resume versus an electronic one? Do you think that as technology advances, paper-printed resumes are becoming an endangered species and will one day become extinct?
Cheryl G. Murphy, OD, practices at an independent optometric practice in Holbrook, NY. You can like her on Facebook or follow her on twitter @murphyod. To contact her: murphyc2020@gmail.com.
