Some call it a resume. Others use the more grandiose Curriculum Vitae – beaten down to CV. But it’s the same old bio-data. And they all start the same way.

Dear Sir, Please find enclosed my latest CV…yada, yada, yada.

Sometimes the covering letter/email itself would be cluttered with half the CV. More considerate souls would add an attachment. Either way, listing the same stuff: Key strengths, list of organizations and roles handled, education qualifications and coordinates. Maybe a photograph – Photo-shopped, of course!

Boring! Let’s start again:

Dear Ms Hiring Manager,

I am happy to share my profile via the following links:

(a) LinkedIn profile: My professional success and career chart

(b) YouTube Channel: Live stories from some of my workplaces

(d) makinglifehappen.com: My blog

The above presents a balanced professional and multi-faceted human being. One who will add value to your organization.

There’s much more to me, of course.

Looking forward to taking this conversation forward.

Much better, no? An audio-visual-textual-conversational-social-virtual format. Now how cool is that! Hiring managers can see the raison d’hire rather than read it.

More to the point: What does this say about the candidate? Immediately:

1. Serious enough about the role to have ensured that her overall profile – not just her ‘CV’ is updated
2. Understands the power of Social Media and optimizes it for personal improvement
3. Recognizes the power of the ‘optical’
4. Is not afraid or shy about her personal passions – in fact is happy to exhibit them
5. Has attitude – the right kind!

Chances are that the first link a hiring manager will open would be the YouTube link – simply because it promises some entertainment along with the information being sought. Story-telling has been a top personal grosser since childhood!

The resume’ as we knew it is changing from a CV to a See Why – truncated to CY. (Let’s be Gen-next all the way!) Now, hiring managers can ‘see why’ they should hire the candidate – not just read about her.

Today’s scientific screening processes provide a great deal of help while finding the right fit. However, odd balls do slip through – particularly the ones who have cracked the so-called ‘code’. Or those who have sough the help of professional CV writers and the ‘career counseling’ ecosystem.

Also, selection as one goes up the hierarchy, is rarely a one-person decision. Candidates get circulated to the entire chain of linkages that the role partners with. And, no matter how structured the hiring methodology, every individual in the hiring process has a ‘how-can-she-benefit-my-business’ bias. Basics, like language delivery and personal grooming, chemistry get considered alongside the more serious qualifications, skills and competencies required for the job.

So, a visual profile that is equal to the physical profile makes a good starting point. Because, let’s face it, when interviewers receive a resume, their fingers are already typing the name into a search engine.

It’s weird, but true! Isn’t it enough that a person has committed their professional past – in writing? We really don’t know the long answer! But here are a few guesses:

Social recluses are suspicious: If the person does not have a virtual presence, there must be a good – not necessarily a positive – reason for staying invisible.

Search Engines are not fussy: If it’s out there, everything will show up… The Internet is a perpetual repository for, well…everything.

Audio-visual and social power: Proven human traits! If we see and hear it for ourselves, we understand it better. If there are conversations happening too – first prize!

Professional is good – Personal is equally good: Personal pursuits are a strong indicator of an all-round personality – other than a few exceptions, no one really wants a geek…

For recruiters, the CY promises to perform all the functions of the CV – and much more. And the bonus is that it takes away from the drudgery of reading the same lines, and jargon – often blatantly cogged from online resources. More to the point, time and money gets saved.

There’s good news for candidates too – just the simplicity of the whole thing. It’s not as if this is a radical idea. It exists in India too. However, mind-sets – familiar devils – need to change. First movers are first winners.

Candidates and hiring managers need to recognize that a resume is not merely a sales-pitch, or a menu of competencies, strengths and work-ex. It’s an audio-visual story, the saga of an ongoing journey. Where mental agility, learning, common sense, personal integrity and will to win are all being constantly tested. To answer the big question: Can we hire her?

Let’s CY.