Prediction for 2010!
At the beginning of each year, predictions of all kind are made. Here is one that will at least have the merit of applying to all the signs of the horoscope, regardless of your decan. Let me predict the end of the CV as we know it.
The term “curriculum vitae” is from the Latin for “course of life,” and will soon appear in human 
resources textbooks under the “prehistoric job search” heading. You can put away your 2- to 3-page CV outlining your education, professional experience and other achievements. Instead, your blog will serve to detail your skills to incite employers to hire you. Thanks to the democratization of technology and changing behaviours, the Word CV will no longer serve a purpose, except perhaps for dinosaurs (a category that you surely do not want to belong to!)
For those of you who have not yet heard about “blogs,” a term coined by the new generation of Web users, I suggest checking out the Canadian government’s definition at www.blogscanada.ca/ to get up to speed, and especially to impress your younger co-workers or children (who probably already have their own). So, what is a blog? It’s an online diary in which the information you choose to include appears in chronological order. It's as easy as 1-2-3! You choose the theme you want to give it. Anything goes: a list of your sporting triumphs, last family vacation or party (you may want to reconsider this one!). You can include pictures, comments, articles, or music—the possibilities are endless. In short, your blog is a reflection of the real you, or rather, what you want the outside world to know, with the added bonus of the possibility of becoming an international star in a seconds! Posters to www.myspace.com and www.facebook.com use them to share details of their daily life with their virtual network. As you know, younger Internet users are less wary about their privacy. You can always restrict access to your blog with a password, but this is not advisable if you wish to use it to find a job).
What’s the connection with your career or your job search? Joel Cheezman, the guru of new online recruiting trends at www.cheezhead.com, affirms that it is the ideal tool for recruiting the best candidates—those who are not actively seeking a job but who love what they do enough to want to share and develop their knowledge with the entire world. Nowadays, more and more companies recruit online not only by posting ads on job sites, but by “chatting” with potential candidates in discussion groups or by surfing the Net to find that rare pearl (of which you are no doubt one!). So it’s high time to take action, before you are surpassed by technology and by your co-workers. But a word of warning—don’t forget that everything you put in your blog (e.g. pictures, comments) is PERMANENT. Nothing gets lost on the Web; even if you decide to delete the rather uncomplimentary comment on your boss you posted last month, he or she could still have access to it via Google! So here's a friendly tip: watch your language and your image.
The use of blogs for professional ends will became the best way to make yourself known, develop your network and attract the best employers. In addition, a blog is much more interesting for a recruiter to read than a CV, because it is provides direct access to an ongoing portrait of your achievements in real time, or to your new skills and experiences (if you take the time to update it regularly). You can list your latest achievements, and even comment them, by receiving the comments of other bloggers. That’s instantaneous 360 degree feedback! Imagine an employer seeking a background like yours getting access to it by simply googling* your name. By talking about yourself on a more personal level, you communicate your values and interests, and reflect WHO you really are. Times are changing, and the best recruiters today have realized that they have to get a handle of individuals well beyond their education, age, or past experience. The blog will enable you to showcase your skills and personality to the entire world, without having to send postcards or e-mails. Much better for the environment, and less tiring to boot.
For those of you who are not yet entirely convinced, Microsoft has a team of recruiters dedicated to seeking out the best bloggers on the planet. Once they have identified the best blogs, the person is contacted directly and hired on the spot. Just imagine! And we are only in 2007. So in the meantime, all you have to do is check out www.blogger.com or www.typepad.com; hurry up, or you will turn into a living fossil. . . Nostradamus would have agreed.
* “Googling”someone means searching for information on them on www.google.com. According to an Execunet study, 75% of recruiters type a candidate’s name into Google before interviewing them.