Are traditional resumes becoming a thing of the past?

As this article from the Wall Street Journal explores, some companies are beginning to move away from traditional resumes in the application and recruiting process. For example, Union Square Ventures, a New York based venture-capital firm with a strong social media presence, recently asked job applicants not to include a traditional resume. Instead, they requested applicants send links to exhibit their “web presence” and a short video showcasing their interest in the position.

Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures, expresses that she is skeptical of resumes because they lack a lot of pertinent information. “We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, [and] how they think,” Cacioppo states in the article. With high unemployment, nontraditional application methods can also enable companies to narrow down large applicant pools quickly and effectively.

Don’t disregard your resume just yet; traditional resumes are still necessary for certain positions as even innovative companies like Google still depend on resumes as a crucial part of the hiring process.  Moreover, it will be interesting to see how the nontraditional application process evolves with web 2.0.  Will it survive?