Visual CV’s. Why you need one.

When searching for a job, it is important to have prepared a well-written, professional looking resume that best displays your most significant qualifications, attributes, and characteristics that make you stand out to your prospective employer. You want the reader of your resume to be impressed and believe that their company needs someone like you for the position. Your resume is essentially your very first impression, so it should reflect you in a way that leaves a lasting effect on the person considering you for employment.

A typical resume is a one to two page document typed up and listing such things as educational background, objective or career goal, qualifications and skills, and past experience and employment. However, with the way technology is growing and changing, people are beginning to turn to the idea of using virtual resumes; that is, resumes posted online for employers to view. Times are changing, and more pieces of information that were once typed or hand-written are now being displayed on websites and other formats.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my new favorite resume tool, the VisualCV. Visual CVs are online website portfolios created by prospective employees and candidates wishing to display all there is to know about them to prospective employers. They are far more than the typical one-page resume, and can include a variety of unique features.

While traditional resumes must be saved as a certain format and attached to an email or uploaded to send, you can simply send the web address of your VisualCV to be viewed by anyone you wish. There are virtually no limits to what you can add to your page. You can add audio or video of yourself, perhaps describing yourself and your characteristics and qualifications. You can also add graphs and links highlighting certain achievements you’ve accomplished, or anything else you wish to showcase. The actual layout of your page has the look of a traditional resume, but with one side displaying high-tech add-ons to give your presentation a professional and new sort of flair. You can add presentations and even YouTube video’s. If you are at a business lunch and someone asks you for your resume, you can simply give them the URL of your VisualCV and they can pull it up right there on their PDA!

Are VisualCVs a good idea? Many are torn on the issue. It can add a bit of a competitive edge to your resume, showing your prospective employer a unique flair and determination, something new that they maybe haven’t seen before. It can bring you and your skills to life in what can be called a 21^st century virtual show and tell. It can also be useful in controlling who sees it and where you post it, as you can post the link to your Visual CV to job search websites or directly in emails, and it can be updated and edited easily with the touch of a button. However, some argue that VisualCVs aren’t such a great idea. For one, it’s typically common that employers will take less than a minute or two to first scan resumes to weed out the ones they aren’t interested in; therefore, it can be unlikely that they’ll take the time to actually watch your videos or look at your graphs. Also, speaking in front of a camera can make more of a negative impression than a positive, especially if you aren’t well-versed in public speaking.

Whether or not you choose to use a VisualCV is up to you, but it can be a positive idea if used correctly. If you don’t have enough material or the skill to make it worth someone’s while, then a traditional resume is probably for you.

Written by Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW - Visit the website to hire executive resume writer Erin Kennedy, CERW, CPRW

Erin is an internationally renowned certified resume writer specializing in professional and executive level resumes and career services.

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