Resume for the 21st century

Today is a very special day—we have a guest blogger writing for My Career today. Pierce Resler, Director of Marketing for VisualCV, talks about moving your CV to the top of the pile.

The idiom “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” has never been more relevant for job hunters in a global credit crunch. Suddenly your grade point average and summer internships are no longer enough of a point of difference to set you apart from the crowd. Sure you’re probably using social media to network or keep in touch with friends, but as just one of 230 million people on Facebook, 40 million people on LinkedIn and approximately 17 million people on Twitter, how do you cut through the noise?

Certainly today’s economic situation has changed the recruitment landscape for recent graduates. Where as you would normally be fighting for jobs against your peers, suddenly you may be fighting for jobs against experienced professionals already in the workplace and with better networks.

This doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. Far from it. The economic market simply means you need to think smarter and present more professionally.

A study recently commissioned by VisualCV (from Sway, Inc.) showed that by far the majority of job seekers already have an online resume, or a resume posted online somewhere, which is great but it can also mean missing a out because it’s just not joined up to anything. What you need is an online CV which links into the network you’ve worked hard to establish so that people who know you, and with whom you have “cut through” see your skills and know your talents.

VisualCV has just announced updates to its platform which enable job seekers to integrate their VisualCV with popular social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook and share their qualifications with friends and colleagues on social networks such as Twitter. Any changes or updates to the VisualCV can be made in one central location and then shared broadly among these social networking sites. New bookmarking features also raise the visibility of a person’s VisualCV on sites like Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon. VisualCV is providing a free integrated web solution to help you get your foot in the door and create a social networking platform dedicated to job hunting.

If you’re spending a good couple of hours tweeting, updating your Facebook status or updating your LinkedIn profile, why not use those existing networks to launch your social career experience, which will propel your CV to the top of the pile?

People from over 120 countries have registered to use VisualCV to advance their careers.

Join in the revolution today! VisualCV has recently been nominated for a Webby Award and named as a finalist for the American Business Awards for the most innovative company of the year.