I think it is fair to say that LinkedIn has almost become the default medium for most of us to present our professional history and credentials. Some are arguing that the CV has lost its position as the number-one tool of presenting your professional identity to prospective clients or employers.

Nowadays people check you out on LinkedIn. If they like what they see and read, they invite you for a chat (an informal interview) and if they like what they hear they invite you for a formal interview when they might introduce you to someone else higher up the chain of command.

It is also not uncommon to be asked to e-mail your LinkedIn profile as opposed to sending your CV. Your LinkedIn profile (if you’ve invested the time to make it valuable) not only contains a resumé (excuse the pun) of your professional history and qualifications but it also has testimonials from colleagues, clients and employers and endorsements about your skills; it is something that is alive and constantly evolving.

Your LinkedIn profile is also dead easy to keep up-to-date and to be ‘linked’ (connected) to fellow professional people on LinkedIn. This is no surprise because LinkedIn now has 250 million members in over 200 countries worldwide.

Call me a traditionalist, but I think that to say that the CV is dead is a little misguided. True, the CV no longer holds the number-one position that it once did in the pre-LinkedIn era, but it still has place in our armoury of self-promotion and personal branding in professional circles.

In fact, I would say that the CV is now just one of many tools people use to communicate their professional experience and expertise to a targeted audience, and it comes as a follow-up to sending someone your LinkedIn profile.

Powerful, compelling and relevant as a good LinkedIn profile might be, it is not enough on its own; you need more oomph to be effective. In today’s day and age, you need to have a personal website (e.g. aboutme.com, pageproud.com, etc.), possibly your own blog to display your work or capabilities, a LinkedIn profile and a well-crafted, professional CV.

Your LinkedIn profile is also dead easy to keep up-to-date and to be ‘linked’ to fellow professional people on LinkedIn

The advice I give to managers and the like who are seeking to advance their careers is to use the LinkedIn profile or personal website as a taster to solicit the request for a formal CV and face-to-face interview.

The CV itself, which should always be custom-built and tailor-made for the position or company you are applying for, is a more personal brand statement. Unlike the LinkedIn profile or personal website, it is also something you should adapt and mould according to the job or position you are applying for. I have rarely sent the same CV; I always adapt it for the opportunity.

Put another way, what goes into your LinkedIn profile should have commonalties with your CV, yet it should also be different. This takes time, hard work and clever personal branding.

I use the word ‘branding’ because ultimately all this effort is there to promote you to your next client or employer. Hence, your personal brand statement, much like a corporate brand, needs the touch of experts too. In view of all this, I would suggest, even if you are not currently thinking of changing your job or position, to update and freshen up your LinkedIn profile, personal website (if you don’t have one, get one) and professionalise your CV.

My own CV is average (if not poor), but as the old saying goes,‘The cobbler’s children go unshod’, which basically means that I spend all my working time helping clients to improve their personal brands, leaving myself no time for my own CV!

Thus, not only do I think that CVs are still relevant and needy, but I think you had better work on your CV. Remember these tips: Keep it short (two pages max); use key words relevant to the job or position you are applying for and customise it each and every time; don’t over-inform; make sure presentation is second to none; be clear, accurate and appropriate.

Finally, make sure that everything is aligned. There is no point having a first-class CV if your LinkedIn profile or personal website contradicts or undermines it. The tools I mentioned – LinkedIn profile, personal website, CV etc. – are all needed in today’s day and age. The CV is therefore as important as your online presence.

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