Interview: Rick Bacon

Erica Gingerich: When you’re applying for a job, these days there are more ways than ever get your information to potential employers. You can send your resume, or CV as it’s called in Britain, through the mail, or post your details online. You can even make a video and send it to recruiters. But no matter which medium you choose, it’s important to remember the basics. So we talked to British businessman Rick Bacon, who heads iProfile, a website that allows job-seekers to place their CVs online in a standard format. By phone we asked him why electronic CVs offer an advantage.

Rick Bacon: The real issue for a recruiter is ensuring that the information that they have about you is up to date. And the problem with the traditional CV is, the likelihood is that it’s going to be out of date. And the challenge for individuals is making sure their career information is kept up to date, and the challenge for the recruiters is having access to that current information because if they don’t know what you’re currently doing, or they don’t have your latest telephone number or e-mail address, it’s going to make it very difficult for them to find the right people.

Erica: We also asked Bacon what else job applicants should include on their CVs.

Bacon: What people tend to make the mistake of is, you know, putting in the name of the company they worked for, and the title of the job they had - project manager, journalist, IT professional, whatever, marketing person, whatever the role was, and then not actually listing down beneath that their actual achievements in that role. So they launched a new product, they helped the company gain market share, they reduced costs, they developed a new piece of software, whatever - you know, real achievements in those particular roles. Because at the end of the day, that’s what the eventual employer and the recruiter is looking for.

Really, what you’re trying to get across to an employer is you know, the breadth of your skills and what have you. Because they’ve got in mind a very sort of specific type of person who will fit their culture and fit the needs of the job they’re looking to fill.

• Exercise: Personal branding