Forget resumes and cover letters, the competition has taken a leap into the virtual world

I read a  New York Times article recently that talked about how an organization used Twitter to hire its six paid interns. The way they conducted the hiring process was through a competition in Twitter. Based on the results, the finalists were called on for a personal interview some in person and some via Skype. This might seem a little too out of balance in a world of traditional resumes and cover letters, where people adhere to strict rules. Cover letters cannot be more than 1 page, resumes have to be formatted in a certain pattern, etc.

I am not surprised if slowly in the future the whole idea of resumes and cover letters are seen as being archaic. People all around the world have rapidly adopted to the digital age, yet majority of businesses still seem skeptic about the whole idea. While some daring companies like the one mentioned in the NYT article have started taking new steps, it's only a matter of time when things like our digital signatures, our blog posts, our online profile will mean for much more than just social networking.

You can read the full NYT article in this link: Competing for Summer Internships, Using a Twitter Contest