Having started out as a career innovation by Leonardo da Vinci in 1482, CVs have continued to evolve over the last 500 years with trends changing as recently as ten years ago. Although they started out as a formality, CVs are now an expected part of any job application and it is up to candidates to continually adapt their CVs to meet the current demands of potential employers. Job candidates today still experience constantly changing expectations from employers in regards to what they want to see in a CV; currently, CVs place more of an emphasis on personal branding instead of focusing on previous jobs and experiences, but there are numerous other differences that candidates have to take into consideration to ensure their CVs do not appear dated.
Thanks to the increased use of social media and online job boards, candidates are expected to go the extra mile to distinguish themselves from the competition. Rather than emphasise previous experiences in terms of duties and job descriptions, candidates now have the chance to showcase their achievements and personal accomplishments throughout their career history. Many CVs now include a dedicated section to list achievements such as promotions, completed projects and career results; for example, if a candidate has managed to increase sales, then they can give the exact percentage and go into further details. For candidates, this offer an opportunity to present their proud accomplishments to employers, and to provide a bigger picture of their career drives. The advantage of this is that candidates can give off a clearer and more personal impression to employers of what kind of worker they are, how they have contributed to previous jobs and what their motivations are.
Another way that job boards and electronic format have changed CVs are how candidates are expected to make use of key words throughout their CVs. As employers can receive numerous job applications at one time, it makes sense for them to sieve through the pile by running simple word search programs, or by scanning through the document themselves to find words that catch their attention and meet the job criteria. This also means matching your key skills and job titles to common industry terms; for example, noting specific systems such as SAP, oracle or remedy that they may be familiar with. Candidates should make sure they know their target industry and company well enough to match the language they are looking for.
When choosing key words, it is also important to be selective with language in order to come across as a proactive candidate, while avoiding cliché phrases such as ‘motivated’, ‘goal-driven’ or ‘independent.’ Instead, employers prefer to see words such as ‘adaptable’, ‘confident’ or ‘innovative.’ In the end, a CV needs to paint a positive picture of a candidate and spouting out clichés only gives off an unenthusiastic impression. The problem is that a majority of CVs can be thrown away before they are even looked at due to systems which automatically scan a CV for matching key words and phrases, but it is up to candidates to match their language so they do not fall at the first hurdle.
Perhaps the most significant change in CVs is that it is no longer a matter of ‘one size fits all’. These days it is common practice to create specific CVs to match specific roles, even if it means ending up with a variety of CVs to apply for a number of jobs. Candidates should take extra care to tailor their CVs to match what they believe to be the criteria of an employer. The key thing to be cautious of for any CV is to keep a target audience in mind, and to adjust a CV in accordance with industry norms and specific company values. One more bit of advice is to adapt the format of a CV to online readers; as more employers are likely to view CVs on a screen, it is best to avoid chunks of text whenever possible, make good use of bullet points and good use of white space, so it is much easier to read. Although some candidates opt to use different fonts and colours to attract the attention of the reader and make their CV easier to follow, it is important to maintain a professional look with any CV and not to go overboard when attempting to make it stand out.
As previously mentioned, a CV is no longer a simple formality that a candidate can type up over a lunch break on a single sheet of paper. There is no denying that these changes present a greater challenge to job applications; at first glance these changes may appear daunting, but rather than seeing it as a difficult and demanding process, candidates can see it as an opportunity to show off a more personal side in regards to their previous career accomplishments and approach to work. Gone are the days of typing up a block of text listing previous jobs; candidates are now expected to be proactive and self-driven towards their career.
Edward Mah
Sources:
https://standout-cv.com/pages/cv-writing-tips
http://www.greatresumesfast.com/blog/2013/07/09/how-has-resume-writing-changed-in-the-last-10-years/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robasghar/2013/05/20/times-have-changed-your-resume-needs-to-change-too-2/#cace3b2f4729
https://robinresumes.com/2014/06/how-resumes-have-changed-over-the-years/
http://time.com/money/4621066/free-resume-word-template-2017/