Attraction / Is the traditional CV dead?
Edwin Soares
October 20, 2014
The CV is considered to be the most important document in the recruitment process and in many cases the first item an employer reviews when assessing a candidate. The CV dates back to 1482 when Leonardo De Vinci created the first “professional resume.”
With the CV being over 500 years old, it’s time to review and ask the question: - is the traditional CV dead?
Society is moving at a breath-taking pace, technology constantly evolving and what’s considered new today will be outdated tomorrow. A catalyst for change has been social media; Facebook recently celebrated its 10th birthday and has grown to over 1 billion active monthly users, Linkedin launched in 2003 and now has over 300 million members. 20 years ago the CV was probably the only way an employer could measure a candidate, in today’s society we all have a digital footprint (a big contributor being social media profiles), all online activity can be measured and goes some way to defining your brand. Therefore how effective is a CV?
It could be argued that it creates a veneer around your personal brand, this is the image you are trying to portray and many employers will see through this. Your digital footprint is often considered to be a more accurate representation, “37% of employers use social networks to screen potential job candidates.” This is a growing trend and with the increasing absorption of social media, do we need a CV?
Another limitation of the CV is that it’s fairly one dimensional; the format is fairly standard – generally two pages outlining skills and experience. As a recruitment agency we process hundreds of CV’s a day and often it can be difficult to distinguish one candidate from another.
Returning back to the original question: - is the traditional CV dead? For me the traditional CV isn’t dead, but employers are placing less emphasis on the CV and developing a holistic view of the candidate by reviewing many elements: – social media, the media they consume and in some cases interpersonal skills through using video. In conclusion, there will always be place for a CV but to really stand out from the crowd you need to consider more than just a CV: - social media, blogs and video. This is only the start, with the rapid advancements in technology less focus will be placed on the CV and more emphasis on your digital presence through your personal brand.
What do you think of the traditional CV? Is it still as effective or do you assess candidates using other mediums?
