I’ve Set Up A LinkedIn Profile, So Do I Still Need a Resume?

Dear Cassie,

Do recruiters still expect a written resume, or is a link to my LinkedIn profile enough? It’s basically the same information and it seems redundant to create a resume.

Thanks,

Tim G.

Dear Tim G.,

Yes, a written resume is an absolute must and is still expected by recruiters. I actually have a policy that if a candidate is interested in working with Impact Advisors, s/he must submit a resume to me. Otherwise, how will I be able to conduct an interview relevant to their skills if I know nothing about them?

However your question does merit some discussion. Your resume may seem redundant to your LinkedIn profile, but that is not necessarily the case for everyone. Many people use their LinkedIn profiles to accomplish other goals like furthering a side gig or include more information about them than would be appropriate on a resume, say for instance if they are a pastor in their local church. Technically, a LinkedIn profile is a personal social media profile even though it is mostly used for professional purposes. Individuals are welcome and encouraged by LinkedIn to include more information than just their professional experience in the “Interests,” “Causes you care about,” and “Personal Details” sections.

Therefore, just because much of the information is the same, you should still delineate between your professional resume and a social media outlet. And here are some helpful tips to maximize your LinkedIn profile because I do agree with you, Tim, that LinkedIn is vital to a successful job search.

Although even though I agree with you about the importance of LinkedIn, I would also encourage you to consider how you represent yourself to a possible future employer. When a recruiter requests a resume from you and you submit a link to your LinkedIn profile because the information is redundant as you say, it’s not going to leave a good impression. During the interview process a candidate should be demonstrating their willingness to go above and beyond expectations to earn the job. Simply sending a link to a recruiter won’t showcase this quality and may leave the impression that you’re lazy. And I know you don’t want that.

Good luck to you, Tim!

Cassie

Have a career question you’d like to see addressed in this column?  Post it in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer it!

About the author

Cassie Sturdevant

Cassie Sturdevant is a Senior Recruiter for Impact Advisors, a healthcare IT strategic and implementation services consulting firm just named 2013 Best in KLAS for Overall Services. She specializes in humor and follow up.

4 Comments

  • I agree with your advice that if they ask for a resume, then send them a resume. I think that’s good advice in general. Give them what they ask for. Although, there are more and more people that are hiring off of social profiles and not just resumes. It depends on the position you’re looking to obtain.

  • I would love to chat with a recruiter that has hired a candidate without a resume. In all of my network, I’ve never heard a recruiter say they have done so. Social networks are key in hiring today. Recruiters constantly Google their candidates, check their LinkedIn profiles, check Facebook, and the like; however, I’ve still never heard of a hire being made without a resume.

    John, connect me with that recruiter, please!

  • I guess that’s the other topic worth exploring. How many hires happen without a recruiter? The ones I know of aren’t recruiters that are hiring. It’s usually direct hires. I’ve done a number of those myself.

    My favorite example of this and probably the first time I saw it was here: http://avc.com/2008/02/we-are-looking/ and then you can see how it’s evolved: http://avc.com/2010/04/we-are-hiring-at-union-square-ventures/ I think they’ve done it another time or two as well. Definitely non traditional, but really interesting. I’m seeing more startups do similar things since it’s often about fit as much as it is about skills.

  • John,

    Those are really interesting examples. I was actually thinking about it and when I joined Cipe Consulting Group, I never submitted a resume because I knew one of the partners and I informally interviewed. So you’re totally right and I think this is much more common in the start up world. Cipe was definitely in start up mode when I interviewed and joined. I’m not sure we’ll see this in larger and established companies, just yet anyway.

    Thanks for the examples, John! Very cool.

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