-By: Planet Booking–
With an increasingly competitive talent pool, standing out with a traditional resume is more challenging every day. I recently received a resume filled with swear words. Likely a desperate attempt by the candidate to get noticed, his method of differentiation made us question his actual skills if he needed to lean on vulgarity to stand out. Differentiating yourself is smart though it’s equally important to be smart and appropriate in your approach.
“In the game of getting noticed, the CV is dead,” my colleague stated recently. His declaration sounded dramatic at the time, but the sentiment resonated with the rest of our team. Is the CV an ancient artifact?
One thing that’s for sure is the CV is no longer the only shot at scoring an interview. Job application magic happens when you weave a coherent story, using relevant channels, that focuses specifically on the open position. We notice 4 kinds of profiles that boost a candidate’s eligibility by creating a multifaceted, accurate representation of you and your abilities.
Your Business Networking CV: LinkedIn
LinkedIn is now the most common first point of contact with a potential employer. Your profile is a versatile and dynamic way to showcase yourself. Add those course certifications, presentations, published works, projects and even videos you’ve worked on. Include clear, concise descriptions of your work, get recommendations from relevant connections and present a list of your skills. What a recruiter wants to know: Your work history, past projects, recommendations, and performance.
Your Tech Community CV: StackOverflow, GitHub, Tech blog, etc.
Your online tech presence can boost your application by showcasing your pet projects, open source contributions, and community participation. Your projects showcase your tech awesomeness and reflect your enthusiasm, innovation, and experimentation. In the job market, these channels function as excellent tools in catching recruiters’ attention. What a recruiter wants to know: Are you the tech guru you claim to be? Have you worked on projects apart from your regular job? How much clout do you carry in the community?
Your Social Media CV: Twitter, Facebook
Your presence on Twitter and Facebook can sway your application as these channels demonstrate your personality and interests. What a recruiter wants to know: What are your interests? Are you a culture fit?
Your Paper CV: The Job Application
The CV is the perfect way to tie your overall application together. Highlight links to your online profiles and keep it concise. Your paper resume is a snippet of your complete profile, not a full list of everything you’ve ever done.
In the end, the CV is now simply one component of an application rather than the most important part. Our best advice is to create your online and paper presence to accurately reflect you, your talents and your personality. Happy job hunting!
Written by Meghna Singh, Tech Recruiter