CV vs online profile - How to market yourself in 2019

The CV has always been a bit of a paradox, balancing the need to give a quick snapshot of your career with enough detail to satisfy an overwhelmed hiring manager.

Your achievements, the projects you spent sleepless nights on, and the countless skills you’ve picked up along the way - it’s all lost in the face of an oppressive 2 sides of A4.

And the hiring manager can’t be expected to know that you spend your Saturdays teaching front-end to inner-city kids, or that you’ve been to 15 conferences already this year (not because you had to, but because you love to learn, and coding is your passion). So how can they possibly know if you’ll be a good fit for their team?

The traditional CV simply isn’t delivering in an increasingly fast-paced, online and social world.


Social targeting
More internet users than ever are on social networks in 2018, with 79% on facebook, and more than 530m user profiles on LinkedIn. Online presence is more important than ever, and it's having a huge impact on resourcing, by filling in the gaps where a CV fails to deliver - on personality and skills.[1]

70% of employers used social media last year to screen candidates, and some 54% of those employers admitted that they have found content on social media that convinced them not to hire a candidate, including lying about qualifications, drinking or drug use, unprofessional screen names and more.[2]


The passive jobseeker
Users are frequently encouraged to update their online profiles on social platforms - something they have never had to do with a CV except when applying for a role; so today the social user has become a continual passive job seeker, always being notified about or viewing new roles in their social feed, even when they’re comfortably placed.


Verifiable, direct connections
Where exaggerated certifications may get your foot in the door with a CV, it’s more difficult to lie on an online profile which directly connects you with your previous employers, coworkers, schools and universities - the online profile becomes less aspirational and more realistic as a result.



The future of the online profile...

…is skills based with skills summaries and featured skills that give a sense of career intentions and proficiency in their field

At hubbado, we use an algorithm to score a user’s skills by frequency, recency and length of usage to give hiring managers a better sense of proficiency. Our profiles provide a skills summary, featured skills (curated by the member), and skills against each project or role.

…gives a snapshot of the job seekers experience and personality while also providing sufficient detail for a hiring manager who wants to learn more

The hubbado profile gives a quick snapshot of the user's work history, projects, achievements, and personality, but it also allows the hiring manager to view more detail

…is verifiable, providing details of previous employers and certifications with a robust screening process

The hubbado profile is built on work history events and information provided by the member. All of our members have been fully verified and screened by industry experts.

…is not judged on style or format, but uses a generic design so that profiles stand out solely on merit

Our profiles are stylistically identical, and specifically engineered to showcase each member’s merit, experience, skills and achievements.


  1. http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2016/11/10132827/PI_2016.11.11_Social-Media-Update_FINAL.pdf ↩︎

  2. https://cb.com/2s5abbY ↩︎