Surely there's a better way to format a CV?

As I'm currently on the look out for a new job, a lot of my focus is on LinkedIn, my CV and the general job market. Hence a lot of the content I'm adding to this site at this moment is of those topics, and I will look forward to being able to focus on something else!

What I'm struggling with...

is...

the format I've learnt to be the most effective for the recruitment process just feels a bit lacking to me.

Meaning that I don't feel like I've got my best foot forward, no matter how many times I re-word a sentence or add in a metric.

• Summary

• Professional Experience

• Skills

• Education

• Other

I'm struggling to make it 'tell my story'.

My experience isn't linea. I haven't built my career up and through a specific industry with clear progression, I've moved around, sometimes up, sometimes side ways and sometime diagonal.

The result is that I'm incredibly well-rounded, can think outside the box, bring something fresh to the table and be the missing piece of a puzzle.

I know there's huge value in that. Yet... I'm not 100% convinced that it comes across...

The traditional format is focussed on 'achievements'. Job titles, achievements and data to prove it. With the traditional CV format only focussing individual points and the end result, surely so much context is missing. Knowing what was achieved is great.

• But what about HOW?

• And WHY I achieved it when no-one else could?

• And WHAT my reason was for doing it?

• And WHAT it looked like before I was involved?

Most of our tangible achievements are limited to the requirements of the role, or they're circumstantial. And let's be honest, they're very, very unlikely individual achievements.

I've just googled now 'What are skills vs qualities' and the definitions are:

Skills are abilities that are learned and developed, while qualities are inherent personality traits.

With this in mind, maybe a better format could be:

• Top/relevant qualities (Could be limited to 3 so you're forced to commit and prioritise rather than trying to cover all bases)

  • Examples of how these qualities add value (in the form of achievements if you like!)

• Top/relevant skills (Limited to 3 again)

  • Examples of how these skills add value (in the form of achievements if you like!)

• Professional Experience

  • Job title, company, time in post, summary of the role and your main responsibility.

The purpose of a CV is to get your foot in the door and to secure an interview. So surely your potential value to the company is most important. Rather than the role your past company required you to fill.

As a hiring manager, I know my company, the role and what I want from the person. So by knowing who and what the person is about, I can decide whether they could add the value that I want.

You generated X amount in revenue in your last company- great! But what skills, experience and knowledge do you have that is relevant to potentially making your next company money?

If all that relevant stuff has a place in the interview, then the CV stage is simply a blocker in my opinion. It doesn't serve candidates or employers. The only people it does serve are those that have already done the exact role, which is fine, or... those playing the system.

And I refuse to accept that we are meant to participate in a broken system. That's never been my style.

Maybe I'm missing something... Maybe I'm doing something wrong... Maybe in a couple months i'll revisit this topic and realise that I just didn't understand.

If we are needing to add so much context to our achievements by creating a 'personal brand' via posts, articles and connections, I think the CV format isn't working. Rant over, mic drop.

Setting myself 2 tasks:

1. Re-work my current CV in the traditional format but finding a way to eloquently add in how I specifically reached my achievements, what it would have looked like without/before me and my reason for doing it.

2. Re-design my CV following my suggested format.

   1. Skills + examples of applied with achievements.

   2. Role history with brief summary.

I will add to this entry with the outcome, watch this space!