The job market is highly competitive. However, the process of sifting and sieving of all candidates begins on the review of one of the most basic fundamentals of businesses – the CV or resume.

All of us at some point have sat down to create our very own CV’s that we hoped would sweep our potential employers off their feet. However, CV writing is much more than just listing or ranting off one’s achievements and skills. In fact, the CV or curriculum vitae literally translates into ‘course of life’. But, before you start creating a CV that matches your expressions and experiences in life along with the requirements of the job, hear this out. Most companies today use the ATS or Application Tracking System that ‘enables the electronic handling of recruitment and hiring needs’. This means that most companies filter resumes through the ATS before they are actually viewed by a person!

So yes, the art of writing a CV has become far deeper, technical, and comprehensive than what most of us imagine it to be. To bridge this gap, Chavi Agarwal kick-started CView, a career technology company that combines human expertise and AI by building India’s first-ever ATS that has ‘similar capabilities to any robust MNC based ATS system’. The organization aims at alleviating the issues that students face while looking for jobs. Its in-house ATS or Application Tracking System’s designs and results increase the chances of the customer/candidate getting an interview call from MNC’s, MSME’s, and startups by 60%.

Cview also contributes to various social causes. The organization donates 30% of its proceeds towards women’s education in India and has helped 5000 young girls so far. It has also hosted pro-bono webinars on women entrepreneurship as well as ‘back to school’ webinars for students across schools and government colleges in India, Tanzania, Nepal, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.

With an ever-ready approach to lending a helping hand to causes centered on women and educational development, Cview is a heady blend of technology and intent. With its heart and head in the right place, Chavi Agarwal points out, “Our endeavor is to train our software with machine learning so that it can replicate a recruiter’s acumen to perfection. We also wish to remove any human interface in the CV building and checking process to create this innovation in the HR industry. And we also want to extend our social cause even further by reaching more underprivileged college students across the globe and extend our services further.”

Below are excerpts from our interview with founder Chavi Agarwal on the importance of a CV, the pandemic effects on recruitment, and more.

How so far has the pandemic affected the gender dynamics of the job market?

Chavi: Globally, women have been affected by factors such as family responsibilities, relocating, work hours, and workplace safety in their professional careers. However, the increase in communication channels and work from home opportunities during this pandemic have increased the presence of women in the workforce all across the globe. It has also made work routines and culture more affable for the female workforce. It has been an overall boon for women in work cultures. I am a strong propagator of Women Empowerment. We have multi-divisional teams at CView, all helmed by strong and powerful women wherein we work together in harmony while sharing professional and personal connections with one another.

How to create a winning CV during the pandemic amidst the widespread lay-offs? What has changed from the old standards?

Chavi: ATS compliance along with a demonstration of environment relevant skills is the key. I believe that to create a winning CV, five skills should always be highlighted in your CV. These are emotional intelligence, coordination, agility, leadership, and analytical skills along with a problem-solving attitude in this period of pandemic-induced mass lay-offs. As we move further into a tech-savvy world, the filtering process has become more and more difficult. People should understand that CVs are not just a representation of their professional skills but also describe who they are as a person. Hence, CVs need to be unique, customized & personalized according to the job position one is applying for in order to make them look more authentic and interesting. Along with this, your digital literacy during this pandemic along with flexibility, organizational skills should also be showcased in your CV.

What most people still don’t know is that their CVs do not go directly to a human recruiter or hiring manager anymore. Instead, it goes through a software known as the Applicant Tracking System first, which shortlists applications on the basis of the organization’s requirements. This is why it is so necessary to have an ATS-compliant CV in today’s day and age and this is where CView sets apart from its competitors as we have built an in-house ATS system. Our in-house Application Tracking system is developed with a database of more than 1,00,000 CVs which is as robust as any MNC’s ATS tool. All CV’s curated by CView are end-to-end ATS compliant and have a minimum ATS score of 90. We are a customer-oriented organization where we have personalized discussions and improvement calls with all users in order to understand their experiences and journeys in-depth.

How can the period of work from home be utilized to improve one’s CV?

Chavi: This work from the home period has obviously been a huge difficulty for all of us. On a more positive note, I believe that this time can be utilized by every individual for their own personal and professional development, i.e. enhancing skills and gaining hands-on experience in multiple ventures through freelancing. You can do so by channelizing your hobbies, doing part-time work, completing online courses, getting skill certifications, and learning foreign languages. You should also take this time to organize your skills in an impactful and attractive manner via well-curated CVs and a portfolio of work. I would also recommend engaging in various self-branding activities such as enhancing your LinkedIn profile and creating a website to display your work. You should take this time to network with more people & reconnect with old networks since everyone is more accessible these days. If you are a fresher, you can use this time to actually figure out your interests by doing multiple work from home projects and internships in different industries to actually figure out your area of interest.

And, what has been your learning as a business owner from the pandemic period?

Chavi: The biggest learning for me during this pandemic has been that customers are vulnerable and professionally insecure due to the current job market and the global scenario. More so than ever, this is the time when it is important to build not only trust and credibility but also ensure transparency with all stakeholders involved in the business. Every situation can be seen as a pro or a con and hence, helming a business that directly deals with the people who have been the most affected can be seen as a challenge but also an opportunity to help those who are in need. We at CView find it a blessing to be able to help people better their profiles and thereby get the job of their dreams. With customers getting hired at Amazon, Mckinsey, American Express, and various such MNCs, we are grateful for the work we do and the impact it creates in people’s lives.

What do you imagine CView to be like in five years? What’re new ambitious projects you hope to initiate?

Chavi: We plan to bring our services globally and in order to achieve this, we have already started to expand in the European region. We now serve in 20+ nations across the globe.

Let’s go back to the beginning, what advice would you give to yourself when you sat to write your CV for the first time?

Chavi: While penning down my first CV in my freshman year of college, I constantly thought what if I changed my goal in the future. What if I was gathering all of the experience just to let it go to waste because I was just trying to create a CV in order to cater to that specific goal? This would lead to a mismatch. But this is where we are usually wrong because the best profiles or CVs are created while you’re experimenting in your career. And this is the specialty of a professional CV service that they are able to maneuver any sort of profile building blocks or experiences that you’ve had in order to portray them in the form that they cater to your specific industry. All the experiences you have and continue to gain will clearly be handy in the future.

If CVs were not so formal, your skill/experience/hobby that could sound crazy for the corporate era you would love to add to your CV?

Chavi: As times are changing, there is really no such thing as crazy for the corporate ear. As HR is evolving globally, they look for eclectic and different candidates. In the recent past, we at CView have added interests such as gaming, playing ukulele, winning Limca Book of records for eating and solo travelling as well as blogging. Personally, I as a recruiter for my company really look forward to seeing interests that set the candidate apart from others. One such crazy skill I would love to add to my CV is knowing the capital of every possible country or state in this world.

Women often undervalue their worth during salary negotiations, how can they use the power of CV to eloquently claim what they deserve? Also, patriarchy often writes off women during the initial CV elimination stage, especially for the top management positions. Any CV tips to have their way through?

Chavi: I have had the misfortune to witness this elimination process and also be on the receiving end of it. Unfortunately, people in the professional industry think that we cannot have an opinion without having facts to back it up. I, however, tend to look at it in a more positive way. If I hone my research skills, if I have analytical abilities, and if I back my opinion with a legitimate stance, i.e. data, numbers and everything that I could possibly come up with I’m anyway more credible. Hence, research skills and analytical skills are key in CVs made for women.