I am here to tell you that resumes, cover letters, and job descriptions are going the way of the dodo.

I saw a lot of commotion today about the staid and venerable cover letter. There seemed to be much angst about the importance of cover letters, and getting the name of the recruiter correct, and making sure you did not misspell manage. They stated emphatically that the cover letter is a must to stand out from the crowd. Really? That is standing out from the crowd? Maybe that worked in 1990, but it isn’t getting people very far in 2010.

This is the real problem with the entire talent acquisition paradigm, it is based on pieces of paper that provide little insight or value when trying to discern who is the right person for the job. The resume, cover letter, job description and various tools to parse these artifacts are not giving the hiring manager the types of measureble and quantitative data to make fair and justifiable hiring decisions. What is missing is a way to measure whether the job seeker has the skills to succeed in a particular role.

I digress though, the real thrust of the post comes down to how, when hiring managers are drowning in a sea of resumes that all look alike, to truly stand out from the crowd. The first step would be to know all about the company before even applying; understand what challenges they face, how to address those challenges in the role, what positive business results could be expected by you in the role. The next step is to side step the gatekeepers and reach the actual decision makers, using social networking tools. Introduce yourself as someone that can solve business challenges. Third, make a case for building your own role in the company. Most job descriptions are complete rubbish and are set up to filter people out, whereas your goal is to build the real job description in the conversation with a hiring manager.

That is how you stand out from the crowd. Know the business before you apply for the job. And please no more cover letters.