As a resume writer, I like this story by blogger Mat McGuinness, who reckons resumes and CVs are a thing of the past.

In some ways, they are. They’ve got maybe five to ten years left as a going concern. It’s hard to say.

The main reason is most are boring. They’re eye glazing. They don’t have a unique selling point. Almost none use basic propaganda and persuasion techniques in content and design.

The job of recruiters will probably go the way of lift attendants in the next ten years too. Algorithms can do what they do, except maybe for some specific positions.

He makes a couple of errors by equating LinkedIn sites with resumes. He reckons they’re the same thing. They’re not. A resume is a first strike weapon.

He’s right about freelancers, especially in the arts, graphic design, etc. They still need a one or two page resume but much of their content could be found in a website or a LinkedIn site.

McGuinness reckons LinkedIn sites can be used to check the accuracy of claims in a resume. Nope. If a person is going to lie in their resume, they’ll lie on their LinkedIn site too.

He also confuses the aim of the resume and the cover letter.

A resume is a sales document of what you’ve done. A statement of achievements. It contains a hook in the unique selling point and awards/commendation; another hook in the executive summary; qualifications with years awarded, current tickets and licences; a list of key professional capabilities, software expertise, professional memberships, etc.

A cover letter targets one’s experience and makes emphatic, what they bring to the job and why that person is such a good fit. They may answer specific or general criteria as well. But the key message, written in compelling English, using accuracy, brevity and clarity, is why they deserve an interview.

They make a case like a lawyer. They provide evidence in the resume. The reader must be convinced by both the cover letter and the resume.

Resumes are here to stay for a while.

The real threat to resumes is generational drift away from text and towards graphics and pretty pictures. But that’s another story.