Firstly, this is a great thread - Dominated by people who vary in opinion, and this is perhaps the crux of the matter. Everyone is different - some people want all of the detail - every last drop of experience to re-assure them that the persons background is spot on for what they want to achieve. Others would prefer a very brief summary of what you were brought in for, transposed against what you achieved - and will dig into the detail at interview stage.
Whilst I know alot of you guys dislike the agency world - this split is where an agent should really come into their own. Ultimately you would hope that your agent has a relationship with the client (and if they don't and this is their first time working with them, that they tell you). In theory, by going through the recruitment lifecycle over and over, they build an understanding of the hiring managers preferences. From this understanding, they should be able to work with you to establish whether your CV is too detailed, or too brief. Now I know the reality is that this doesn't always happen, but you should also remember that agents want to make money too - telling you that your CV is too long or short actually delays the time to hire, so it's worth considering that they are making these requests hopefully based on fact, and experience - not just to be a pain (with a few notable exceptions).
Ultimately however, in my world, the CV should be an interviewing prop - not a sales tool. I need to see a CV in order to interview potential candidates. From there, I would hope to be able to call the client, talk them through why I think XYZ person is right, and get them to see the candidate before they've ever seen a CV (at this point it makes no sense to lie, as the CV will soon show it up). From there, I'd supply a CV to the client the night before the interview - complete with the selling points of the CV that I'd used on the phone, and usually a reference or two to back up my thoughts. This allows prep time, but ultimately keeping the CV as an interview prompt rather than a sales tool. In that instance, a 10 page CV makes little sense. In my opinion, the most detailed CV, for someone of 20 years experience at say, 8 different companies, should not exceed 4 pages really - but as I say everyone is different - so sometimes my clients want to see 20 years of detailed history (possibly because they interview in a lazy fashion), sometimes they just want 3 main targets, and whether they were achieved.
Annoyingly this theory falls on its rear end when HR doris's get involved, who think they know what's best for the hiring manager - to my mind, these people simply make life harder than it needs to be, by requesting CV's for them to screen, with no contact with the professional interim (seriously - HR should not be involved with anything interim - it's not staff - it's one company providing services to another) - What these people don't understand is that a good interim recruiter will often know, or know of the interim in the first place and have a good insight into the bits that aren't on the CV. Sadly in this case, the best way through is to dress your CV exactly to their percieved requirements in order to get through the gatekeeper. Again, however your agent should be working you through the process and advising - annoyingly, the approach tends to be to commodotise candidates, rather than assist, and simply throw mud at HR in the hope that something sticks - which is the start of the viscious circle of why HR shove their noses into contract/interims anyway.......
Just general ramblings, but I hope it helps someone decide whether their CV is right or wrong!
TAV
Whilst I know alot of you guys dislike the agency world - this split is where an agent should really come into their own. Ultimately you would hope that your agent has a relationship with the client (and if they don't and this is their first time working with them, that they tell you). In theory, by going through the recruitment lifecycle over and over, they build an understanding of the hiring managers preferences. From this understanding, they should be able to work with you to establish whether your CV is too detailed, or too brief. Now I know the reality is that this doesn't always happen, but you should also remember that agents want to make money too - telling you that your CV is too long or short actually delays the time to hire, so it's worth considering that they are making these requests hopefully based on fact, and experience - not just to be a pain (with a few notable exceptions).
Ultimately however, in my world, the CV should be an interviewing prop - not a sales tool. I need to see a CV in order to interview potential candidates. From there, I would hope to be able to call the client, talk them through why I think XYZ person is right, and get them to see the candidate before they've ever seen a CV (at this point it makes no sense to lie, as the CV will soon show it up). From there, I'd supply a CV to the client the night before the interview - complete with the selling points of the CV that I'd used on the phone, and usually a reference or two to back up my thoughts. This allows prep time, but ultimately keeping the CV as an interview prompt rather than a sales tool. In that instance, a 10 page CV makes little sense. In my opinion, the most detailed CV, for someone of 20 years experience at say, 8 different companies, should not exceed 4 pages really - but as I say everyone is different - so sometimes my clients want to see 20 years of detailed history (possibly because they interview in a lazy fashion), sometimes they just want 3 main targets, and whether they were achieved.
Annoyingly this theory falls on its rear end when HR doris's get involved, who think they know what's best for the hiring manager - to my mind, these people simply make life harder than it needs to be, by requesting CV's for them to screen, with no contact with the professional interim (seriously - HR should not be involved with anything interim - it's not staff - it's one company providing services to another) - What these people don't understand is that a good interim recruiter will often know, or know of the interim in the first place and have a good insight into the bits that aren't on the CV. Sadly in this case, the best way through is to dress your CV exactly to their percieved requirements in order to get through the gatekeeper. Again, however your agent should be working you through the process and advising - annoyingly, the approach tends to be to commodotise candidates, rather than assist, and simply throw mud at HR in the hope that something sticks - which is the start of the viscious circle of why HR shove their noses into contract/interims anyway.......
Just general ramblings, but I hope it helps someone decide whether their CV is right or wrong!
TAV
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