In Focus Consumer Credit The rise of the messy CV


Are companies finally starting to value professionals with diverse and non-traditional career paths?


Rosalie Harrison Partner, Borderless rosalie.harrison @borderless.net


A few months ago, I was retained to find an executive for a growing firm. The hiring manager set forth all of the


expected criteria during our briefing and then something extraordinary happened. “You do not need to find me a pretty


CV,” she instructed. “I am happy with a messy one. You know, it is ok if you find someone with diverse experiences or who took some time off or traveled the world or whatever.” As the proud owner of a messy – that is to


say non-traditional career path – CV, I was ecstatic with this instruction.


Background Understanding my joyous response probably requires a little background. You see, 30 years ago, I applied to law school with a pharmacy degree and two years of pharmaceutical industry experience under my belt. I still remember the sting of reading my


Harvard Law School rejection letter, which expressly declared my five-year pharmacy degree to be ‘vocational training’ unsuited for legal studies. Luckily, I have always been the type to


persevere and received my law degree despite these narrow-minded rejections – performing quite well, thank you, despite my alleged lack of educational foundation. I then survived the interviewers that told


me that I appeared professionally ‘unstable’, and landed a job at a top international law firm. I spent the next 14 years pursuing a


legal career, even reaching that coveted partnership milestone. The next decade, however, involved more


wonderful mess. Expatriate living in two different European countries as a trailing spouse and mom, and my current (perhaps


January 2020


Business trends are creating working environments that are increasingly dynamic (a nice word for ‘messy’) shifting the types of competencies needed for business success


third) career evolution to a partner in a boutique (female owned and operated) executive-search firm. Now, when I walk someone through my


professional history, the most common word that comes back at me is ‘impressive’. And, more importantly, in my current role, literally all of my life experiences are professionally relevant. Given the historical response to my non-


traditional career path, the current response to my ‘messy’ CV always makes me smile.


The change So, what has changed exactly to give a boost to the credibility of the non-traditional CV? The answer is simple. Business trends are creating working environments that


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are increasingly dynamic (a nice word for ‘messy’) shifting the types of competencies needed for business success. Pressure to boost pipeline innovation and


speed to market – while preserving efficacy, safety and quality – is creating a business model where cross-functional collaboration and external alliances are the norm. Big Data, digitalisation, and artificial


intelligence are drastically changing the scope and impact of products, services and operations. In an environment where change is a


constant and lots of flexibility and curiosity are needed, the owners of a non-traditional CV experiences suddenly have attributes that are recognisable as being valuable to business success. Messy CV owners have proven an ability


to challenge the status quo, an attribute that is needed to drive and embrace creative and innovative ways of working. Flexibility and change-management


resilience are derived from both personal and professional life choices. Living and working internationally also supports multi-cultural understanding. Engaging in cross-functional roles or educational experiences enhances contribution and collaboration. So what is our advice? If you are a


professional with a nontraditional career path, take a look at the competencies you have gained as a result of your varying professional and life experiences and display them confidently in your messy CV. No apologies needed. If you are hiring manager, do not be


afraid of messy CVs. Non-traditional candidates might just have all of the competencies that are needed for success in your challenging and dynamic global environment. CCR


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