QR codes are the next big thing to hit the marketing world, which seems to be including when you are marketing yourself. These codes, which stand for Quick Reference, give your audience a quick peek at whichever detail you are trying to provide, be it your website, blog or Linkedin page. I have done some research on these codes and I am trying to find a downfall and a reason not to create one and post it on everything, but I have only found a few. There are many places also that you can put your QR code that you may not have though of; email signatures, cover letters or business or networking cards. All of these are a great way to market yourself and can be used at a career fair, happy hour,dinner meeting or just to hand out to friends that may have contacts to help in your job search.
One downfall to these QR codes is that some analysts feel that human resource departments or hiring managers are not yet familiar with these codes and will be turned off immediately. Some thing that these codes could take longer than a year to actually catch on or even longer. Another worry with the QR code is that it takes more time and energy to crack the code than the meaning of the material. HR departments are always strapped with time and the number of resumes they can receive for one position can be overwhelming, taking a picture of a coded box and waiting for the material to upload may not be on the top of their list.
Moral of the story? Though it is obvious that these little hidden boxes are becoming huge in the US they may not be suited for everything. Sure they work in marketing ads and posters where we cant wait to decode them but when it comes to your resume maybe you should wait for the HR department to figure out what one is first. For now its not a "don't", its just a "think before you act".
