Paper CV's of candidates who apply for a placing are very seldom complete. Even when they contain sufficient information, they tend to heap up quickly. After a while they end up in a pile and are no longer used as most of companies are physically unable to trace through a paper archive often consisting of thousands of CV's which all have their own editing and layout.

Even when a CV's are transmitted to a company via The Internet or via e-mail, but obviously not in DCV format, they would heap up in the same way on the computer hard disc. Most of the companies don't have the material possibility of video reading thousands of CV's every time someone has to be employed.

Input of paper CV's on a database is such an expensive operation that most companies and Recruitment agencies, which place classified ads in newspapers, cannot do it due to the high number of documents, which are received in reply. On the other hand, import of a DCV file into a database is automatic and bears a modest cost for the company, thus making the creation and management of a CV database (CVBase) possible.

What's more, a DCV document never becomes obsolete in that the vital information concerning a candidate as well as his work experience are automatically transformed by the DCV software in search keys and in digital codes and every bit of information is put in the right place in a homogeneous and unambiguous way.

The CVBase Management & Query System is the name of the application software at Employer site and it has been designed for the management of a database of DCV documents (CVBase).

By using the CVBase Management & Query System, a company can make accurate researches through thousand of CV's in just a very short time. Thanks to the digital keys of the DCV document and the consequent precision in which the CV was edited, a company can immediately determine which candidates have to be invited to personal interviews.

Once a DCV document is into a CVBase, it enormously increases the possibility for a candidate to be invited to partake in a job interview ether immediately or at a later stage. Even if the applicant has been employed in the meantime, he may however still be interested in considering other opportunities which, let's not forget, may better meet his professional background and aspirations. This is due to the precision and completeness of the information, which he has supplied, as well as the effectiveness of the digital system, which created the search key.

DCV software can be used by both employees of private firms as well as by public office employees, and by both those who already have work experience as well as by new graduates looking-out for their first placing.

The DCV software runs on any computer with Widows 3.1 or later versions. The program can be run without necessarily installing it and therefore can be used in such a way that it leaves no trace in the computer in that it does not create any permanent files. This allows the user that may have these requirements to use the DCV software on a friend computer or on a company computer with the reassurance that no one will ever know that it has been used or discovers the newly generated DCV document.

Obviously, for those who own computers and are well familiar with them, the DCV software can be permanently installed in any directory: the user may choose and run off the hard disc, thus obtaining better results. Another important advantage is that in this way the user has important possibility of maintaining the recipient address book for further mailings and also the "mailing history".

As if this were not enough, each DCV document that is generated is protected by a password, which only the candidate chooses and knows. On the employer site a DCV Viewer or a CVBase Management & Query System exists, thus allowing employer to view or import a DCV document in a database.

Use of DCV software is royalty free. The user license does not prohibit software duplication and distribution but, on the contrary, tends to encourage it. The program can therefore be copied and passed on to a friend, while a DCV document that has been prepared by a candidate can be transmitted to any number of companies contemporary or at a later stage. It is possible, at any given moment, to up-date the contents of a DCV document, and send it again.

DCV software classifies economic activities and Occupational titles in a way compatible with international classifications. For the private sector, the classification includes the International Standard Industrial Classification (Rev. 3 / CITI Rev. 3) adopted by the Statistic Commission of the UNO (United Nations Organization).

For all economic activities (public and private sector) the classification adopted by the DCV software, given its vastness, includes the ISTAT ATECO 91 classification, and the EUROSTAT (EEC Statistic board) NACE Rev. 3 classification.

As regarding the Occupational titles classification, the DCV software includes more than 5000 entries which include most of the SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) and ISCO-88 classification used by ISTAT integrated with new professions that have emerged in recent years. Specific research was done to incorporate the largest possible number of professions, which appeared in classified ads in the last couples of years into the Occupational titles dictionary.

Authors of DCV software are thanking all the above mentioned organizations for their kind collaboration in supplying their classifications and explanatory notes.

The DCV software section regarding the Organizational Unit, Areas of work, is based on a "Dictionary of Organizational Units", developed by the Organizational and Personnel area of "SDA - Scuola di Direzione Aziendale" of the Luigi Bocconi University of Milan.
This section was developed to get and link together information from four different areas:

In this way a concise representation of the organizational structure has been obtained, not only under a definite and formal aspect, but also under a substantial one which also considers real situation and emerging organizational forms of a company, also based on different national sectors and realities.

The DCV document is designed in such a way that it can be read and used in the principle European languages. Therefore the DCV file transmitted via The Internet to the Italian branch of a Multinational company could be sent on the Mother Company in The States, France or Germany without having to make use of expensive translation procedures.
If the candidate has downloaded the international version of the DCV software from The Internet, or downloaded a specific version that contains Digital Language Dictionary (DLD) which corresponds to the language of his choice, he can compile his CV in Italian and print an extract in any of the given languages.

The DCV system closes a chapter on traditional CV's.
If desired, the candidate can add to his DCV document a descriptive presentation of his professional profile, his career objectives, his hopes and aspirations, the description of work experience which has qualified him the most or his specific skills.

These free format texts, which can be copied from a traditional paper CV and pasted in a DCV document, will surely be useful to experts in personnel matters in evaluating the expressive abilities, style and creativity of the applicant but they will only influence the further reading and evaluation phase of his professional profile, once the DCV document has been extracted from the database thanks to the digital keys and other search objective parameters.

It is always a good idea to attach one's digital photo to the DCV document. This can be obtained by using a digital camera or by scanning a normal photo. The DCV software accepts both BMP and JPG formats.

If desired, the candidate may also attach a 10-15 second multimedia file or a digital film in AVI format to his DCV document of no greater than 1 MB. It must be remembered, though, that not all companies are happy to receive multimedia electronic files as it takes up a lot of space on the hard disk. Before attaching a multimedia file, please pay close attention to the instructions left by companies in the Recipient's Address Book or on the Web page concerning DCV documents transmission.
These instructions can be found on websites bearing the logo:
The digital photo and multimedia attached files are also protected by password in the same manner than personal information.

DCV software contains a built-in system for transmitting a DCV document via The Internet to one or more recipients, without requiring any Web browser or e-mail program. What's more, it also manages a send-to address book which contains all recipient addresses and maintains the "mailing history" of DCV files.
In order to send out a DCV document, it's enough for the sender to know the recipient's DCV e-mail address. This address is usually indicated by the letters "dcv" acceding the symbol "@", which is followed by the recipients Internet domain name. It is also necessary to know the password that was attributed during the creation of a specific DCV document in order to send it out. This was done to prevent entities from sending out your CV without your permission.

A DCV document can also be sent by Post, after building a special 3,5" floppy disc, by way of the provided "Make floppy" function of DCV software.

DCV software requires an IBM compatible computer with Windows 3.1 or later version (Windows 95 and later versions are recommended), 486 CPU or higher, with minimum 16 MB RAM memory (Pentium CPU, 16 MB is recommended).

The minimum video resolution is color VGA 16 colors, but the program recognizes a monitor with a higher resolution and operates on a full screen, automatically scaling the size from 640x480 up to a resolution of 1024x768, 16 million colors. For higher resolutions, the program simply maintains the 1024x768 size.

The user may personalize the background colors and the colors, which indicate errors and can also use black and white liquid crystal monitors.

The user may take advantage of the on-line help, which is made to pop up when you click with the mouse right button on any given object.

The user may interrupt and start up the work at any later stages and may save the document at any point, protecting it with a password.

The DCV document can be previewed on the screen and printed out when necessary.

The CVBase system conforms to European Laws concerning protection of personal information.
Whenever the creation of a new DCV document begins, the candidate is asked to confer the right concerning the treatment and divulgence to third parties of its contents in relation to the category of subjects to whom the DCV document may be sent. If the candidate does not give his consent after having read the note, the DCV document cannot be produced. Each document therefore has registered into and bears the candidates consent at the root of its creation. Consequently, this consent is transferred, together with the information, into the recipient DCV database.

The DCV document is thus proof that the candidate has received and taken note of this warning and that through the creation of the document itself grants his consent. This consent may be viewed or printed at any time by the person that needs to deal with it. Holding a DCV document is like having a letter of consent and releases the holder obligation to ask for a further consent, seeing that permission to use it was already granted at the point where the candidate sent it on. It is therefore totally unnecessary to ask the candidate to give any other form of written consent.

The DCV software allows also the candidate to call for suspension, modification or canceling of data already sent by way of same system.

In addition to this "contractual" concept between the candidate an the recipient through the use of DCV software, the system helps the companies using it to conform to the Law regarding storage of personal information by eliminating the principle problem: "the paper". In fact, traditional CV's being on paper make them free to read for all, but these now no longer exist, and so there is less need to protect them physically. What's more, the candidates data are protected by a password when they end up on the company' hard disc. The users of CVBase Management & Query System have to use two keys in order to store and access candidates' personal information: one is software and the other is hardware. Only the person that is in charge of Company security knows the software key. The hardware key is cabled in the factory at the CVBase AG and is supplied together with the application software. In this way even if magnetic tapes and hard disk were to get stolen it would be impossible for anybody to interpret the contents without possessing both keys (hardware and software).

DCV software currently supports any date value set by the operating system. All files related date information, such as DCV file creation dates, DCV file modification dates are generated using the date value provided by Windows operating system.
All the other user's date information, such as DCV document creation date, candidate birth date, employment's date and so on, are stored by current versions of DCV and CVBase software applications using four digits format.

Therefore no problem will occur to DCV software and CVBase Management & Query System applications by the change to the year 2000, and will accurately represent date information within the constraints of the operating systems and the user's typed date information. Users should confirm that their computers and operating systems are, or will be, year 2000 compliant.

With the intent of offering a contribution to confirming the DCV system as an "European Standard", and thus giving credit to the high content of technological, organizational and cultural innovation within the DCV system, the European Union has supported a three year Esprit project called GEM - a Global Employment Marketplace in the information society. This project is aimed at establishing a Network of Excellence with the task of creating a community of subscribers and users of the DCV system and to start a process of normalization of the semantic dictionary of Economic Sectors, Study Titles, Occupational Titles and Organizational Units used within DCV software on the basis of the various European languages and cultures. Participating at the initial kernel of this Network of Excellence there are some of the leading business school in Europe, namely, SDA Bocconi in Milan, ESADE in Barcelona, HEC in Paris, Kingston Business School in Kingston upon Thames and the University of Vienna, alongside Technology Consulting in Milan as an industrial partner. The extension of this Network of Excellence is foreseen with the inclusion of other business schools, universities, search and selection firms, and associations, national and multinational companies and organization. To get more information on the GEM project, please refer to the GEM website hosted at http://www.gem.cvbase.com/