Are Visual CVs the future?

Here in the UK, we are used to our standard text based way of presenting our Curriculum Vitales with only the formatting and font usually being the difference between two applicants (well apart from the information). But are we stuck in our ways, some people are using digital technology to give what they think is an advantage over other job applicants. More and more job seekers in the US are making their CVs into multi-media presentations using combinations of images, charts, graphs, videos, samples of work and websites to make them stand out form the crowd.

But some experts are warning that these "Visual CVs" could open candidates up to discrimination during the recruitment process.

US based companies like Visualcvs.com allow job seekers to create a visual CV using the website and free software, then when they apply for a job they can provide a url to their public profile. This simple link allows them to get their CV out to more people on the internet, utilising websites such as facebook and linkdin.

Figures show that the UK hasn't taken to the idea as fast as the US but this is said to increase in the future with Internet speeds ever increasing and the popularity of videos rising. But the prospect of these exciting new ways to let people know about you and your experiences may have a negative effect. Some law experts are worried that adding visual media such as photos and videos may lead job recruiters to make their decisions using age, sex, race or disability as a factor. This is less likely to happen when they are provided with a more traditional paper based CV.

If recruiters are presented with a Visual CV they can cover themselves against discrimination claims by writing down exactly why they are rejecting the candidate providing a strong reason based on business and nothing else.

So is using a visual CV the right thing for you. Well you may find that some employers especially in the more traditional finance sector may not accept them and may ask for a paper based CV. Design and creative sector jobs may find visual CVs a great way of getting yourself noticed. This sector is most likely to be the first to embrace visual CVs, leading to them becoming more popular. But until then it may be advisable to hang back and stick to the traditional paper based CV.

This article was written by Tom Sangers on behalf of Martin Ward Anderson who offer Accountant Recruitment for Accountancy Jobs in the UK and Internationally