Opinion

Managing your CV online

Online job boards provide job seekers and interested parties with instant information about numerous different positions being advertised. They offer many benefits and are extremely useful for applicants seeking to make their next career move.  

To be able to quickly and easily look at jobs being advertised is extremely convenient, whether you are actively looking for a new role, or just curious about current career opportunities in your industry. As well as promoting job vacancies many sites also offer the opportunity to upload your CV, allowing employers and recruiters to contact you direct if they think your skills and experience match what they are looking for. The aim is to save people time, increase their chances of finding jobs and to create more of a two-way process.

However there are things to be aware of when posting your CV online, not least your privacy. Most sites have privacy controls which allow you to decide who will be able to access your personal details and career information. It’s important to look at these very carefully. Once your CV has been downloaded, you are likely to have less control over how and when it will be used.

In the vast majority of cases those who can access your CV will use it responsibly. However there have been come examples where this hasn’t been the case. It is important to realise that problems could arise when these CVs are accessed and are submitted for roles without the person knowing anything about it.

One example is a situation when a  candidate has added a CV to a job board simply because they are interested in understanding what jobs are available that match their skillset. It is important to realise that their CV could be downloaded by a number of different agencies, without their knowledge, and sent to a range of accountancy firms in the area. This has the potential that the candidate receives a number of calls from agencies saying that they have arranged interviews, despite having no idea what type of role the candidate was looking for, or what sort of organisation they’d like to work for. This could also mean that the CV  is received on numerous occasions by firms from a number of different agencies, each claiming the candidate was only working with them.

Although most employers will have realised that the candidate was likely to have been a victim of this situation it is still potentially damaging for this to happen. It is important that candidates are aware of the potential pitfalls, as well as the benefits, so that they can make an informed decision.

Registering with a reputable recruitment agency can provide the same benefits as uploading your CV to a job board and can also add value to your job search by ascertaining the type of firm, type of role you would like and much more. They can save you time and maximise your chances of finding your next role by matching your skills and experience to the employer’s requirements. Utilising a recruitment company that is knowledgeable about the Practice market and the differences in the range of firms from a cultural and expertise perspective can be invaluable. At Pure we also pride ourselves on working with candidates and supporting them through their career journey. We have specialist consultants who are experts in the Practice specialism and also the commercial environment. This means understanding not just your skills, specialism and career profile to date, but also your aspirations and key values. We want to ensure that the recruitment solution we offer you meets your life and work objectives. We will only ever suggest roles that we believe are right for both you and the client.

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