CV's

[cookiemonster]

Is there anyone here that are good at putting CV's together?

I need someone to have a look over mine as I will be jobsearching again soon when I move to London to study at Uni.

My CV is OK but I think it needs an expert eye to look at it.

Thanks folks

 

[Rebel Ian]

Depending on what line of work you're in I'd be happy to take a look. I see CVs all the time ranging from administrative people to management.

The thing I look for in any CV is achievements. Lots of people fall into the trap of just putting responsibilities which doesn't tell me how you have changed things, it just says what your job spec was!

 

[Globalti]

Better get your plurals and apostrophes sorted out.

It's CVs.

 

[cookiemonster]

Better get your plurals and apostrophes sorted out.

It's CVs.

*sticks tongue out at Globalti*

 

[Bayerd]

Depending on what line of work you're in I'd be happy to take a look. I see CVs all the time ranging from administrative people to management.

The thing I look for in any CV is achievements. Lots of people fall into the trap of just putting responsibilities which doesn't tell me how you have changed things, it just says what your job spec was!

What if there was no requirement to change?...

 

[marzjennings]

*sticks tongue out at Globalti*

He has a point though, spelling mistakes and incorrect punctuation is a straight path for your CV to the bin. Regardless of qualifications and experience.

 

[MacB]

For ease of decision making I've always thought a 3 page CV was about right, top sheet a brief intro to you, why you want/are right for the job and bullet points of achievements/skills. The next two pages expanding on this via your career history still keeping things brief and snappy. Basically I want to be able to scan a top page as an initial whittling process.

When it comes to choosing what to list under skills and achievements be sensible, I've seen a broad range included under these categories. Try to think what you'd like to see if you were recruiting for the role, personal achievements are fine as long as you can tie them back confidently.

 

[Rebel Ian]

What if there was no requirement to change?...

It doesn't necessarily have to be changing anything but demonstrating you've actually achieved something over and above the norm is important.

 

[Norm]

What if there was no requirement to change?...

Then someone who makes changes anyway shows initiative, control and a desire to improve themselves and their environment.

... achieved something over and above the norm is important.

If it doesn't involve coffee, most people have achieved someone over and above this Norm.

 

[Norm]

For ease of decision making I've always thought a 3 page CV was about right, top sheet a brief intro to you, why you want/are right for the job and bullet points of achievements/skills. The next two pages expanding on this via your career history still keeping things brief and snappy. Basically I want to be able to scan a top page as an initial whittling process.

When it comes to choosing what to list under skills and achievements be sensible, I've seen a broad range included under these categories. Try to think what you'd like to see if you were recruiting for the role, personal achievements are fine as long as you can tie them back confidently.

+1 to all of this too. Put definitive stuff which you can claim is yours, nothing wishy-washy or bland, and pick out the killer points from each job you've done.

 

[MacB]

+1 to all of this too. Put definitive stuff which you can claim is yours, nothing wishy-washy or bland, and pick out the killer points from each job you've done.

you've been an assasin!!!!

 

[Red Light]

He has a point though, spelling mistakes and incorrect punctuation is a straight path for your CV to the bin. Regardless of qualifications and experience.

Dangerous thing to do. I have come across examples of people doing that being hit by disability discrimination claims for not making allowances for the applicant's (undeclared) dyslexia. These days you should only judge objectively on qualifications and experience against the job and person specifications. I've had plenty of opportunity to be glad of doing that and being able to give an objective response when an applicant has challenged their rejection. And remember under the Data Protection Act they are entitled to see any information about them including any interview notes.

 

[Globalti]

Anybody who is not 100% sure of their grammar, presentation and spelling would be well advised to put the CV in the hands of a professional. IMO it should be ONE page of extremely brief information about yourself. Nobody wants to wade through three pages of BS about how "I achieved defined objectives by facilitating meaningful discourse between departments" and so on. If the candidate looks interesting they will be called for interview where they will have the opportunity to talk about past experience.

If a candidate handed me a crap CV then excused it by claiming dyslexia I would reject them out of hand as lacking in initiative and lacking pride in their presentation.

 

[Rebel Ian]

Anybody who is not 100% sure of their grammar, presentation and spelling would be well advised to put the CV in the hands of a professional. IMO it should be ONE page of extremely brief information about yourself. Nobody wants to wade through three pages of BS about how "I achieved defined objectives by facilitating meaningful discourse between departments" and so on. If the candidate looks interesting they will be called for interview where they will have the opportunity to talk about past experience.

If a candidate handed me a crap CV then excused it by claiming dyslexia I would reject them out of hand as lacking in initiative and lacking pride in their presentation.

Yep, totally agree. Spell checking is done by a computer and if you really do have dyslexia or something similar, get someone else to read and check it. No excuses.

 

[PaulSB]

Spell checking by computer is a disaster waiting to happen. If one has difficulty with spelling, grammar or punctuation have the document proof read by someone who has a good grasp of English.

I gringe at some of the documents I see which have been spell checked. In the UK we use the English language, not American. Proper use of language is very important.