Is this the end of the paper CV? by Tony Wilmot, co-founder, staffbay.com on 16-Aug-2012

With the number of employees complaining of hundreds of people applying for even the most low-paid of jobs, it’s perhaps no surprise that jobseekers don’t always receive acknowledgement of their application. Often, businesses just don’t have the time, it seems.

But whilst this might not seem so important to bigger companies, it can be terribly de-motivating to jobseekers. Often, our candidates tell us that they’re not so interested when they get notification of their application for a job, more that they just want some contact.

"Any response would be good. Often no response is worse as you hang on to hope," one jobseeker told us. Another said, "No-one ever answers you anymore. I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs and literally had only three replies in letter form and maybe a couple of calls." A third commented, "I used to get letters that said 'unsuccessful on this occasion' - but now I don’t hear anything."

Applying for jobs can be a lonely business and some jobseekers have warned that they feel that they’re falling into depression. Clearly, something needs to change.

So, how can jobseekers make their voices heard – and how can they ensure that they’re not coming up against a brick wall time and time again?

Most people looking for a job these days look online – gone are the days of picking up the local paper. A report earlier this year by Experian Hitwise showed that the rise in online recruitment on social media networks has been seen to increase the rise in sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The report highlighted that social networking sites received around 2.4 billion hits from UK visitors in January alone.

So, if employers are changing the way they’re advertising jobs, shouldn’t employees be changing the way they promote themselves to employers? Since launching a year ago we’ve seen a wholesale change in the way the candidates on staffbay.com promote themselves. The use of video has become more and more popular and many use it as a way of breaking down barriers between themselves and any prospective employer even before they’ve applied for a job.

According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, businesses in the UK waste £1m a day on poor recruitment, whilst the average recruitment cost of filling a vacancy (using any method) is £3,950. We have some huge multinationals such as Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen and L’Oreal signed up and if they can see and hear why they should employ someone before they invite them along for an interview, then it not only saves them time – but also money.

The government makes a lot of noise about the emphasis is putting on getting people back into work, especially those in the 18-24 age range. It’s these young people who have the knowledge of social media, its impact and how it can affect change in society. What David Cameron and Employment Minister Chris Grayling should be doing is encouraging jobseekers of all ages to change the way they promote themselves to employers because the days of the paper CV are numbered.

For more information, please visit: www.staffbay.com

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