Articles
The following article was penned by the Founder of CVSi for 'The Contact Directory' and reproduced here with kind permission of Expat Network in
Your Way to Success … with Electronic CV's
Recruitment has evolved. Gone are the days when potential employers and recruiters faced the tedium of sifting through perpetual mounds of Paper CV's. Gone are the days when the intrepid Expat armed himself with hundreds of copies of his CV, stuffed them in envelopes and mailed them to hundreds of agencies at enormous cost. Gone are the days when rejected applications jammed the over-worked shredding machine. Almost gone (thank goodness) are the days of the fax - have you seen the quality of many faxed documents?!
Recruiters, quite rightly acknowledge Electronic CV's to be a much quicker and more efficient process - whether CV's arrive by e-mail or via Internet jobsites. Clearly, technology has eliminated the drain on resources (time, postage, stationery, photocopying costs) as well as significantly reducing impact on the environment (all those trees!).
Electronic CV's now open doors swiftly for candidates worldwide BUT just as instantly can assign the mundane to the recycle bin - with a ruthless click of the mouse ! This innovation is now an essential tool in the global lifestyle of the nomadic Expat (its very use conveying computer literacy) - but beware, the Expat's pathway to success has many pitfalls. A badly presented CV is just one hazard in the e-minefield. Recruiters' recycle bins too readily offer the point of no return and must be avoided at all costs !!
DO :
- Include your full contact details on your CV - telephone / fax, e-mail and postal addresses.
- Use Microsoft Windows and send your CV as a Word attachment (most commonly used software).
- Incorporate a passport-sized photograph if there are a few miles left on the old traveller's clock, but photo's are NOT necessary.
DON'T :
- Send CV's electronically and assume your e-mail address will be sufficient to generate a reply. A potential employer may print off your CV and later discover he has no means of contacting you! More importantly include full contact details on the CV.
- Send a rambling letter of application by e-mail - there is no need to regurgitate information if you have a good CV.
- Include a poor quality photograph or one that testifies to your many years of global travel !
Footnote .. an Expat reported from
Electronic CV's are tearing a strip off paper
ELECTRONIC job-hunters are three times more likely to succeed than those who apply by letter, a report showed yesterday. A survey of more than 400 recruiters found that paper CV's are likely to end up in the wastepaper basket.
Almost four out of five bosses say that if they have to choose between two equal candidates - one with a paper CV and one with an electronic CV - they would select the e-mail applicant first every time. In addition, almost two out of three recruiters said they would favour people with electronic CV's when making their selections for interviews, said the survey by job site www.reed.co.uk
A number of reasons lie behind the growing anti-paper prejudice. Recruiters say it is faster and more efficient to deal with electronic CV's whether they arrive by e-mail, through a company's own website, or from an external Internet job site. They add that how people send CV's influences the way they are viewed by potential employers. A third of bosses jump to the conclusion that candidate with paper CV's are computer-illiterate and behind the times. Some bosses even feel electronic CV's are better because they are more environmentally sound.
Paul Rapacioli, Director of reed.co.uk said: 'Job-seekers should always send a paper CV if an employer requests one.' 'However, if a choice is given, it seems that electronic CV's are most likely to make recruiters feel that an applicant has the winning edge.'
This informative article is reproduced with the kind permission of The Daily Mail (authors, publishers and holders of copyright ) : www.dailymail.co.uk