The Evolution of the Job Application
People used to say the greatest invention was the wheel. Now, if you ask a young person applying for jobs what the greatest invention is, the answer would be the internet.
You used to be able to walk into a workplace and hand your resume and paper application over and speak to a hiring manager immediately. Now, it’s not so easy. You’re asked to fill out an online application that asks you to upload your resume, and then fill in the same information on the next 17 pages. And then repeat the process for every single job or job search site. How did we get here?
Let’s take a look at the progress we’ve made in the world of job searching.
1632- First post office established.
Allowing people to mail letters and applications and apply for jobs out of state. And wait an extraordinarily long amount of time for a rejection letter.
1876- Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
Let the phone interviews commence!
1969- Hello Internet.
Although it wasn’t widely used yet, this is when it all began.
1980- Cell phones were invented.
You are no longer bound to your land line and only the wealthy and Zach Morris could afford them. Also, they were quite large.
1983- Fax machines *insert ear piercing noise here*.
Making it easier for job seekers send many resumes at once and employers to gain more candidates.
1989- Dial up, home computers, and email are all the rage.com.
Anyone with a computer has an email address and resumes can be sent instantly to companies.
1990’s- Cell phone use increases.
Everyone and their brother can afford one and the internet costs you your first born, but you can access nearly anything in the palm of your hand.
1999- Online job boards were created.
We are still familiar with these today and they are how a large majority still find jobs
2010’s- The rise of social media.
Companies start to invest time and money into the internet to increase potential candidate awareness.
2015- Video. Resumes.
Although they aren’t the first, video resumes are on the rise and more companies are looking for innovative ways to benefit from them. Bye-bye paper.
Having related experience and writing a killer resume are key elements for your job search, but the automation of the process allows job seekers to show a little creativity when applying for your next job. Video resumes are trending, but what could be next? While it’s nice that we don’t have to use a typewriter, envelope, stamp and post office to get a job, my hope is that the next trend will be a way to upload a single resume to multiple sites in one step!
