With unemployment rising and more people chasing the few jobs that are available, candidates are looking for new ways to make their CVs stand out. Most people realise that gimmicks such as using red cardboard or scented paper - or their e-mail equivalents - are unlikely to do more than irritate prospective employers.

Instead, some candidates are turning to professional CV writers and paying anything from £50 to £500 or more to have someone prepare their CV for them. Others are incorporating video and podcasts.

But are such steps neces-sary? Rupert Irving, a director and consultant at Patterson Irving, an executive search consul-tancy that specialises in financial services, doesn’t think so. He believes that most people should be able to prepare their own CVs after doing some research and using the advice that is readily available online. Equally, most recruitment agencies will be happy to offer free CV help to candidates on their books, while Jobcentre Plus can provide help to anyone who needs it.

However, Millie Johnson, 32, said that spending £500 on a CV was a good investment in her career. “It’s agony [writing your CV] yourself,” she said. “I had always attempted my own, but I never knew what stood out to employers.”

She used The Ladders, a career management service, when she decided to move from the arts world to a career in PR. “The key for me was having someone from outside saying ‘this is communicating your ability, this isn’t; this is where you are weak and this is where you are strong’,” she said. She was very happy with the one-page CV that The Ladders prepared for her. She sent out six copies, got three interviews and is now in her ideal job.

Anyone can set himself up as a CV writer, so job hunters who decide to use a professional should ask to see examples of previous work, testimonials and evidence that the writer is in touch with what recruiters want, said Derek Pilcher, managing director of The Ladders. A spokesman for Consumer Direct, which gets “a handful” of complaints about CV writing companies, suggested searching the internet for reviews from other users.

Other job hunters are turning to technology to help their CVs stand out. Bryan MacDon-ald, a partner at Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, encourages candidates to create a visual CV - a multi-media CV that can include video presentations, podcasts and links to websites - as a way of building a personal brand. “People are becoming more and more aware that this is very important,” he said. “I have my own visual CV that links in to presentations I have given, articles I have written and pieces in the press. It gives people a much more colourful picture.”

But including photographs or videos with CVs hasn’t really taken off in Britain, said Pilcher. While candidates like the idea and see it as a fresh way of presenting themselves, employers worry that it may make them vulnerable to claims of discrimination. “The recruiters we work with say that they want to be able to make an objective decision that does not open them up to discrimination claims,” he said.

However, some recruiters believe that CVs, whatever form they take, could be on the way out. Chris Phillips, the vice-president of international marketing at Taleo, a talent management company, argues that they are becoming less and less relevant to job hunters and employers. “If you look at the rise of technology and e-recruit-ment you will see that the way a lot of companies hire now is by encouraging people to apply online through their corporate website,” he said. Such systems usually require job candidates to answer specific questions so that employers can be sure that they are getting exactly the information they need to make decisions.

“The key to a successful application is to take the time and effort to answer the questions they are asking,” said Phillips. Some forms allow candidates to attach their CV as well, but this will nearly always be secondary to the answers on the form. In this situation, a CV is more useful as an aide-memoir to help candidates keep track of dates and achievements than as a marketing tool in its own right.

Even when traditional CVs are called for, candidates need to keep the demands of technology in mind, said Pilcher. “Most recruiters have a two-step process,” he said. “The first is where they put your CV into their own database and use key-word software.” This searches for specific words in the CV. For example, someone hiring for an IT position might look for specific computer program-ming languages. This can be used to create a shortlist of CVs for review by a manager.

“That manager will be looking at hundreds of CVs a day so you have to grab his attention in 15 seconds,” said Pilcher. This means getting your most important and attractive parts in the top half of the first page of your CV; this should include skills, industry and specialisation. Too many people assume that managers will read through CVs in detail looking for the characteristics that they want, but in most cases they will simply discard any applications that do not immediately hit their buttons.

But just how to hit those buttons will vary from recruiter to recruiter. The broad consensus is that CVs should be no more than two pages long; use bullet points rather than paragraphs; focus on quantifiable achievements rather than job descriptions (for example, tell them that you reduced staff turnover by 15%, not simply that you managed 100 people); and skip any mention of pets, family or hobbies.

Find out more

The Sunday Times Recruiter Forum is a platform for employers and industry experts to communicate with job candidates. They can share good practice and discuss the issues affecting recruitment and retention in today’s market. To have your say on the week’s topic go to timesonline.co.uk/recruiterforum .

For firms wishing to get involved contact brendan.jones@ newsint.co.uk

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