If you think the CV is outdated and irrelevant, it’s something best kept to yourself around here. Companies have been using them to find the best talent since 1970 – the same year our own Bill McKimm was born. I suppose the difference is that, in more than 50 years, Bill has changed, learned and adapted a lot.
The CV has not.
Your CV is your “course of life”. That’s what curriculum vitae means in Latin. It’s where you’ve been and what you’ve done. A CV wouldn’t be complete without a list of the places you’ve worked and a bit about what you studied to get there. But a CV is no longer enough to complete a job application.
Most companies look first on LinkedIn. Most of us are on it. And, more than a CV, a social network gives hiring managers a far better idea of the person behind the name. Here, you might be sharing articles that interest you, interacting with colleagues and companies, even creating your own content (if you’re not doing any of those, they’re good next steps). And you can prove your skills more tangibly with testimonials and recommendations from contacts in your network and leaders in your industry. The future of recruitment, after all, is skills-based.
Your digital profile also means there’s no longer any need to alter your CV for your audience – if you’ve got a skill they want, an active online presence will make sure companies can find it. The axiom “show don’t tell” applies here. You can write anything on your CV. But online, your course of life is more open and much clearer. It’s also easier for companies using machine learning or artificial intelligence to narrow down candidates – and, before long, lots of them will be.
So, if you’ve finished your CV, your job search is only just getting started. Keep your LinkedIn profile active and up to date – and if you’re looking for a direct line to some of the leading companies in the technology economy, get in touch with a recruitment specialist like, well, Industrious Code.
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