It is often said that Multi-talented people are usually the most conflicted people. Being on the creative side, I find that to be very true in almost all ramifications. One of the areas I constantly find this challenge, though not only peculiar to multi-talented people, is when reviewing my CV to apply for a job, project or opportunity. What I have ended up with as the years went by is one heavily revised but current CV, and few templates here and there from the many variations used for past applications. Worst still is having all these variations in multiple copies across devices for when you need access to your CV on the go.
Then I got wiser with the advent of online storage services. That helped a bit, but with subscriptions to multiple services/vendors available for free, a problem of dealing with redundancies emerged – dealing with clutters for me is so much work. So when I think of applying for something requiring a CV, my first headache is in trying to sort where to start from with my CV, especially making sure it is current till date. Thankfully, there is the obvious, but mostly unused or unexplored option of online documents like Google docs offering a lot of flexibility and features for free.
As we all may be very well aware, as part of the Google Suite tools for collaboration, Google Docs allows you to Create and edit text documents right in your browser without needing a dedicated software, and every change is saved automatically. OMG! *Rolling-Eyes* You may not believe this, but I’ve always been grateful for this feature coming from a country where the regular power outage is a dreaded experience when you are working without power backups. Those who know understand what I mean.
One of the many google docs templates available is one for Resumes/CVs to get you started easily. A way to get started is to import an already existing CV in Word Format and start editing, or simply start a new one with the available CV templates – I found that easier: it gave a fresh look to my CV from the old numbing design, something I would not have had time to go over; besides I leverage that time to revamp what goes on my CV – we all many times feel so lazy and keep recycling content and language we started out with years ago when we wrote our first CV, rather than spend the time to come up with something fresh. So, once you are done editing, your CV will be accessible from any location without needing to worry about having the latest version handy. Also you could just jump in anytime an idea occurs to you on stuffs to add or better languages to use on your CV when using it for a particular purpose…or for just general use. If you need to have multiple versions, simply have them separated by pages on the same document, or make a copy using the Make A Copy option in the File Menu dropdown.
To use the CV, simply use the Download As option still under the File Menu dropdown, and save in the many available formats including PDF and Microsoft Word (.docx) formats. Though not advisable, you could also share the link to your general CV with certain friends/network who have opted to help you submit your CV when they find opportunities. That way, they will always have access to the latest version. But ensure, their level of access is View Only when you are enabling sharing or when retrieving the share link.
So there you have it! Now it is easy for you to pull up you CV with confidence whenever you need to because you always have the latest version, and you can tweak it when you want, not when you get home. For me, that’s the flexibility I love, because I are creative! *Wide-Eyed-Grin*