What is a CV in 2010?
What is a CV in 2010? (click on the link do download it!)
- You will find suprising figures
- You will find a model of CV in 2009 and a model of CV in 2010
- You will find ideas on how to develop your reputation and how to write a new CV!
Share it, criticize it, love, hate it, whatever but leave a comment on changes I should make.
For those who are doubtful about the figure “80% of companies used linkedin in 2008 as the primary source of recruitment”, here is the source, Jobvite Social Recruitment Report.
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/laurentbrouat
Denise Taylor said:
Jan 11, 10 at 9:51 pmDear Laurent
Thanks for sharing. It’s nicely laid out and some good content there.
I’m always encouraging my clients to use LinkedIn and other aspects of developing their brand, but most don’t want to get it … it’s hard work and they want the easy option. They will add links to their companies, but the personal blog/website … still won’t go for it, but I have got them creating personal portfolios, on paper!
The quote that 80% of companies use linked in to find candidates I found hard to believe. I’ve now looked at the report.
Sometimes when we look at data, we need to look at it carefully. The report provides a list of the questions asked. The question ‘Which social networking sites do you or your company use to find candidates? Check all that apply’ does indeed show a figure of 80% but this is based purely on social networking sites, not including other means of finding candidates – job ads, networking, referrals, direct applications.
So whilst I agree with you that there is a need to use social media, and the best web 2.0 method to use is LinkedIn, we still need to use a wide variety of methods.
Best wishes,
Denise
John Deely said:
Jan 12, 10 at 12:06 pmThought provoking and a call to action in relation to how things are changing…
· I think it is still of value to have a good CV that looks well on hard copy. Speaking as a psychologist, many people still like to digest things on paper even though a lot of information is absorbed on screens these days and transmitted electronically. The content however should be much leaning towards the 2010 version. In addition, there are still many elements of the employment market that rely on the more traditional forms of job prospecting even through the market is evolving pretty fast.
· In terms of content, Mentioning adjectives like conscientious is a waste of space for me and undifferentiating. These qualities should be implied by your achievements.
· For me a CV is a shop window. Stores don’t put all their wares in a shop window yet people clutter their CVs. Stores update and transform their window to draw people in yet people have a less dynamic approach to career and CV. Just like you expect a store to have a depth of products promised by the display, the promise of your CV needs to be backed up by the substance of your offer. The 2010 tools and principles you outline force people to reflect on the substance of one’s offer and that is a healthy career habit.
· I would quibble with the emphasis of you are “your own employer”. I think everyone is their “own agent” as such you need to take ownership for marketing yourself and thinking ahead.
Regards
John Deely
Mohammed Al-Taee, PMP said:
Jan 12, 10 at 1:02 pmLinks to social media accounts and using it as a tool for career advancement are what job seekers should focus in 2010.
Laurent Brouat said:
Jan 12, 10 at 6:05 pmThanks Denise for this add on, I fully agree that you always need to use a variety of methods BUT you need to focus on the more efficient ones (for me writing a cover letter is a waste of time even if it is a different way of looking for a job!)
Laurent Brouat said:
Jan 12, 10 at 6:12 pmJohn, many thanks for the comments and feedback. You are right, people still need paper to write things down but not necessarily a CV
.
I loved the metaphor with the shop window and the fact that stores don’t pull all their wares in the shop window.
Generally speaking people pull all their wares and their CV becomes a cluttered and no readable item!
Laurent
Jacob Share said:
Jan 17, 10 at 9:10 amNicely done and I’ll add: if you’re going to have a Profile/Summary section of your CV – a good idea for people with lots of experience – that’s where you need to focus on your achievements that are most likely to impress the reader. Be careful how you write the rest of your text, because you don’t want to repeat yourself unnecessarily.
Stumbled this for you, Laurent:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/JobMob/review/39220146/
Laurent Brouat said:
Jan 17, 10 at 1:16 pmJacob, thanks for the link, I will have a look right now.
Debra Van den Bleeken said:
Jan 18, 10 at 12:25 pmDear Laurent,
Thanks for sharing. It was interesting to read.
I’m currently working as a headhunter in Belgium. As I can see,the use of social media is important to find good candidates. In my company we are using LinkedIn as well as Facebook, Twitter, Netlog,…
About your topic of ‘What is a CV in 2010′ I agree that candidates still want to write something down on paper but that they have to focus more on achievements and recommendations.
The thing I miss the most in a CV is the objectives of the candidate. What does he want to do in the future? What does he want to achieve? Both the short and the long term?
It’s not because he’s a manager at this moment that he wants to be a manager in the near future.
Regards,
Debra Van den Bleeken
Laurent Brouat said:
Jan 18, 10 at 12:27 pmThanks Debra for sharing this information…it shows to all the people reading the CV in 2010 that headhunters do use social media to look for people!
John Hamilton said:
Jan 21, 10 at 8:28 pmInteresting article Laurent. My advice to candidates and individuals at the moment is to think hard about what you are applying for and respond accordingly. By and large, traditional industries still work in “traditional” ways so a covering letter and a more conservative CV style might be more appropriate than in more social-media-savvy sectors.
As for paper over other formats, I’ve yet to find a client who would entertain anything other than a hard copy document that they can write on, hand to colleagues and so on. I remember an organisation trying to punt CD CVs to me about in the late 90s – it didn’t catch on then and I still don’t see any.
But the key themes of this discussion are write – whatever the format, make sure the CV and application tells me what you’ve done (quantifiable achievements, not a job description), what your objectives are and what you can bring to my (my client’s organisation).
The JobVite research is a US study I guess? It would be interesting to know the figures for UK which I suspect are a good deal lower just now. It’s changing – recruiters like me use LinkedIn for research, with mixed results, and I know some major corporates who are quite active, but I don’t see it as a major tool for most UK HR Managers in small companies although I’d be interested to hear the views of others.
Best regards,
John
Laurent Brouat said:
Jan 21, 10 at 8:41 pmyes John, it is an American study but still the use of linkedin to find candidates is definitely the trend even in the UK.
Your word about writing is a key element…it is still important to write things down and this blog is one of the proof. Achievements need to be written down, and not a job description as it is shown in the example of the CV in the old model. I think that traditionnal industries have to change as well…interesting comment and thanks for sharing it! Laurent
Frédéric RAFFESTIN said:
Jan 22, 10 at 10:34 amInteresting and I globally agree with all of this (comments included).
I personaly followed the mood and recently took a lookback to my old CV and I can confirm what you say: My CV in 2010 does not look to my CV of the Year 2000 ! You must move to keep in touch with what happens outside, don’t you ?
But, I made it (my CV) in a version that is compliant to electronic use and readable use.
I will add that you must keep using paper copies of your CV. As it was said (and I confirm since I’m a jobseeker at the moment), you can still see the recruitment specialist with a paper copy of your CV on which they can write down some comments …
Besides that, I consider that the cover letter still exist. In a different way, but it still exist. OK, must probably replaced by the mail, but what do you do in that mail ? The same thing, but a bite shorter and more “catchy”, but you still have to get the attention of the person you sent it to and sell youself to him.
Regarding new technologies, I confirm what John Hamilton said in his comment. I work in IT/IS domain, and I was tempted as many others in the 90′s to do a CD CV but I never did … So what, didn’t do me any harm. And I consider that VIDEO CV will go the same way … A burst that will really not last long.
Finally (because there is much to say on that subject), I agree also with another comment saying that making your own brand is hard work and needs to be fulltime for it. I personaly created many profils (linkedIN, viadeo, xing, doyoubuss),as well as a blog, but I’m not always able to do all what I planned/wanted to do (despite my situation; I must not forget that the most important for me is to focus on finding a job) !!!!!
Frédéric.
Marie-George said:
Mar 13, 10 at 9:45 amBonjour monsieur,
Excusez moi mais je ne suis pas d’accord avec ce que vous dites ou en tout cas cela me trouble sur le hub bordeaux BEM. Je suis en recherche de stage pour ma césure. Il s’agit de mon premier stage long et cela est très difficile puisque je me doute bien que de ce stage dépendra mon futur métier (fonction, secteur, responsabilités).
Le problème et je n’ai pas de mal à le cacher car je sais que cest le cas de nombreux étudiants dans le monde, c’est que je ne sais pas ce que je veux faire. J’ai beaucoup de préférences. Achats, être utile –> développement durable, parler anglais au quotidien, travailler dans une équipe multinationale..
Cela fait malheureusement pas mal de critères. Donc à la recherche d’un stage on m’a dit, cest le poste le plus important mais pas l’entreprise forcément. Je suis attirée par le secteur de l’énergie, eau (industrie, environnement). Mais n’ayant pas trouvé d’offre dans les achats dans ce secteur, je me tourne vers les offres que je trouve la poste, la société générale…cela n’a rien à voir mais le poste décrit toujours la même chose:
-négociation avec les fournisseurs
-reporting et critères de sélection
- maitrise du pack office et anglais courant
-etc
Je suis en module B2B et voila on nous dit bien que on n’a pas besoin de connaître toute la technique d’un produit/ou service pour être bon. Il y a tant d’autres paramètres pour un contrat commercial la personnalité de la personne, mais aussi la capacité à comprendre les enjeux géopolitiques, économiques…
Je trouve donc cette vue assez réductrice, et française. Surtout quand les recruteurs parlent de diversité: il n’y a pas que le produit de l’entreprise, il y a aussi le management la culture d’une autre entreprise quand on vient d’un autre secteur. Pourquoi n’est ce pas vu comme une richesse?
Vasilica M Margalina said:
Mar 16, 10 at 9:15 pmHello,
Thank you for your presentation today at Bordeaux Management School. Even though I’m an active person in social media I’ve never seen this type of CV. I know the benefits of being an active membre in professional networks. I know people who found a job only because they had a personal blog where they shared their knowledge in a field of activity.I know also people who meet in a social network and create a company together. In mi opinion the experience is great not only because you can find a job, but I learn so many things from this people. For me as a student is important that a company director shares his knowledge and experineces with me. And I’have known so many persons in the offline world thanks to online professional networks.
And Laurent, what do you think about publishing the CV in slideshare?
Regards
Laurent Brouat said:
Mar 17, 10 at 12:11 pmHi Vasilica,
You welcome for the presentation at Bordeaux Business School!
A CV in a slideshare could be another way of being creative…but everything depends on your goals and targets…who are you targeting with that CV?
Vasilica M Margalina said:
Mar 17, 10 at 6:45 pmWell, from what I’ve seen I think a CV in slideshare is used more by business people, because is very easy to share it in another online professional communities or tu publish it in you personal blog. In mi opinion a CV in slideshare is not about who you target is a more visual way of presentation of the CV. Slideshare can be used as a suport and from there send it to the target
.
I ask for you pemision to share your blog and the presentation in my professional blog in Comunidad Hosteltur in Spain. I’m curious to see I’ve they saw this type of CV in Spain and what they think about its use.
Vincent Duboc said:
Apr 01, 10 at 1:09 pmAbout your vision of a CV in 2010, and the importance of reputation:
Signal is at least as important as actual expertise for a first impression, and we are in an era of communication, where signal is made every day easier, through technology and communities.
More and more people will become expert at signaling. You say it in the presentation. You can also read Tim Ferris’ blog and books, that’s one thing he does really well. One of his ideas about expertise can be found here: http://createbusinessgrowth.com/networking/how-to-become-and-expert-in-4-weeks-timothy-ferriss-style.
One challenge for recruiters will be to separate the degree of actual expertise from the degree of expertise at signaling.
One challenge for people with actual expertise will be to learn to signal them, if only in order not to be overcome by signalers.
Writing a stunning CV and preparing interviews are already part of it, checking references for a recruiter is already a part of it, but I think it will become more tangible.
Laurent Brouat said:
Apr 06, 10 at 1:43 pmThanks Vincent for sharing your view. Indded we have more and more experts, and recos will the Key app.
Fraser MacLeod said:
Apr 13, 10 at 11:15 pmLaurent, I am interested in your commentary on CVs in 2010, and the way in which social media is changing the face of recruitment. In part I agree, but in part I also question.
Marie-George comments that it is difficult for students to enter the workforce, yet these are the very people who are likely to be most social network savvy. While I accept that the way they present their CV may play a role, I think there is equally an important issue in regards to how the CV is received by the prospective employer.
In my experience many employers demand a covering letter explicitly as one of their criterion for applying, and many also specify what criteria they wish you to address – especially in the public service. This can make life with a new style CV very difficult, and tends to push us back to the more traditional approaches.
The other issue that I would like to raise is the role of social network connections in recruitment – do recruiters give any special attention to these, as often they are built up not with a view to establishing contacts with professional colleagues and friends, rather than explicitly to support recruitment!
Laurent Brouat said:
Apr 16, 10 at 10:11 amHi Fraser,
You raise a question that I have been thinking of for a couple of weeks now…I wrote an article “Social media is not (yet) the best way to recruit”. But some industries and recruiters are a bit scared of using social media, and sometimes they have been using it in the wrong way, piling up contacts only to reach whoever they can. This kind of recruiter does not know how to use it and hopefully will be kicked out. Now about the cover letter…it is a tricky one. Some companies especially the most old-fashioned ones, still ask for it…but let’s face it, as a recruiter I almost never read a cover letter….but for some industries, it is still needed. It is really a fool game!
Isabelle Sibille said:
May 20, 10 at 10:09 amDear Laurent
Thank’s a lot to share your opinion about the sucessfull CV for 2010. I’ve just lost my job and for the first time since 6 years, I have to make my new CV. All informations are good for me. I will take acount of your advice.
Thank you
isabelle