Why Looking Beyond the CV is Important

Why Looking Beyond the CV is Important

I am a natural born entertainer who has entertained for over 10 years in holiday parks in the UK and abroad. I’ve spent a lot of time performing in a variety of shows aimed at children. At 15 years old, my mum told me I had to work for a living and my first thought was if I must work I was going to do something I enjoy: ACT – PERFORM – ENTERTAIN – MAKE PEOPLE SMILE!

I’m a firm believer that there are two types of people: ‘work to live’ people and ‘live to work’ people. I have always very much been a ‘live to work’ person. Every job I’ve had, I remember feeling “wow, as if I get paid for this!”. This isn’t work – this is my life and for that, I am so grateful.

However, things change and people change – one thing about being a performer is that you almost always live where you work. Over the years I have lived and performed in places such as Oman, Scarborough, Dubai, Wales, Greece, and more. Because of this, relationships were hard, stability was impossible, and finance was always variant.

I’m now 30 years old, in a happy, settled relationship and no longer want to travel the world for work. My mission is now to live in one place happily with my partner and think about the important things; mortgage, marriage, kids, savings, pension etc. However, easier said than done! Not only do I now need to exit the performing industry (as there is no such thing as a full-time actor), but I need to find another job I can be equally passionate about and hope that they would accept someone whose career mostly consists of dressing up in bizarre costumes and dancing around like a prat!

So, Where Do I Start?

Well firstly, we found a place in Haverhill. We’d sorted the location. However, I needed to find a job! At this point it was hard to be fussy, in-between performing jobs I had worked in various sales and marketing positions and wondered if that would be a good place to start. I went on all of the job boards, optimised my CV to make it seem more reputable and suited to the world outside of performing and applied for anything and everything. However, no one would have me. It was understandable. My CV has gaps, my jobs are mostly within entertainment and other employers don’t really care what roles I’ve performed. I needed someone to see beyond the CV and listen to me for who I am.

After visiting my local high street and stumbling across 1st Stop Recruitment, I decided to pop in and ask for their help. I gave them my CV and explained my situation to Alex (who is now my colleague), who was so helpful, friendly and understanding. It felt quite easy to be open and honest. I could tell she would see beyond the CV and know my skills are transferable. I trusted she would help me if not now, in the future.

Once I left the office I felt reassured she would be able to help me. She told me to wait up to 48 hours, and that she would be in touch. It turned out to be about 48 seconds instead. I got a voicemail asking to come back in to discuss a role they feel would be suitable for me working for 1st Stop Recruitment! I was over the moon as 1st Stop Recruitment is on my doorstep. The role they considered me for was Business Development Manager. A huge title for someone with no direct experience, yet they were still willing to consider me based on my personality which they believed to be a key to the role.

Multiple CVs can be repetitive, especially if they’re all for the same role. Personality can be what really fortifies a CV, and distinguishes you from the rest.

Going Beyond the CV

To apply for the role, I had to take a psychometric test. I’d never done one before, but they assured me you can’t really go wrong, just be honest and click the first thing that pops into your head… so I did. The results I received were phenomenal! It couldn’t be more accurate. My personality and working style matched the description perfectly. I was so pleased that not only did they have an accurate description, but also a very positive advertisement for me and my transferable skills.

I became Business Development Manager very soon after. It’s not performing, and I’d be lying if I said I was as passionate about recruitment as I am performing. However, I believe I’m suited to the role, and I’m finally living the ‘work to live’ dream. A secure job, career, a mortgage, a potential wife and the rest is to be written.

My main point of this is that if they’d only seen my CV, I might have gone by the wayside. But they went beyond the CV and into the personality. It was only because they’d met me in person and performed psychometric testing that I became successfully employed. (Three months later, I still am!) Working in recruitment has taught me many things. However, the main thing I’ve learnt is that people are more than their piece of paper, their skills and experience. It’s worth remembering that there are many other things to consider when you’re looking to recruit.