Brand-Yourself.com has a phenomenal set of regular visitors (if you are reading this, then I am talking about you!).  Some of you comment occasionally, many of you read and share your favorite posts – but I know that all of you have something to add to the conversation.  Starting today, I’d love to see every single one of you begin to share your unique viewpoints via the comments section below.

To accomplish this goal, my next few posts will each pose a question to you, the readers.  Today’s question is:

Will resumes be extinct by the year 2020?

What do you think – will a resume forever be the ultimate proof of your worth to potential employers?  Or will other media prove to be more effective ways to showcase your skills, possibly by 2020 or sooner?  I share my viewpoint below, but since I am neither a psychic or a time traveler, my opinion is merely a guess – please share yours as well.

I believe that by the year 2020, resumes will have joined dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and dial-up internet in the “fully extinct” category. Personally, I already find an 8.5 x 11 white sheet of paper to be a woefully inadequate representation of a person’s life, career, and skill set.  How can thousands of hours of experience be boiled down to a Microsoft Word document?

Already, 80% of jobs today are not advertised or posted on job boards.  I suspect a large majority of these jobs are filled by candidates with strong existing connections and/or a reputation built and sustained by efforts other than a resume.

The advancement of social and business networks, web profiles, and personal blogs have essentially replaced and upgraded the common resume, in my view.  During the past year, I’ve updated my Linkedin profile dozens of times, I’ve sent over 2,000 tweets, and I’ve updated my resume a grand total of… zero times.  In fact, I don’t even know where my resume file is – maybe somewhere in the My Documents folder between pictures of my dog and an old grocery list?

To be fair, there are still many job openings today that absolutely require a resume.  For these jobs, bloggers like Jorgen Sundberg and Miriam Salpeter are an invaluable resource.  For executive level jobs, there is no question that a perfectly-tailored resume is a near requirement, a specific subject in which Meg Guiseppi carries much expertise. Yet, I can’t help but wonder whether today’s new wave of recruiters and hiring managers will soon start to fill even these roles in a different manner.

I’ve stated my case – but now I want to hear yours.  Fast forward to the year 2020, and envision the job market.  Are jobs still filled via resumes, or has the poor resume seen its time in the sun disappear forever?

Ryan Rancatore can also be found at Personal Branding 101, discussing the tools and tactics that will help you build a killer personal brand in 2010 and beyond.

Ryan would love to connect with you on Twitter at @RyanRancatore, or on Linkedin, Facebook, or Brazen Careerist.

I am an entrepreneur.  My work is a major part of my life, and I love what I do.  That being the case, I would never employ anyone not passionate about the work they would be doing.  Also, I am certain that neither my clients, nor anyone hiring for professional services, would engage a consultant that is not passionate about what they do. Why not?  Well, a person that is really into what they are doing is more likely to stay on top of trends in that area (the world changes every second), to perform their tasks with joy (morale is key!), and to take pride in the outcome of their work, while bringing positive energy to the process and motivating their co-workers.

What is passion anyway?

Even though everyone has heard the word and has an idea about what it means, there are different views of how it is perceived in reality. In my work with personal development and personal branding, I define passion as an emotional state in which

1.  A higher energy level is reached and

2.  You feel that you are doing something truly meaningful for yourself and for your self-realization.

Many people find that when they are truly passionate about the task they are performing, they enter into a state of “flow” (check out the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience for more on how to find your state of flow). When you are in the state of flow, your emotions are positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand.

The higher energy level itself could be the definition of passion, but it does not represent the factor of time.  To keep the energy level elevated, the second part of the definition must hold true. Otherwise, it is likely that a rapid burnout will occur.  Your task could be something meaningful for you, perhaps relating to your family or friends.  However, it is also important to be able to maintain this flow state in other situations. To maximize self-realization, try finding flow in areas such as your work, your hobbies, and the activities you engage in to grow as a person. It may not be easy, but it is certainly worthwhile.

Can you learn to be passionate?

Most would say that passion is something that cannot be learned, and that it is connected to the intrinsic values of a person. I agree that one’s values may not be easy to change, but I also believe that one can learn to find passion in most situations. It could entail new ways of looking at your current work, identifying aspects that actually tap into your passion areas or tweaking your workday to suit your values and beliefs better.  You may not know it, but your passion could be hiding right in front of your eyes. If you don’t see it yet, keep looking! Nobody likes filing papers, but think about why you’re doing it.  What’s the end goal?  If that doesn’t motivate you, maybe you aren’t in the right place.

One of the best ways to build your brand is to work with your passion; identify that passion, and work to find clever and creative ways to incorporate it into your daily tasks, however boring they may seem on the surface.

Next week I will write about HOW TO: Reach you potential by working with your passion.

Are you getting close to graduation?  Do you have any idea what career after college you would like?  There are some lucky college students who have it all figured out and know exactly what they want to do in their career.  Then there are others who think they know what to do after college (but will change later).  And there are those who have no idea what to do in their career after college.

For the lucky few that know exactly what career you are going to pursue, good for you and I wish you nothing but the best of luck after college.  For any others in either the “I think I know” or the “I have no idea” category, then I hope you find this a bit helpful.

Social media and social networking have opened the doors for you to get greater insight to almost any career you choose after college.  You are able to read blogs, review articles, connect with “friends” or follow others on any number of sites.  But here are a few actionable items that may help you better understand your choices for a career after college.

5 ways to become to become more hirable for your career after college

1. Use Twitter to follow people in industries you think you are interested in entering. Follow targeted people to expand and enhance your knowledge and contribute to the conversation.  Interaction can open doors!
2. Use LinkedIn to cold call and do a quick interview of people in companies or positions you find interesting. Find target companies and people within departments of interest to call and introduce yourself.  Do not make it a pressure call, explain your strong interest in the company and you wanted to gain insight as to what makes a great hire for the team.
3. Join Groups and Fan Pages on Facebook to expand your insight to a topic or career. Network, plain and simple.  The more people you connect with and share ideas with, the higher the chance that someone will begin to take an interest in you.
4. Read Wiki’s to see who subject matter experts are in a particular field and gain their knowledge. Add value to wiki’s which will help you to introduce yourself to other subject matter exerts.  Add value to important topics and you will also be able to find out those that are “experts” within the industry.
5. Read blogs on topics of interest. The more you read and find out who is also passionate about a particular topic will allow you to begin to leverage a wider network and reference new points of view in your conversations.

Then, after you have gained some insight to what it is you are either interested in or might be interested in after college, then you may begin to focus on the how of getting into that career.

I will elaborate on the “how” in my next post but hopefully this will provide you with some thoughts to stimulate your thinking on landing that career after college.

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

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While researching for this article I came across a lot of information about what to do once you’ve landed your first post college, professional job.  Great!  So what happens if you don’t have one of those?  In fact, what happens if you are not one of the graduating seniors with a 4.0, 3 solid summer internships, and a ton of volunteer hours?  What happens to the average student’s career after college?  It’s no secret that jobs are harder to find now, and especially difficult if you hadn’t decided exactly what career you want to pursue before you graduated.  This, however, is not a time to despair.  Jobs are still available if you know where to look and are willing to go a little bit outside of your comfort zone.

Here are six tips to help you get a career after college:

1. Broaden your focus. If you happen to be one of the lucky individuals who knows exactly what career you want to pursue, but are unable to break into it at the moment then don’t be afraid to take a job in a different field for a while.  If you studied business marketing, but really enjoy going to the theater then volunteer doing promotions  or fundraisers for one.  If you enjoy being outside, apply for jobs or internships in the national parks.
2. Don’t be discouraged by low paying jobs. Choosing a job now does not mean that is what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life or even longer than a year or two.  If it’s in a field you find (or think you’ll find) interesting then go for it.  The worst that can happen is that you discover that you don’t want to work in that field anymore, and well, that’s something you didn’t know before you started.
3. Be willing to re-locate. This is a scary thing for many people, but being willing to move for a job does not mean that you have to go overseas.  If, however, you give an employer the idea that you must stay in a certain city, you may be missing a great opportunity.  For example, if your family is from Austin, TX, and you are the small town, family-oriented type who wants a job near family, don’t rule out working in cities like Dallas or Houston.  The jobs there are more abundant and it’s not a very long drive to mom and dad’s house.
4. Look for jobs in other countries. Certainly, the US job situation has affected other countries as well, but it is sometimes easier to get a job overseas.  One good example is teaching abroad.  Places such as Mexico, Russia, the Czech Republic, China, and Japan have a great need for certified (classes to become a certified TESOL teacher range in length from a weekend to several months) English teachers. Teaching abroad would be a unique experience on your resume that will help later in your US job search.
5. Network! This doesn’t mean that you must attend a lot of fancy balls or benefits.  Simply talk to people you meet – you never know when or where you may meet someone that will be able to help you later.  Going to local job fairs and career fairs are a good idea too, but it’s harder to stand out because of the high volume of job applicants.
6. Take a temporary job. If your current resume is a long list of dead end jobs, or you have no work experience then consider going to a temp agency.  You can apply for jobs in a field that interests you in order to get related field experience.  It’s also a great way to decide whether the industry you thought you wanted to work in is really a good fit for you.

Remember that it’s not at all uncommon for people to have more than one career in their lifetimes.  In fact, some studies suggest that Americans will have worked in an average of 5 different careers by retirement age.  This chance to travel and be adventurous will probably not come again as the increasing demands of life limit your options (spouse, kid, solid job with upward mobility, etc) so use the hiring hiatus to your advantage and get paid to do something you love when you find your career after college.

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Bethany Stringer is a graduate of Texas A&M University (class of ‘08) and has her B.A. in English Literature with minors in History and Psychology.  Writing her first story at the age of 5 (with help from Mom), Bethany still enjoys writing and researching about everything from business and history to travel and fiction.  Enamored with languages, she plans to teach English in Russia in 2010 as a CELTA certified teacher.  She owned her own business working horses when she was 17, and still loves riding her horse Romeo.  Always appreciating a challenge, she loves sea kayaking and prefers Rachmaninov to Bach.