Candidates spend a lot of time working on their resume and putting up every possible professional and educational detail.This article is authored by Pinkesh Shah, Co-founder and Director of Programs, Institute of Product Leadership.

It is time to press the panic button as the hiring scenes in India Inc. are changing. Gone are the days when flowery resumes fetched jobs. In today’s fast-paced business environment, recruiters are using different tools than the resume to hiring the best of best talents available in the market talent pool. Whether you have the degree from top colleges or you have done any course in upgrading your technical skills, what matters now is how good you are in those skill set when tested in a business environment. Live platforms for demonstrating one’s skill are replacing resumes in hiring. 

Candidates spend a lot of time working on their resume and putting up every possible professional and educational detail. However, recruiters comprising of industry experts are no more going through the abundance of data on an individual’s resume. The resume remains unnoticed and hence the chances of getting placed with better employers become grim. The next big job remains a far-fetched dream. 

Today’s reality is that we live in fast-paced times, where technology is the new buzzword and bots are likely plotting hostile Facebook takeovers. How to get noticed is the next big question that a prospective job seeker should think about. The answer to this complex problem, is to Participate and put yourself out there! The best way to get noticed is to enrol in industry events that bring together job seekers and the who’s who of the industry. 

Industry giants are no more interested in resumes. Skillathons and Hackathons are some of the events that the industry experts look forward to for hiring.  A few years ago, it was not relevant to look for domain expertise since India did not have enough people in the product management space at that point in time. Today, the hiring managers look for in a candidate is, if he has the curiosity to identify the pain areas in the customer's portfolio, his ability to monetize the product plan and his ability to collaborate, network and negotiate. All this is judged now through hiring events like Skillathons.

Skillathons is an event where an individual’s skills are being tested by subjecting them to real-world business problems in the said skill to understand how ready they are to face real-world challenges. Besides the fact that they’re super fun and enormously stimulating a lot of hires are taking place basis the skills you demonstrate during your turn in the event. 

Hiring managers and industry top-notches are interested in seeing whether or not you can rise to a challenge, turn it on its head and come up with an innovative solution. And that is precisely what a Hackathon allows you to do. A Hackathon is more than just an opportunity to get your gray matter kicking—it’s a chance to get noticed by the bigwigs while you’re at it.

Hiring for top roles in technology requires a lot more than just coding. It’s about understanding what the market is looking at and a hire being able to collaborate, network and negotiate. Technology knowledge is not as important to be a good product manager as is the ability to identify the kind of technology to be used to build a successful product. All these cannot be tested basis a candidate’s resume. Unless these skills are put to test, the true talent of a candidate cannot be measured. 

Therefore, instead of focusing on upgrading resumes, the candidates must excel in the portfolio of demonstrable skills.