Personal Executive Website

Workfolio Executive Visibility Platform

Social CV, Professional CV and Personal Website

Do you need a Social CV, Professional CV or even an Executive CV presence on the web. Both questions pose an interesting dilemma especially for those that have not really been interested or seen the need for creating a presence on the social networks to date. What should you do or importantly, what must you do?

Ultimately, this depends on your philosophy and how you view your career path. If we take your career path and drill down into what has happened thus far and then compare this with world as it stands today then we will probably find two quite different elements. Prior to the economic changes wrought by the Financial Crash or 2007 – 2008, you would generally find that a position within an organisation was quite static once you were in and likely to present promotion opportunity to those that showed promise (that’s a broad brush analogy!)

During and after the Financial Crash a few scenarios have occurred or may yet occur that could impact your career.

Organisational changes both negative and positive: Contraction, closure or expansion and the subsequent effect on the workforce at all levels.

But how does this impact the way you look for work or even how you present yourself?

If you have not used the internet for any means of self promotion, this answer could prove quite startling:

92% of Recruiters used social media to recruit in 2012.

Which ever way you decide to carve that number up to suit your profile it will still remain a very large percentage. How relevant is this to you would depend quite significantly on the seniority of your last or current position, or at least you would think that might be the situation.

It is, but not for everyone.

Seniority and networking will still provide a buffer zone from the need to use social media as a promotion tool, but if your career has been or is in a state of flux why would you want to remove yourself from an element of the job market? However, this window of avoidance is narrowing and very quickly, to the point where it will be closed within 2-4 years, maximum.

So, how do you change or adapt to what the employment market requires?

Three options as a basis to push off from:
A social cv: something that is more suited to Generation Y with an artistic or creative flair and offers a career representation within an infographic.

Linkedin: Used wisely this can and will create opportunities – providing you are able to portray the detail and talent that recruiters or employers are looking.

A Professional CV: Still the place to begin and end.

A Personal Executive Website: What if you could represent yourself in a professional space without the white noise of social media hindering your profile or displaying a competing peer group? We have a solution.

Death of the CV (again)

Jaigris Hodson of Ryerson University Toronto has heralded the death of the Resume/CV once more. Hodson has suggested that we should all embrace a digital platform as the CV will soon be (if it isn’t already) firmly on the extinction watchlist. Jaigris is quite rightly informing her pupils that to succeed in the job market will require a digital presence that employers can research or find when looking for talent. But is she correct when she claims that some employers will discount you for not having a digital portfolio?

Not quite but in only in so far that the statement is subjective.

Employers will discount you if you do not fulfill the requirement of the position requirements as advertised. If they ask for something then you should supply it as it will be a fundamental part of the application process. If they have no asked for something and you supply additional information then this could possibly exclude you too. So how can you ensure that you pass the first hurdle? Follow the requirement exactly and do not deviate without first seeking approval.

That’s enough digression, what about the death of the CV? In fairness and for clarity, Jaigris actually stated that it was the Resume headed for extinction but surely they are the same? No again, and this is where it becomes a little more interesting; our North American cousins are ahead of us in the UK & EMEA when it comes to embracing technology, and in this respect she is correct. Luckily we have more breathing space to adopt digital visibility but not much and maybe a year or two at the very extreme.

What should you do? Adopt and adapt. A Professional CV, Linkedin Profile and Executive Personal Website are the perfect solution for now and the oncoming future.

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