After completing a video production internship in 2010, Igor Kharitonenkov set out to find a job in communications. He networked and sent out dozens of resumes, but got no response.

Then he tried a multimedia resume that used a QR code, the pattern of black-and-white squares that takes viewers to a website when scanned with a smartphone. With a few clicks, employers could check out his work history, letters of recommendation, and samples of his work, including a video about Bootstrap Compost, a Boston recycling firm, that he shot for his blog on sustainable businesses.