We all know how tedious it can be updating your CV, especially if you haven’t done so in a while. Presentation, grammar, spelling and punctuation are but a few of the things we’ve all, at some point, had to look out for when trying to perfect our curriculum vitaes. Well, these issues, along with several other related peeves, may soon be problems of a bygone era. CVs are dying. Yes, it’s true.
We’re all aware that employers will rarely look beyond the first page of a CV put in front of them, and for good reason. If they read every word, on every page that was sent to them by every potential candidate for every job opening they had, it would take all year. Some job openings attract tens of thousands of applicants, that employers would need to employ someone just to go through the CVs of the people that wanted you to employ them. You can see how this is inconvenient, to put it lightly.
Recruiters take on the burden for employers
When using a recruitment agency, most employers will rely on the recruiters synopsis of any given candidate in order to gain an understanding of what that person is like and whether they would be a good fit for their organisation. It tends to be a lot quicker and more accurate than reading over a CV of someone that desperately wants to be hired and thus could very well write anything on it. They also have the recruiters professional opinion on candidates to go by, which can often be extremely helpful to those looking to employ a certain type of worker.
Other options available to employers are online social networking profiles and professional networking sites like LinkedIn. These offer a basic overview of what a candidate is like and also what relevant experience they may have in a specific industry in a brief and concise way. There’s no need to read through pages of self-promotion when the majority of info required is on a single webpage.
CVs set to go live
Although the CV is in decline, there are alternatives that many job seekers and employers are beginning to explore. One simple alternative is a video CV, whereby 
jobseekers will record themselves explaining to any potential employers about themselves, their job history and giving a brief overview of why they would be a good fit for the company. These can vary from written statements to full on, experimental short films about each candidate, which can also help to provide a valuable insight into any potential employees technological skills and creativity.
There is also video interviewing, which is seeing a explosion in popularity among certain employers, not least for its ability to save on travel costs. Being able to go through previous work experience, live presentations and discussing online portfolios, while being connected to potential candidates online, is a luxury that could have only been dreamed of 20 years ago.
The CV is dying out and jobseekers who capitalise on this and show their ability to innovate and adapt will surely be the ones to progress quicker than those that cling to what are outdated, traditional methods such as the Curriculum Vitae.