Why Your CV Database is a Giant Waste of Time

Why Your CV Database is a Giant Waste of Time Here at Bubble, we offer clients everything they’d expect from a typical jobs board. From feature adverts and skyscraper banners to enhanced social media promotion, you can get it all at Bubble but there’s one thing you can’t get… and it’s something that really confuses (and annoys) a lot of our potential clients â€" we’re talking of course about CV database access. What? A jobs board that doesn’t give access to its CV database? What’s the point in that? Well, there are a number of points â€" and it’s fair to say we didn’t take this decision lightly. Yes, it makes us stand out from the crowd â€" but we feel confident and stand by our decision because… well, to put it bluntly, we think CV databases are a big fat waste of time! Yep, you did read that right â€" a jobs board that doesn’t believe in the power of flogging all of  its candidates’ details to every hungry recruiter out there. And we have some pretty convincing points to back up our rather controversial decision. Here are a few reasons you might want to reconsider using CV databases to track down an employee in the future. CVs Are Out Of Date Think about when you were searching for your last job and you uploaded your CV to a jobs board/site in an attempt to catch a potential recruiter’s eye. When you got your new job, did you go back and take down your CV? Of course you didn’t â€" and neither did 99% of the people who were searching for a new job at the same time. 9 times out of 10, the CVs featured in a job board’s database are old and out of date â€" so they don’t give an accurate reflection of the candidate’s work history… and there’s a chance they might not even have the correct contact details. This means, should you use a CV database, there’s a pretty strong chance you might get sent on a wild goose chase trying to track down a potential candidate. Similarly, when it comes to CVs in a job board’s database, there’s a strong possibility that the listed candidates might no longer be active and looking for a job. This means that even though you might think the job is perfect for them, if they’re simply not looking, it might be a bit like trying to flog a dead horse. The end result? You’ve wasted a lot of time and you’re no further forward in any way. Generic CVs It’s a well known fact that the best applications come from candidates who have specifically tailored their CV to the job in question â€" but a lot of the time, the CV they upload to the database is a simple generic CV which they go on to modify. This means the CVs you’ll come across in the database will only ever paint a generic picture of each candidate and might not focus on their key skills or knowledge they have that are perfect for the specific role you’re looking to fill. The result? You might overlook the perfect candidate because you’ve only got a generic CV to go off… oh dear! Duplicated CVs There’s no getting around the fact that recruiters love job board CV databases because they get to get their hands on precious new names and CVs that they can add to their existing database… but there’s a strong chance, particularly if they’re working in a niche sector, that CVs available from the jobs board might double up with the existing CVs they have in their database. This means that although they might pay a jobs board £5,000 a year to access their CV database, there’s a chance they might only end up with 20 or so new names and CVs to add to their database… and who’s to say they’re even going to be up to date or active?! Similarly, even if you get access to a handful of CV databases, there’s a pretty strong chance some of them will double up at some point. Multiple CVs For One Candidate We’re not sure about other job boards, but here at Bubble, we believe in the power of tailored CVs for each application â€" which is why we let our candidates upload multiple CVs to their account when applying for jobs. Now, while this is great news for the candidate, this might not be such good news for a recruiter who’s trawling the database looking for the perfect candidate. Why? Because they might have five or six CVs to read through from the same candidate… and really, what recruiter has got the time to do this?! Waste Of Money Want a list of potential candidates who are based in the right area and have the right skills? That’s what LinkedIn is for! OK, so it might take a bit more time and effort… but guess what? It’s up to date and (the best part!), it’s free! Yes, you might have to pay for a Premium account if you want to send some InMails â€" but even then, there’s a strong chance it’s going to work out to be much more cost-effective than paying for CV database access from a number of job boards/sites. So there you go; five reasons CV databases might not be as worthwhile as you first thought. Our final thoughts? When it comes to CV database access, it’s more hassle than it’s worth. OK, we might be biased but we think job advertising is definitely the way to go. Why? Because you don’t get any of the issues mentioned above. Think about it; you’re guaranteed active job seekers who will only ever put forward the right CV for the role… and if you’re buying a shed-load of adverts in one go, you’re normally guaranteed to get a pretty good rate. As ever, we’re keen to start a debate around this issue. Are you a recruiter and swear by CV databases? Or do you agree with us and think that they might not be the best method for tracking down new candidates? Author: Amy Edwards is the SEO  Manager at Bubble-Jobs.co.uk. Follow Amy and Bubble Jobs on Twitter  @BubbleJobs. Image: Shutterstock.