Kenya’s unemployment rate is increasing, and for the youth who graduate every year, hoping for greener pastures, only 33 per cent make it to employment. 

The remaining, a staggering 67 per cent of them, are always trapped in limbo – education certificates in hand, but nothing to show for it. 

This crisis has left thousands of Kenyan youth making applications after the other, hoping someday there will be a ray of hope, and that’s the much-anticipated ‘you-are-hired’ email notification. 

It begins with job advertisements everywhere – LinkedIn, job sites, X, and several other social media platforms are always a buzz with vacancies posted, calling for applicants to apply. 

And applicants are always in a rush to beat deadlines, hoping that maybe that one job application will be the end of their misery.

Whether in the cyber or from one’s laptop or smartphones, several tabs open with applicants trying to find the right templates, keywords, and formats that can refine their resumes. 

Once the CVS and cover letters are ready, they set them out in online portals, e-mails, and some even hand the printed versions physically to companies. 

And that’s where the nightmare begins. Two weeks later, a month, and several months later, nothing happens.

No reply, no regret message – just silence that keeps breaking the hope of many applicants. 

This harsh reality unfolds for many youths who are always left wondering if they didn’t really refine their resumes accordingly. 

“Before landing my job, I had applied for more than 100 positions. I would wake up every day to tailor my resume according to specific job requirements. I would look for SEO optimisation strategies, the best ATS-friendly templates, and even paid CV builders to do one for me,’’ says Liz Wangui. 

She adds that out of the applications, she only got around seven invites for interviews and still did not get a job. 

Her current job, which she was lucky to secure after nearly six years of unemployment, was through a referral from a friend who knew someone in the company. 

Her case, a reflection of many youth who have now resigned to the fate that you have to know someone to penetrate the corporate world. But is this really the case/ are resumes on the verge of death? 

While sending a tailored resume and a cover letter is sometimes always part of the process of applications, it seems like many employers and human resource practitioners are turning away from them and relying more on other channels. 

According to Silvia Njambi, a Career Development Coach and Senior Manager, today, many employers are turning away from resumes as they don’t offer tangible proof of an individual’s skills and capabilities for the role advertised. 

As such, they are resorting to more tangible channels such as video resumes as they allow recruiters to effectively assess applicants based on their skills since they can see beyond the experience listed on the paper. 

Unlike traditional CVs, video resumes offer a more engaging and dynamic way to showcase a candidate’s personality, communication skills, confidence, and several other qualities that employers look for to determine their suitability for a role. 

“Employers are looking for quick video intros instead of long cover letters and resumes. They can easily allow for a more personal and engaging experience, which is also particularly useful for a showcase soft skill which a paper resume can’t really show,” says Njambi. 

Additionally, she explains that recruiters are also more inclined to portfolios and work samples as they offer solid proof of one’s skills and ability. 

“Portfolios and real work samples that speak louder than bullet points. Employers want proof of your work over a resume,” she says. 

LinkedIn has also emerged as the new-age resume, with LinkedIn profiles becoming more influential than the white paper CV when it comes to hiring decisions. 

“LinkedIn is one of the channels taking the lead at the moment. A strong LinkedIn profile that tells your story. This is widely being used as a background check tool,” she notes. 

Kate Nderu, Director, People, Culture, and Change at Knitwise Human Capital, says that as part of her hiring process, she goes through the top LinkedIn profiles that appear on her searches for specific roles. 

“With most of the applications that come in, I always ensure to go through the applicants’ LinkedIn profiles to see what they have to offer. The ones that stand out the most always have the higher chances of getting shortlisted,’’ she says. Noting that people should not overlook the power of LinkedIn. 

Additionally, Nderu says that the platform is also ideal for networking as applicants can easily engage with their potential recruiters. 

More notably, she agrees that the power of referrals is still supreme compared to the other channels. 

“40 per cent of the people I recruited were through referrals and word of mouth. It goes to explain why networking is very important, something that individuals should leverage,” says Nderu. 

Najabi also adds that referrals and networks that get you in the door faster, hence the need to jump at every opportunity to network. 

‘Sure, employers still ask for one, but more and more, they’re looking at your LinkedIn, checking out your work online, and seeing who knows you. It’s less about listing what you’ve done and more about showing how you do it and who you are while doing it,” concludes Njambi.