CV Writing. (OT)

, mine says I bleed Black & White and need to use my holidays to watch Durham and England play cricket.

 

The CV is 6 pages long so you need to re-organise the most relevant data first and also consider shortening it.

For this, I'd move the employment history/work experience above your referees as the actual experience is more relevant to the employer.

For the address details, instead of having two sections for home (term) and home (home) - try to bring these together in one section. Call this your 'personal details' section so it's all contact information and relevant data. You need to include an age/DOB and I still include nationality and marital status as it provides a better picture of who you are.

Make sure you list education from most recent so list from post-grad, under-grad, A-level and then GCSE. The person reading this wants to see what you are doing now.

Same with work experience - list it in most recent first.

One thing I do is list job duties in a bulleted format so it's short and concise and easy to pick out the past job remit. The follow this up with a paragrapgh or two about the role and some challemge you've over come.

Personal statment is quite long and very detailed. You may look at shortening this.

 

JWAG I've emailed you back! Agreed with OT's points and maybe thought about rearranging parts of it but should all be clear!

 

Bloody hell OT, I don't put some of them things and I have had advice off 3 or 4 career advisors. Also don't put down GCSE's qualifications if they are below D and you have a degree, just the one's that make you look better.

 

Was just going to say something very similar to OT. No-one wants to read through 6 pages of CV, so if there are many applicants, you will just be put to the bottom of the pile, if not the bin.
You can shorten it very easily by making the addresses smaller, and side by side, rather than a list.
You don't need such big headings.
You might want to remove the list of GCSEs and A-levels and just say something like 9 GCSEs - A*-C
You don't need to double space referee details.
As OT says, put the most recent work experience and qualifications first, and don't repeat yourself. You have already stated your place of employment as Campus Mag and role as Brand Manager, you don't then need to start the description with "As Campus Mag Brand Manager..."
As I don't know the position you are applying for, I can't really tell you what parts of your PS and experience descriptions need to go, but they are rather long.

If you can get it down to 2 pages, I think you would have a much higher chance of it being read, and getting to the interview stage.

Hope that helps

 

I've never applied for a job where a CV is asked for, they mostly say 'CV's are not accepted'. But 6 pages is far too long mate

Like an application form, keep it concise and to the point, don't waffle, and keep it structured.

 

Nice one lads, I was reading a few tings online as well and everything said aim for around 2 pages so already started shortening...

Cheers for taking the time to do it...I'm sure I'll be back on asking for interview advice if these CVs get me anywhere!

 

Hiya JWAG
first of all - like nearly every job at the moment the employer will be bombarded with CVs so you've got to make sure you get noticed quickly. As a contractor I rely on my CV to be up to date constantly and there are a couple of rules of thumb that will help you:
1. In my business you generally work on a 30 second span of attention from the hiring agent - eg. if they are bored after 30 seconds your CV is in the bin ! You need to give them a snapshot of who you are and what you are about in that 30 seconds which is why the first page is the most important page. After a few brief personal details write a paragraph or 2 on yourself - an overview. (a sales pitch)
2. Follow that with some bullet points on your experience to date, quick one liners of who you worked for, the company, your job title and dates you were there
3. Education and Uni details - again keep it in bullet point form, easy to read and quick to absorb.
4. Once your happy with the first page you can expand on the details of your work history on the following pages beginning with the most recent role first.
5. Personally I try and keep mine to no more than 4 pages. Keep hobbies and interests short and snappy - they dont need a detailed description. Imagine being the person in charge of sifting through 100 CVs if they are all 8 or 10 pages long. You quickly lose the will to live !

In summary - give them the headlines on that first page and make them interested - the CV will get you a foot in the door to an interview hopefully. Then you can charm then with your personality, charm and bullshit !!
Good luck !

 

Just copy one from goolle and edit the details. works a treat.

 

Every time I see you post a small part of me dies

Good solid advice here as well!

 

Right, I've had a bash at cutting it down loads...It's now 2 pages and thanks to atom heart mother, now has a general personal statement just after my personal info, and a 'further information' section right at the end...All work experience is at the front and it runs in reverse chronological order. I also now have DOB and marital status...

Don't think I've missed anything. Thank again!

 

Excellent advice here from everyone.

One final rule that nobody has mentioned yet! For god's sake scan every word for spelling/relevance and every letter and point of punctuation and try to be 100% consistent throughout. By that I mean a full point after every sentence, with/without (depending on preference) on the end of bullet points. If the applications merge into one, stand out by being sharp, clear and thorough - ideal attributes in a future employee...

A good copywriter will always say, If you have the time, read it over with a clear head 24 hours later - it can always be sharpened up and improved upon by you!!

Bit late in the game, but if you need a graphics guy with 20 years' experience look at the actual presentation of it, pm me!

 

More top advice - spot on !
JWAG - good luck with the job and the beers are on you if you get it !! (next home game you're at )

 

A few comments from someone who has to read quite a lot of CV's

- any CV with any spelling mistakes in goes straight in the bin - just suggests lack of pride in their work and no attention for detail

- the first thing I look for is the educational qualifications - not just what the grades are, but what use have they made of their advantages, how have they overcome challenges. Someone from Eton would be binned unless they had straight A*'s. I'd be far more impressed if someone from a more modest background has achieved good rather than stellar results.

- then I look for the personal stuff to see what they do outside work, doesn't really matter what, I just like to know that the person has a life

- if it's someone coming straight out of education, I look for holiday jobs - not so much work experience (which is over-rated, certainly in my profession) but for an indication that they are an independent person who has tried to support themselves. I would be far more impressed by a student who spent a gap year at Tesco earning money to pay for their course than reading about a gap yah in south east asia.

- I normally don't even bother to read the management-speak guff about being highly motivated with great people skills etc

- I'm not terribly bothered about how long it is, although anything over 2 pages probably won't all get read, but it should be easy to read and clearly laid out.

 

OK, I'm sure you haven't and hopefully it's just using common sense but worth mentioning,
for the love of everything that is holy (as Clarkson would say to be antagonistic?) refrain from
(un)intentionally using jargon, slang phrases/words - if it is specific for the type of work you
are applying for it can come out in the interview anyhow. Mind, don't go too far out the other
way and be too patronising either!

Is the CV going in as support with a job application form anyhow as most of these cover the prospective
employer's key areas of interest and allow for the eduction history/qualifications and work experience?

Oh, and try to refrain from using Gothic Bold block script in 40point for the "Curriculaum Vitae" title...
eek! that's just nasty!