Paper resumés may be a thing of the past thanks to a new program called Student Genius that turns a traditional résumé into a digital, online experience.
Former BYU students teamed up with current BYU students to build a site for online résumés to combat the 50 percent unemployment rate of students after graduation. It is a movement to provide solutions for students with employment problems.
Brandon Prettyman is a student ambassador for Student Genius who helps students create their profiles.
'We're a group of students from BYU and UVU starting a movement against student unemployment,' he said.
Student Genius is a website for students to make a profile to showcase their resumé, work experience, projects or anything else in a way an 8x11 resumé couldn't, Prettyman said.
'On this profile you can put a picture of yourself, information about who you are as an individual, you can put a classic resumé, you can put projects you've done in school, or anything you want on the profile,' Prettyman said.
Once the profile is completed, companies can browse through and find the right people for the job. They can look at GPA, major, work experience or anything else posted, Prettyman said. This saves employers a lot of time and resources and helps the students stand out.
'The moment you put it up there you have pretty much a 24/7 interview going all the time so if you're not at career fair or at interviews or sending out resumés you have it up there,' the student advocate said.
Prettyman explained that part of the reason students aren't getting hired is that classic resumés don't allow students to stand out among people who have years of work experience.
Patrick Tedjamulia, co-founder of Student Genius, said the goal of Student Genius is to bridge the gap between students and professionals and help students understand careers and how to get there.
'There is a divide between professionals and students, there is a lack of knowledge between the two; we have a way to solve the gap,' Tedjamulia said.
Student Genius is not only a place for students to showcase their work, it is a place for students to work with professionals on how to build an outstanding profile and land a job.
'Students can collaborate with professionals, and they can help you figure out how to build a resumé and give advice on what jobs to go after,' the co-founder said. 'We're taking a step forward to managing careers, experiences, and collaborat(ing) with people, not just connect(ing). We're taking the professional profile to the next level.'
Ryan Yerguesen, a senior studying accounting and economics, said that he thinks it is an innovative idea but is skeptical about how it looks to companies.
'In my honest opinion, what it shows them is that these people couldn't get jobs in other facets so they turned to online media or they're doing it the lazier way like, 'I hope I can send my resumé out to all these people,' he said.
Whether it's lazy or innovative is up to the employer, but the creators of Student Genius say that it helps the students stand out when they otherwise would not.
'This is taking the old resumé and building it from the ground up for the web,' Tedjamulia said. 'We are making it visual and social.'