If you’ve recently been made redundant, laid off, or lost your job — you’ve probably been told the same thing by everyone and their dog:
“Update your CV.”
“Start applying.”
“Get your LinkedIn sorted.”
“Just get something in place.”
And I get why that advice is so common. It feels practical. It feels like control. It gives your brain something to do when everything feels uncertain.
But I’m going to say something that might save you weeks (and a lot of unnecessary rejection):
If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, updating your CV is just busywork.
Worse — it can become a way to avoid the real question.
Because a CV is not a magic object. It’s a sales document. And sales documents only work when you know what you’re selling, who you’re selling it to, and why they should care.
If you’re unclear, your CV becomes generic. Your applications become scattergun. Your confidence takes hit after hit. And you end up thinking, Maybe I’m not good enough.
When actually… you’re just not targeted.