The right sort - what we do like: an acceptable approach for the British psyche?

This is the third in a series of 5 articles. In the last couple of weeks we’ve looked at photographs on CV’s and video CV’s. Today - is there any form of self promotion that we Brits are likely to embrace?

The good news for candidates and recruiters alike is that more recent advances in the development of the CV do appear acceptable to the British psyche. The Virtual CV in particular has a good chance of success in either the form of a “Personal Professional Website” or online CV.

Personal Professional Websites- a more business-like approach?

We are used to assessing a company, hotel or even restaurant via their website and it appears we are comfortable using the same format to assess people. Much more than an online representation of the CV, personal professional websites give employers the opportunity to see a ‘work portfolio’ and find out more about the skills, knowledge and motivations of a candidate than they could ever hope to glean from a traditional CV. More importantly, they appear to provide an environment in which we are happy to promote ourselves in what is seen as a professional and “tasteful” way.

Andrew Dodds, a recruiting manager for a Technical Design company agrees:

“A well put together personal website gives you a much broader view of the candidate. It does not appear too salesy or pushy and has become far more widespread in the technical design and IT industries- neither of which are particularly known for their in-your-face applicants”

On-line CV’s- a natural progression?

Launched in February 2008, VisualCV is a free service for professionals who want to quickly and easily create a comprehensive and professional looking CV online. In addition to the information you would expect to find on a CV it allows you to be more creative. You can include links to work samples, PDF’s of reference letters, hyperlinks to employer information, links to blogs and other media. Links to the pages can be sent to prospective employers and shared with firms that have pages on the site.

VisualCV was aimed at the American market, but has received a lot of good press coverage here in the UK. It’s too early to say what the take up will be but this is a tool that our industry should watch with interest. It might just provide the easy-to-use, standardised online template that UK hirers and recruiters could benefit from. It seems like a natural way of using technology to sell yourself, but UK candidates and employers have yet to catch on in large numbers.

In the case of either a website or on-line CV perhaps it is the on-line aspect which sits comfortably with our Britishness. It appears in-line with the way we do business, displays style in addition to content in an accepted fashion and perhaps most importantly appears slightly more removed and professional - very British indeed.

Next week we look at 'Professional Networking - getting other professionals to sing your praises'.

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