But I’ll focus on one for the sake of this extended tweet.
It still baffles me as to why recruiters still ask for a CV and won’t accept a LI profile? When questioned, one recruiter said it was because sometimes people don’t include certain things on their public LI profile. Yes, you’re right, and do you know what those things are? LIES! Think about it. If someone is not comfortable with certain aspects of their career being in the public domain, what reason could they have? They don’t want to show off? They’re worried they might be TOO qualified for a role? I would take a stab, that a big percentage of information people do not include on the LI profile but do on their CV, are embellish at best and bold face lies at worst.
For me, that’s what makes a LI profile more powerful than a CV.
Hi Jamie,
I get your point, and just to start off by saying I always check out the Linkedin profile of anyone who applies to a role I am recruiting for. In fact, I probably even come to certain conclusions about that person based on number of contacts, and the recommendations I see there. For example, I would fully expect someone applying to a digital media role to have a solid linkedin presence with a decent number of contacts, and at least a couple of recommnedations. I definitely see the advantage of applying with a linked in profile.
However, to provide an alternative viewpoint, I deliberately keep my linkedin profile brief – a summary, job titles with dates and recommendations. If I were job hunting, I would rather have a conversation with the recruiter about what my roles and experience entail, rather than have them cast judgement on what I may or may not have put down on my profile – maybe this is just a classic case/sales trick of leaving them wanting to know more…
Also, I utilise my linkedin for a lot of new business, and I dont really want clients/potential clients essentially seeing my CV in it’s entirety – not that there is anything I am embarassed about, I just dont think they need to know that I grew revenue by x amount, or that I did an engineering apprenticeship instead of going to uni – too many people make snap judgements based on tiny pieces of information (as I myself have admitted above) so why provide extra ammunition for contacts to make incorrect assumptions.
Finally, I think it is very obvious when someone starts dramatically updating their profile/collecting receommnedations that they are job hunting, which as a manager would immediately ring alarm bells. This is fine if you are actively and openly job hunting (as Lois is) but how many more people are job hunting on the QT, and dont want to broadcast it to the world/half their clients. It is more subtle to keep it brief, and update the recommendations regularly.
Maybe it is just that I cant quite get my head around the whole “everyone knowing everything about you” world of social media that we seem to live in these days, and am too private for my own good…
A final point is that if you think the quality/consistency of CV’s varies, it isnt a patch on linkedin!! This makes using it as a sole source of info prior to an interview extremely precarious – public or not. We are all quite adept with it, as online recruitment is our industry, but there are still millions of people out there who are still barely using it, and definitely not for recruitment purposes.
I guess what I am saying is that it is a really useful tool in conjunction with a CV, however, we are just not there yet in terms of utilising it as a sole source of application, and I think that reality is a long, long way off yet.
Just my tuppence worth
Emma