The Government is Trying to Ban CVs

I have just read that the government is creating a task force to overhaul recruitment processes in the UK and develop a national strategy to make hiring faster and simpler. A noble objective, but one interesting point made by Viscount Camrose, Chair of the UK Hiring Taskforce, is to explore alternatives to the CV. Camrose pontificates that “The sooner the CV stops existing, the better for humanity”.

Of course, Viscount Camrose is entitled to his opinion, but this seems an interesting crusade, and frankly, I’m not hearing this drive to ban CVs from the face of the earth from key stakeholders in the recruitment process.

Having spent 25 years in the recruitment and careers industry, I’d have expected to be more aware of this so-called mass negativity towards the concept of a CV from recruiters, employers, and job seekers. Surely, employers, recruitment businesses, and tech providers are entrepreneurial enough to modernise the recruitment process themselves if it is so broken.

Is it ChatGPT’s fault?

To counterbalance my point, there is a swell of negativity towards AI-created CVs, but the issue isn't predicated on a fundamental flaw in the concept of a CV; it’s predicated on the soulless dross that AI is churning out. Ironically, this issue has been created by the advent of new technology – far from tech solving a problem, it has caused an entirely new one.

The issue with AI-generated CVs isn't the quality of writing, or perhaps the format – it’s the fact that this AI and human collaboration either regurgitates the same information that was already there, and/or creates a task-based CV that doesn’t provide any demonstrable evidence of the candidate's abilities.

Most CVs, whether written by people or machines, are pretty lightweight. Lists of responsibilities, lists of tasks, maybe dropping in some keywords, but they don’t prove anything. There’s no substance, no positioning, no narrative, no case for why this person is worth shortlisting. And that’s the crux of the problem, not the concept of a CV itself.

Will blockchain fix the problem?

The government taskforce champions skills-based hiring, and Camrose himself suggests technologies such as blockchain could be used to bypass the CV process by creating a transferable ledger of an individual’s credentials.

Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, this doesn’t solve the problem. As we have just alluded to – employers are not just interested in skills, they are interested in ability and evidence of impact. In short, has the candidate added value beyond simply completing the tasks they were hired to do? It’s not just about doing the job; it’s about doing it well, and if technology is simply looking for a ledger of skills, that won’t move things forward.

A skills database may provide some useful information, but it won’t help a hiring manager choose between two candidates – not unless one of them can clearly demonstrate how they used those skills and what the outcome was.

The missing link

It should be clear what I am driving at by now – what is needed is evidence of success, and that’s where many job seekers fall down when creating their CVs.

We talk a lot with our clients about the difference between skills and ability. Anyone can list Excel modelling, stakeholder management, or digital strategy on a CV, but that doesn’t mean they’re any good at those things. The real question employers are asking is: Can this person deliver results? And what’s the proof?

This is where our Employment Contract Cost Calculator comes in. It’s a simple formula that helps frame things from the employer’s perspective:

Salary × 3 (expected years of tenure) × 1.7 (total employer costs) × 3 (ROI expectation)

For a £100k salary, that means the employer is investing around £510,000 over three years, and expecting a £1.5 million return. If you’re a £100k candidate, your CV needs to show how you’ll return at least £1.5m in commercial value. That might be through revenue growth, cost savings, operational efficiency, or something else, but it has to be clear. If your CV is just a list of duties and responsibilities, you’re not having the right conversation.

So, what should replace the CV?

Nothing – because the CV isn’t the problem. What needs replacing is the habit of writing CVs that simply list tasks. What’s needed are CVs that demonstrate ability, past performance and commercial value. CVs that are built around evidence and not just job descriptions.

If technology can help with that, great, but until it does, let’s not pretend a blockchain ledger or an AI chatbot can tell your story better than you can.

Want a free, 1-2-1 and confidential review of your CV? You can email your CV to info@cvandinterviewadvisors.co.uk referencing LINL2307