CVs Aren’t Dead Yet Chef!

Chef CVs aren't dead yet chef

Editor’s note: CVs Aren’t Dead Yet Chef! was originally published in November 2015 and most recently updated in May 2022.

The role of the CV has come a long way since its first iteration at the hands of Leonardo Da Vinci. Yes, really, Google it and you’ll see the CV is another of his legacies. And its role continues to evolve in the recruitment process.

CVs aren’t dead yet, chef – but the traditional chef CV is losing its status as the universal passport to interviews and employment.

The idea that companies will hire exclusively based on the detail of your two sides of A4 paper is no longer true. The traditional chef CV is still relevant but CVs are used differently than they were even five years ago.

Where CVs were once about selling your unique chef skills and broad experience to a hiring manager, they are now about making yourself ‘searchable’. The CV document is expected to link out to a wider digital profile where recruiters can discover more about a candidate.

A social media profile is potentially a far richer information source than a chef CV.

Recruiters can often get a broader sense of what a candidate can offer by reviewing their social presences.

These days reviewing candidates’ LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter profiles and blog commentary is much more commonplace as part of the recruitment process. Social profiles – particularly LinkedIn – are gaining in credibility as useful to review when considering a job applicant.

Read: Using Social Media as a Chef Jobseeker

So the role of CV has changed. It’s important that your chef CV reflects these changes to keep it current, and in step with your competition.

Think of the resume now as the back end document that signposts hiring managers to many places that showcase the broad skills and experience you can bring to a job.

This trend as a back end document is attributable to applicant-tracking technology – software that sorts through candidates before presenting a suitable shortlist to recruiters. Now many CVs are initally just scanned by software, and won’t be read by hiring managers.

So it’s vital that your CV can be understood by both technology and humans.

Read: Chef: What you Need to Know About CV Keywords

A CV’s scan ability, readability, clear content and structure is important to pass applicant-tracking technology and end up with a recruiter. For instance, machine and human readers can both struggle with overly stylised fonts such as Comic Sans. Classics like Times New Roman, Arial and Calibri are still the best font options for your resume. This is just one example of how you should be reviewing your current chef CV for usability and suitability.

CVs aren’t dead yet chef. But remember, they aren’t now the only kid on the block!

Learn more about creating a winning Chef CV in today’s job market by reading Chef CV Writing Tips.

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