Is the traditional CV dead?

Oh Curriculum Vitae how I remember thee.

I remember trying to think about what hobbies and interests I had that wouldn't put potential employers off and what GCSE's I actually got.

In the statement and skills / interests it would be fairly generic

  • Good communication skills
  • Work well in a team
  • My favourite was "I have a gregarious personality"
  • I can use a Microsoft word, PowerPoint and Excel (a bit)

The list goes on etc etc

Yes as an potential employer I need to know enough about you to get you in for an interview but how then do you separate the wheat from the chaff? How do you stand out from the rest of the 10 paper based CV's that sit on someone's desk, how do you make your mark?

Social media has been a revolution in terms of recruitment and LinkedIn is the foremost of these social networks dubbed the network for professionals. The ability to have an online profile, a history of previous roles with recommendations from your colleagues, partners and clients can be very powerful. In the age of social media anyone can find out a great deal about you in a matter of minutes through Google. To ignore these channels would be foolish as these networks also provide a great opportunity to network and connect with other professionals and potential employees.

In the 21st century the lines between personal and professional are becoming more and more blurred and as more and more people join the workforce who will challenge tradition I don't think this will slow down.

But is having a LinkedIn profile enough? I'd argue that you need to think about all the available  channels as a way to showcase your work, what you're about, who you are and what you're capable of - to give you a personality and voice. it's who YOU are!

Think about "brand you" and even if you have a job and a great career you still need to be thinking about what your offline / online profile says about you and what you've done. I'll be hosting a session here on the community about "brand you" so what for this in the future.

I came across about.me a little while ago which is a great tool for aggregating all your social channels in to one place and can be used for professional purposes as well as personal.

I've seen some great pages and really well designed, here is my effort http://about.me/mikecollins007

However the thing that made me really think that things had changed and that I would never again complete a CV was when I came across this SlideShare from a chap called Paul Evans. There are plenty of others out there like this (some maybe better) but this is the first I saw and thought "wow, why didn't I think of that"

Paul Tuckers CV

So what do you think are times changing and is technology helping us change the way we seek and look for work?

Is technology changing the way in which employers look for potential employees?

Is the traditional CV dead?

I'd be interested in your thoughts and if you have any other examples you could share of doing things differently

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Replies

  • Just came across this on the interweb which is quite creative and a different approach to a CV although a CV is provided as well

     

  • I'm always on the look out for things that stand out and are different.

    I came across this guest blog on designing an 'Alternative CV'.

    The writer has used Prezi to design an alternative CV and shares the Prezi in the below post. It's well worth a look

    Alternative CV

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