Online Resumes & LinkedIn Profiles

It’s 2017, and let’s face it: our world is becoming more and more dependent on technology by the minute. When I was wrapping up my undergraduate work in 2005, an “online portfolio” was a requirement for one of my degrees. Students scoffed at this: why would an employer want to deal with a CD-ROM when they could just look at the binder in front of them?

Little did we know, job seekers were already turning toward online options; in 2005, LinkedIn, for example, had 1.6 million members. By 2016, that number had increased to 450 million.

Clearly, technology is not going away, and employers are only becoming more reliant on the Internet in their candidate reviews.

Still, though, a major question stands: if one has a LinkedIn profile, does one really need an online resume, too? The short answer is a resounding yes.

For the longer answer, look at just a sampling of perks an online resume (such as KudosWall Pro) offers that LinkedIn does not:

No Advertisements

LinkedIn can be overwhelming and distracting, simply due to its use of advertisements and “promoted links.” When employers look for potential hires, they want a neat, organized, and streamlined document; the fewer distractions, the better.

Resumes on KudosWall Pro do not contain advertisements or clickbait and instead appear just like your resume would on a sheet of paper — with many added bonuses, such as being able to quickly manipulate various aspects of it (hiding descriptions and rearranging sections, for example) and including links to other sites.

Ease of Navigation

KudosWall Pro is simple to navigate, both as the owner of the document and as a viewer.

When you create the document, you easily input information and can then edit every aspect of it from one screen (rather than editing one section, saving it, and moving onto another). It is also incredibly easy to select various options of your resume/portfolio to show and hide at certain times and to different people.

It is clear and concise for viewers as well. There is one screen with just the applicant’s information neatly laid out — no miscellaneous links, advertisements, or promotions to navigate around.

Customization

With LinkedIn, what you see is what you get. While you can somewhat customize the profile by leaving different sections blank, the sections are predetermined by the website, and the order that they are displayed is immovable, too.

With KudosWall Pro, there are four preloaded categories (work, education, recognitions, and volunteer), but any of those can be hidden, and you have the opportunity to create any other sections you see fit. Additionally, it is easy to rearrange the categories: for a job application, you may want to have your work experience at the top, but for a merit-based scholarship, you may want to highlight your academic achievements, which is easily done with a simple click-and-drag.

Additionally, the format on KudosWall Pro can be switched between resume (what one would typically attach to a job application) and portfolio (a document that includes images, videos, etc. to showcase one’s work).

Links to Social Media

While there are roundabout ways to incorporate links on your LinkedIn account, it is nowhere as easy and seamless as on your KudosWall Pro resume. With KudosWall Pro, there are already spaces for you to input your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and yes, LinkedIn handles — in addition to other profiles that you would like to include. Like with all other features of KudosWall Pro, these can be easily changed from “show” to “hide” with a click of the mouse.

There are certainly perks to LinkedIn as well: it is a tremendous networking tool in the professional world, and one in which others can easily endorse your skills and expertise. However, it should definitely not take the place of an online resume or portfolio, which has the tremendous benefit of highlighting one’s talents and experiences.

We know that technology is a key component of our society today, and we can only predict that it will continue to become more and more imperative in the future. Start on that online resume now — and be ahead of the game.