In this e-age with social networking and video conferencing it brings about a good question - have these new trends rendered resumes old school and dead? I mean think about it, Facebook and Twitter have such vast networks of interconnected people to connect with in a moments notice, so why go through dozens if not hundreds of resumes to find a good fit candidate when it's easier to get a feel for a person via their Facebook profile or Twitter page? On top of that recruiters and hiring managers know that candidates generally come with personal references from people they know and/or have worked with before. Can a resume alone do that?

Let's face it social is powerful and from the looks of it, here to stay. While the verdict is still out on the value of resumes, my guess is that they will still be around but not used in the way they once were. The role of the resume from here on out will likely be a supportive role versus the star of the show. As social continues to outpace any other source for staffing and recruiting, more and more hiring decisions will be made in social circles with resumes simply providing support for hiring decisions already decided. In short, resumes will simply confirm hiring decisions. The exception to this rule is if/when the resume shows something vastly different than from the perspective of the hiring decision makers i.e. falsely claiming to have credentiasl and education, etc. So as long as there are no big issues with a persons resume, the gut feeling of the hiring manager and/or recruiter will prevail. That's one persons opinion anyway. Even if the resume isn't dead (yet), one thing is sure, resumes aren't going to continue as the front runner for hiring decisions over the next five years. Who needs a stale piece of paper when you have a virtual interview profile via a YouTube video and realtime job leads via any number of social networks?

Perhaps you haven't yet heard but it looks like the good folks down in the valley, i.e. Silicon Valley, are driving job growth with this recent tech charge. Oh really you think? Well 1,200 new jobs coming out of the San Jose area definitely qualifies as a charge albeit short of a tidal wave. At the same time, considering the rather stagnant hiring coming out of the Valley, until now, this recent tech charge provides a glimmer of hope.

So what's fueling the Silicon Valley tech charge? Well, Google certainly has their hands in pot but it looks like Facebook is leading the way. Facebook is hiring people like IHOP is cranking out pancakes. I mean, HR over at Facebook is a little overworked right now. Not so good for HR, good for you if you're a techie, live in the Valley and want to do some fun cool stuff with the Facebook UI (for the non-techies that's User Interface).

As you know, Facebook recently made a big change to their UI that didn't go over so well with a good percentage of the Facebook users. So to that end, Facebook has been listening to their users in terms of likes, dislikes and wish lists for current and future upgrades to Facebook. This sounds like none other than a win-win. Facebook gets happier users and techies get to lobby for new jobs. So let's guess how many resumes Facebook has in the queue - 150K, 200K? Maybe so but that's still a far cry of the 250k resumes Google has sitting in the queue from their recent Android hiring wave. In any event, don't let the large number of resumes scare you off; over half are generally unqualified to begin with. If you've got what it takes get your name in the hat. It's been a while since Silicon Valley has been on the forefront of job growth with a tech charge; don't sit on your hands waiting on the next run. Timing is everything.