By Gabrielle Jackson Bosché, President and Millennial Strategist, The Millennial Solution
Hiring managers have dirty secrets.
The average resume is reviewed for 22 seconds. Cover letters are read for topic sentences and grammar. And sending a portfolio that wasn’t requested will never be read.
But today’s hiring managers are interviewing a new generation who has decided the old-school way of hiring doesn’t work for us.
Meet the Millennial generation. They are highly technical, incredibly interactive and highly customized. If you’re a twenty-something, typing up a typical resume and cover letter feels as uncomfortable as a suit at a track meet.
Here are three alternatives to cover letters you can expect to receive from a Millennial.
- Virtual Resume
One or two page resumes are a thing of the past. Resumes focus on events and not experiences. This generation moves from job to job quickly. We realize that our resumes don’t reflect our work ethic or the passion we bring with us. In fact, it shows the opposite. Jumping from job to job every few months while in college looks like we are indecisive. In reality, many Millennials used these short employments as “deployments” in various industry fields.
A virtual resume allows our work history to come alive. Rather than spending time in the interview reviewing who we have worked for, a live link embedded in the virtual resume will take you right to their website. There is no need to print off a traditional portfolio when we can include within our resume links to blogs and projects we have created at other jobs.
- Video Introduction
Millennials are the “selfie” generation. Before you start to point your finger (or selfie stick) at this generation, realize that this could be a great thing for your company.
Millennials are storytellers. We are inspired by photos, are visually oriented and believe that anything worth doing is worth posting on Instagram. We have grown up using social-sharing platforms like Facebook and now SnapChat to show the world who we are.
Millennials have become master-marketers by accident. We graduated from college into one of the most competitive job markets in recent history. We were fighting for jobs alongside our peers and our parents. “Innovate or die” became the mantra of the unemployable generation.
With apps like iMovie and Vine, this generation can create professional looking videos on their smartphones. Millennials want potential employers to see their personality and experience their passion. For candidates who are applying for jobs remotely, submitting a virtual video could be the very thing that lands them the job.
- Their eBook
It seems like everyone has an ebook. With access to sites like amazon.com and bookbaby.com, anyone with wifi and spell-check can become an e-published author.
We live in an age of information overload. Search engines equally create questions and answers about what (or who) you are searching. An ebook provides an individual the opportunity to show subject matter expertise in a particular area. For Millennials looking to impress their potential employer, a simple 10-page ebook shows they are knowledgeable, accomplished, and downright impressive.
A twenty-something applying for a job in financial services might write, “Investing Like A Billionaire’s Kid.” A Millennial eager to get their foot in the door at a consulting firm could write, “How Understanding This Generation Today Will Grow Your Business Tomorrow.” I could go on…
The interview process hasn’t changed much in the last three decades. The trifecta of cover letter, resume and follow-up call are a thing of the past. Hiring managers are overwhelmed with resumes, often before the job is even posted. This generation is taking a creative approach to introduce themselves to new employers. For more tips, download a free interview guide here.
Don’t cry that the cover letter is dead. With fresh new ways of connecting candidates to jobs, hiring doesn’t have to be such a chore… it can even be fun!
Related: Guest Column: Expert Reveals 3 Secrets to Hiring the Most Competent Millennials
Contributed by Gabrielle Jackson Bosché, author of 5 Millennial Myths: The Handbook For Managing and Motivating Millennials. She is the Founder and CEO of The Millennial Solution, providing generational diversity training and is an internationally acclaimed speaker. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Bloomberg Radio, TIME.com, and Business Insider. Follow her @saysgabrielle.
