are resumes dead?

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?