Leading Suffolk recruitment company, Pursuit Resources, gives ‘thumbs down’ (👎) to emojis on CVs this World Emoji Day (17 July).
Although 92% of the online community use emojis everyday and over 10 billion emojis are sent each day¹ the fun symbols do not have a place on CVs, says Lorraine Phair, managing director, Pursuit Resources. She explains: “Recruiters are inundated with CVs and only the very best will make the shortlist.
“If we see a CV or covering letter covered in emojis they’re just not going to make the cut, they look unprofessional. We work on behalf of our clients to select the very best candidates for their positions; we’d advise anyone looking to get on or progress up the career ladder to keep it formal on a CV.”
Emojis originate from Japan and the word means E – picture and moji – letter/character. Their use has become very popular with Millennials and Gen Zs, but Lorraine would also warn young jobseekers to avoid emojis, even when seeking employment in social media. She says: “We recruit many executives within the marketing and creative sector. Opportunities in digital marketing are growing apace, but adding smiley faces or hand claps are not necessary, they just look out of place on a CV, and we don’t take these applications seriously.”
‘Keep it simple’
Recent research shows that 39% of senior managers¹ think it is unprofessional to use emojis in the workplace, let alone on a CV. However, 70% of employees¹ are currently using emojis in the workplace, although their use is sometimes met with unexpected results. Studies have revealed there can be generational misunderstanding with the use of an emoji.
Some workers have expressed their love for a new idea with the use of a love heart (❤️), but this has landed them in trouble with their employers as the receiver has been in confusion to their actual meaning. Some groups have also found a smiley face emoji (😃) to be passive aggressive² and a thumbs up (👍) sign to be very ‘uncool’. Like with all communication, the nuance can be taken very differently depending on who you are sending your message to. So, the advice is to keep it simple and be professional when searching for your next career move.
To discover more about recruitment, visit Pursuit Group.
