CV updates? Erm…
Vivienne Neale even the choice of CV photo was a problem
A client asked me for a CV out of the blue last week. I have to admit I’ve been too busy working to think about updating it. With some dismay I realized this important document hadn’t been touched for over a year.
Twelve months is a light year in CV deisgn
No problem you might say. A quick update and you’re done. Wrong! In this fast-paced world [Tweet “twelve months is the equivalent of a light year.”] I am no longer the same person I was, in every sense.
We amend our approach hourly, it seems
That might sound bizarre, extreme, dramatic but it’s true. Throughout my freelancing life I have made it my business to keep up to date with changes in practice. Every day feeds and notifications from ‘experts’ drop into my inbox and I amend my approach accordingly. In fact I am going to start studying at Squared for a certificate in Digital Marketing to underscore the experience with a recognizable qualification.
CVs can chart more than our development as professionals
Thinking back, I joined Twitter in 2009. It felt like we didn’t quite know what to say to one another, how to respond, what we were doing there. It took a while to understand and develop this platform’s potential. The rate of change across every social media platform and even content marketing is exponential. [Tweet “How can you have a valuable LinkedIn profile without an updated CV?”] How much water has flowed under this bridge since 2009’s shaky social media start?
So where does all this leave me?
In a mess! My CV is interesting. It is a long one and I have the grey hairs to prove it. But who I was when I started teaching and who I am today is startling. Yes my whole body will have been replaced every seven years so physically I am not the same either. However it’s the transformation in my ideas and working practices that are the most interesting. My perspectives, experience, knock backs, disappointments, insights and successes have forged a new model. How to communicate all this is my conundrum.
Is your CV dull and worthy?
Added to that my CV looked like a very dull but worthy document. I didn’t quite use Times Roman as a font but well….yawn. My work as writer, consultant and media manager, although having been developed in latter years was way more important to me that years spent teaching and lecturing. [Tweet “Who cares what I did in a past life sans internet, sans mobile phone and Skype?”] Yes, dear reader, such a world did exist!
I decided there was nothing for it but to write a different CV
[Tweet “My clients and potential clients want to know what I’m doing now and how my skills can solve their problems.”] My post graduate qualifications, unless they have direct relevance, are of no interest. My CV is about getting me work today, based on the skills and knowledge, experience and capacity in the fields that interest me and are relevant right now.
LinkedIn should be updated regularly
So, I have hired a Prezi designer
Easy I thought. Oh no! What might look good in a paragraph suddenly looks naked and unconvincing in a design box all on its own. I have spent the morning tweaking copy. I am selling myself after all. I am selling the new me. All these new platforms, possibilities and opportunities prompt us to reinvent ourselves regularly. No, it’s not about telling lies, or dressing up the truth; it’s about communicating the things people need and want to read. In their busy lives people want just what they need served up attractively, filleted, cut up and ready to take away!
If you haven’t dusted off your CV then I suggest you do it today
[Tweet “It’s an interesting record of the journey undertaken and the speed of change”]. I shall develop the habit of updating regularly. It’s on my regular ‘to do list.’ You’ll be able to catch up with the changes on my LinkedIn profile….when the new design is complete.
If you need help reinventing yourself, your product, service or business then send me a tweet @supposeiam.
[Tweet “What problems have you experienced updating or even writing a CV? “]What are your top tips?
Vivienne Neale is an experience content writer, social media manager and consultant in case you hadn’t realised! She can also be hired for creative consultancy by the hour. Contact her on Twitter @supposeiam or connect on LinkedIn
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