2 million online CVs

With a deepening skills shortage many agencies are turning back to their CV database to find candidates. The problem that many face, however, is that their CV database is out of date and almost certainly, these CVs are not being held in accordance with the Data Protection Act. This is not the case for many of the leading agencies that have adopted the iProfile as the online CV.

The iProfile, invented by SkillsMarket, has been quietly gaining momentum over the last few years and with SkillsMarket now ready to step up the game, the rate of adoption is set to build rapidly.

Rick Bacon, CEO of SkillsMarket, the custodians of the iProfile, commented: ìTwo million is a significant milestone for the iProfile, representing 7% of the UK workforce, and proves the need for the traditional CV to be replaced by a dynamic online CV that significantly reduces the time wasted during the recruitment process.î

In contrast to the traditional CV, the iProfile provides jobseekers with a template to define their skills and experience that in turn allows recruiters to review and search for the best candidates faster than ever before. As it is online, the iProfile also enables the candidate to instantly update all the recruiters to whom they have previously sent their CV to with their latest work experience, job preferences and availability.

Bacon continued: ìWhilst the CV is absolutely essential to the recruitment process, the traditional CV simply doesnít meet the needs of the fast moving recruitment industry. In fact, the traditional CV has been proven to be the root cause of much of the inefficiency and frustration experienced by hiring managers and job seekers alike. The problem with the CV is that it is an unstructured, static document that is difficult to process or accurately search against and it quickly goes out-of-date. As volumes of CVs rise the effectiveness of a recruitment consultant goes down.î

Many of the UKís leading recruitment companies are now taking a stand against the traditional CV in order to improve the productivity of their staff as well as the quality of their candidate information and are campaigning for candidates to adopt the iProfile.

Les Duncan, UK Managing Director of Hays IT, Europeís largest specialist recruitment company, commented: ìAs soon as we receive a CV we now automatically convert it into an iProfile for candidates to verify online. It has already transformed the way in which jobseekers keep us updated with their latest skills and availability. As a result of the iProfile we also get updated with the latest details on over 35% of all jobseekers, which compares to an industry average of approximately 9% even with a healthy spend on advertising. More importantly we also get candidates updating that are not actively looking for work and these are invaluable during a skills shortage as there is now.î

Peter Darraugh, Chief Financial Officer at Spring, the UKís leading IT recruitment company, added: ìIn a market that is becoming increasingly candidate driven, it is imperative that recruitment companies focus on turning their CV database into their biggest asset in order to provide their clients with the best candidates. As a direct result of the iProfile, weíve been able to dramatically improve the quality of our candidate information and now many of our recruitersí make it their first port of call when they receive a job vacancy.î

Jeff Brooks, Chairman of the IT sector of the REC, commented: ìRecruiters currently waste too much time sifting through CVs when their time would be much better spent doing what theyíre good at, providing clients with solutions. Itís clear that the CVís current format needs to evolve to ensure weíre delivering the best possible service to our clients. With 2 million candidates now owning an iProfile, it has proven itself to be the leading solution for eliminating the inefficiencies that are caused by the traditional CV and driving forward productivity - we should all welcome the way that the iProfile is standardising our industry.

Brooks, continued: ìYou only have to look at how the Internet has transformed the way in which individuals and businesses exchange information. People are now used to the web as the place to look for jobs, do their shopping or find a holiday, which is why it makes sense to take the CV online as well.î

Many of the UKís leading recruitment companies are already compatible with the iProfile and other industry sectors such as Finance, Engineering, Travel, Sales and Marketing are rapidly also adopting it.