Writing a GOOD CV......
Discussion
Having never written one of these, and my mums being of the 'old style' and therefore, seemingly out of date, I am slightly lost on where to look to find details on how to write a good CV, first impressions and all that.
Can anyone point me to any good CV websites, or even send me a copy (not by E-mail, I haven't changed it to my Pipex one yet!) of a good CV.
TIA
Stuart.
Can anyone point me to any good CV websites, or even send me a copy (not by E-mail, I haven't changed it to my Pipex one yet!) of a good CV.
TIA
Stuart.
Stuart - I attended a seminar recently on CV writing - if you want to mail me your address I can post you a copy of the handout.
They suggest the following format
HEADING - Just your name and the words Curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL PROFILE - Five to seven statements that describe you - eg Dependable and reliable in supporting and enabling team effort to produce long-term sustainable development.
EXPERIENCE - Not career history but bullet points of your experience and relevant qualifications - eg Over 20 years experience in business to business sales
ACHIEVEMENT - Again bullet points of your major achievements - eg - Part of the team that achieved a 60% increase in turnover in a two year period.
CAREER HISTORY - Starting with most recent - just year, company and job title
PERSONAL DETAILS - name, address, phone numbers, dob, driving licence and brief list of education establishments.
Hope this helps
They suggest the following format
HEADING - Just your name and the words Curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL PROFILE - Five to seven statements that describe you - eg Dependable and reliable in supporting and enabling team effort to produce long-term sustainable development.
EXPERIENCE - Not career history but bullet points of your experience and relevant qualifications - eg Over 20 years experience in business to business sales
ACHIEVEMENT - Again bullet points of your major achievements - eg - Part of the team that achieved a 60% increase in turnover in a two year period.
CAREER HISTORY - Starting with most recent - just year, company and job title
PERSONAL DETAILS - name, address, phone numbers, dob, driving licence and brief list of education establishments.
Hope this helps
Have just gone through a recruitment drive and confirm the relevance of all of the above - with bells on!
A few additional pointers:
English - get it right! - Not American English, not "text" English (the e-mail I received that started "Deer Mr Bates, im wrtng abt ........" was given very short shrift!
Layout: You're not a Grphic Designer but it doesn't take much to lay out the CV in a decent style.
Be different: 99% of applications are, in essence, much the same. Say something different, write about what you do when you are not working and please, PLEASE remember "general socialising" and "cinema/watching videos" are not general interests - they are what everybody does!
On the final note, of the 70 or so applications we received, I reckon on abot 60 listed "swimming" as a general interest!! On this basis, extrapolation would suggest the UK is in dire need of more swimming pools!
Good luck!
(PS: Don't totally discount your Mum's method - if you're sending the CV to someone your Mum's age, such an approach may well pay dividends!)
A few additional pointers:
English - get it right! - Not American English, not "text" English (the e-mail I received that started "Deer Mr Bates, im wrtng abt ........" was given very short shrift!
Layout: You're not a Grphic Designer but it doesn't take much to lay out the CV in a decent style.
Be different: 99% of applications are, in essence, much the same. Say something different, write about what you do when you are not working and please, PLEASE remember "general socialising" and "cinema/watching videos" are not general interests - they are what everybody does!
On the final note, of the 70 or so applications we received, I reckon on abot 60 listed "swimming" as a general interest!! On this basis, extrapolation would suggest the UK is in dire need of more swimming pools!
Good luck!
(PS: Don't totally discount your Mum's method - if you're sending the CV to someone your Mum's age, such an approach may well pay dividends!)
Ditto what everyone else said, plus:
- When writing about past/present jobs emphasise results and achievements over duties and responsibilites.
- Make sure the spelling and grammar are spot on. If in doubt, get someone who's good at that kind of thing to check it over. CVs with typos and poor grammar look sloppy and carelessly put together.
- Keep is business-like and to the point and resist the urge the use any gimmicks: I had an application last week written in 'rap'
While it certainly got noticed it also got passed around the office for everyone to have a laugh 
Remember, you want to be taken seriously.
- Keep your list of hobbies to a sensible minimum. You want to come across as someone who has an interesting, varied and balanced work/social life, not someone with no life outside work, or conversely, so many hobbies you have no time for work!
- Unless you're a design god, stick to a simple layout and avoid any OTT fonts. Make sure all sections are clearly delineated with headings, dates etc following the same format.
Er, that's it!
- When writing about past/present jobs emphasise results and achievements over duties and responsibilites.
- Make sure the spelling and grammar are spot on. If in doubt, get someone who's good at that kind of thing to check it over. CVs with typos and poor grammar look sloppy and carelessly put together.
- Keep is business-like and to the point and resist the urge the use any gimmicks: I had an application last week written in 'rap'
While it certainly got noticed it also got passed around the office for everyone to have a laugh Remember, you want to be taken seriously. - Keep your list of hobbies to a sensible minimum. You want to come across as someone who has an interesting, varied and balanced work/social life, not someone with no life outside work, or conversely, so many hobbies you have no time for work!
- Unless you're a design god, stick to a simple layout and avoid any OTT fonts. Make sure all sections are clearly delineated with headings, dates etc following the same format.
Er, that's it!
A mate of mine in our somewhat idle days kept getting hassle from the Job Centre to get a job so he took a CV with him to one of those Spud like interviews they used to arrange.
Right at the bottom of the CV it simply said
Hobbies and Interests:
Cocaine and Sodomy
Needless to say he didnt get the position...
Right at the bottom of the CV it simply said
Hobbies and Interests:
Cocaine and Sodomy
Needless to say he didnt get the position...
JonRB said:
I don't bother listing hobbies and outside interests.
I'm a freelancer - I'm presuming my client wants to make use of my professional services, not date me.
They have also got to work with and spend time with you. If (as is often the case) it comes down to selecting out of three or four applicants - all of whom are equally skilled and experienced, the employer needs something else to go on. "Will they 'gel' with the team", "are they going to be a boring automon?".......beleive me, this is an important element.
That said, if you don't have any interests - don't make them up (but as a Pistonheader, I'm guessing an interest in cars might be worthy of a mention...imagine your chances of success if you sent your CV to another PHer?! or car fan!!)
steviebee said:For permanent recruitment, perhaps. But for contract? I'm not convinced.
"Will they 'gel' with the team", "are they going to be a boring automon?".......beleive me, this is an important element.
I'm sure a client is more interested in 9 years C++ development experience than the fact that I'm borderline obsessive with cars.
tvradict said:
I'll e-mail you when Pipex (eventually) tell me how to setup Outlook for E-mail.
It's fairly trivial.
Create a new account, set the STMP and POP3 servers to what Pipex have given you (eg. smtp.dial.pipex.com and pop.dial.pipex.com or smtp.dsl.pipex.com and pop.dsl.pipex.com), username and password as supplied by pipex, and away you go. Simple as that.
I would say to email me off-line for more details, but obviously that is a bit of a chicken & egg situation.
JonRB said:
I'll e-mail you when Pipex (eventually) tell me how to setup Outlook for E-mail.
It's fairly trivial.
Create a new account, set the STMP and POP3 servers to what Pipex have given you (eg. smtp.dial.pipex.com and pop.dial.pipex.com or smtp.dsl.pipex.com and pop.dsl.pipex.com), username and password as supplied by pipex, and away you go. Simple as that.
I would say to email me off-line for more details, but obviously that is a bit of a chicken & egg situation.
I've done that bit, but there is something else wrong, at pipex's end I think, I can't log on to my E-mail account, BT have already shut my account down, so I have no e-mail account!
Apparently, Pipex are 'working on it'
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