Rethinking résumé
It’s wild to me to think the résumé might actually be dead.
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About a decade ago, I taught a business communications course to MBA students. One aspect of it was résumé writing. I’d share tips for crafting a standout résumé, then have students workshop each other’s drafts in small groups, pushing for sharper, more distinctive, and memorable copy.
Today, these skills are increasingly obsolete. AI can just do it for you.
My colleague Amanda Hoover has chronicled two major shifts in the workplace that are reshaping how people get jobs. First, she declared the death of the résumé. Hiring managers are increasingly ignoring them, as they are overwhelmed by a flood of AI-generated résumés and cover letters that look polished, keyword-optimized, and eerily similar.
That means job hunters are scrambling for new ways to stand out, especially as companies rely more on LinkedIn and referrals to narrow their candidate pool.
Ultimately, as Amanda writes, companies are much more interested in how these candidates can perform on the job than in how they present themselves on paper.
That leads to the second big shift Amanda focuses on: Résumés are out, job tryouts are in.
Companies are asking candidates to prove their abilities, sometimes for days or even a week in the office, through live tests and work trials. Employers can see a candidate’s technical skills and collaboration abilities IRL.
They can also assess how effectively a candidate can use AI tools in practice. This is the reality for many workers already on the job, too, especially as companies are increasingly tying performance bonuses to AI usage.
There are benefits on the other side, too. Job candidates can see how their prospective employers operate, who their new boss might be, and if the role or the company would be a good fit.
If I ever went back into teaching, the 2026 thing would be to focus on vibe-coding a way to find new job postings that fit your role. RIP résumé.
Do you think the résumé is dead? Drop me your thoughts at [email protected].
