“Is there really a war for talent out there?” Emilia, a 40-year-old client told me as we sat down to our first interview pointing to an article she had been reading on her phone. “I have been looking for two months and most of the companies I contact don’t even confirm receipt of my CV,” she said soberly. “Either I am not as talented as I thought or I am looking entirely in the wrong places.”
What was clear after our meeting was that she was a senior manager with a strong track record of achievement. So there certainly wasn’t a lack of talent. And it didn’t seem that she was looking in the wrong places. (All the jobs she had applied for were aligned with her skill set and experience).
However, at first glance, the CV she had sent me didn’t say anything at all about all the things that came out in our meeting. She had overhauled processes and turned around a demoralized team. On top of that, the client base grew significantly during her time at the company.
So why did she only say in her CV, “Managed new client processes?” Was she unaware about the results she had contributed and how these benefited the company? Her frustration then came from neither of the above: she was talented and looking in the right places. The issue was with how she was applying and managing her search.
The Abyss Between Jobseekers and Talent Hunters
Despite the age of information and technology, in the world of recruiting—of jobseekers and talent hunters— there is still a gaping abyss between both parties: companies struggle to find the best people to achieve their goals, while candidates have trouble understanding how to identify and convey their value to get hired and help businesses solve their problems. From where I am in my corner of the world of careers, it’s almost like watching a basketball player shoot blindfolded while the ref moves the exact position of the basket.
There are all sorts of intertwined complexities that cause this surreal situation, further conditioned by each country’s particular labor market and cultural mindset and resources. As of yet, no matter how much information we can find online, in job ads, through the grapevine or at the water cooler, we still can’t seem to bridge the gap. And how sad for both companies and candidates: the first can end up missing-out on talented candidates who in turn allow their self-confidence to sink further and further the longer the search wears on.
Narrowing the Gap with CVs and LinkedIn-Profile Writing
But what if there is a way to bring them a little bit closer together? To make the search for talent more productive? And the job search more efficient, less grueling?
For over a decade, I have been writing CVs and LinkedIn profiles and meanwhile gathering insights from both talent hunters and job candidates about their experiences. Through this blog, I hope to put those insights out there to narrow the gap between them. I’ll be doing my best to bring you expert advice from executive recruiters, job search and career professionals (plus my own two-cents about how to write a winning CV and LinkedIn Profile) and others who work in this field.
If there is a particular question you would like to explore, I’d love to help you find the answer. Feel free to leave it in comments below or send me a message on LinkedIn:
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