Personal Statements on CV's

[Marty Funkhouser]

A bit w@nky or a necessary part of a modern CV?

[Soir]

Marty Funkhouser said:

A bit w@nky or a necessary part of a modern CV?

I think a brief profile at the top with maybe few bullet point key skills or achievements just below.

[Fleckers]

my CV is 2.5 pages long including personal statement

anything longer than 3 pages is bin food when they come accross my desk

make it releven for the job you are applying for

i work in IT when employing a low end job I dont want someone wiht degrees and suck like as i know they will be bored in 3 hours, same as top end jobs, if you dont say you have xyz qualifications or experience i wont bother asking the question

[RemainAllHoof]

wky and necessary!

[Parsnip]

Got a few lines of wky stuff that doesn't really go elsewhere - interests etc.

CV is 2 pages, but would always send it with some sort of cover letter, rather than trying to squeeze it all in - was always told a CV should be 2 pages or less.

[whoami]

Marty Funkhouser said:

A bit w@nky or a necessary part of a modern CV?

Never do this.

[BlackVanDyke]

I'd been told make the CV a single page if at all possible without omitting something crucial, personal statement type stuff goes in job applications where you demonstrate that you meet the person spec etc.

[Tallow]

If it's worded right, it can work well. If it isn't, it will make you look like a tool.

In my opinion, keeping to a strict two pages, using space efficiently, and ensuring a clean and consistent look are much more important.

I've just been through about 90 CVs who applied for a job at our place and you wouldn't believe the toilet some people have committed to (virtual) paper. Whoever reads it, has a lot of them to get through - make it easy on the eye and you're halfway there.

[Adam B]

keep it to 1-2 pages unless you have 20 years of valid experience

don't bother with "i like reading and the cinema" bks

had a cv the other day for a potential intern that listed that he was a trusted ebayer FFS

ETA the statement at the start is fine - keep it short and strictly business and skill related, I had mistaken the thread as asking about the personal interests

Edited by Adam B on Thursday 7th July 23:59

[D1bram]

Adam B said:

had a cv the other day for a potential intern that listed that he was a trusted ebayer FFS

Oh dear, I do wonder how some people make it through each day tbh.

[Marty Funkhouser]

Adam B said:

had a cv the other day for a potential intern that listed that he was a trusted ebayer FFS

Personal Qualities: I have 100% positive E Bay feedback.

[EDLT]

I keep mine on to fill in some of the the massive blank space on the second half of the second page.

[Mobsta]

I don't have a CV, but if I did it definitely wouldn't feature any personal statements. Instead I would built a radio controlled full size wooden advent calendar type CV with lots of boxes, and the correct answers to every conceivable question which would pop out (think cuckoo clock) and possibly even bite/pull on the potential employers nasal hair if they asked the wrong questions.

The big box in the centre with my face on it, would have a spring loaded haymaker boxing glove effect (just in case) and during the commotion the big Boss would undoubtedly make an appearance to investigate the contraption, at which point I'd present him with an expensive Prada hand bag from compartment 69 for his wife, and bypass the hiring process.

[Blue Oval84]

I've got a short paragraph at the top of mine, and it really is just a statement about me rather than a list of skills/experience (that comes later in the CV).

I got help from two of my company's recruiters (and also do recruitment for us myself sometimes) when I wrote my CV, the consensus where I work is that a statement is valuable.

[Miguel Alvarez]

Adam B said:

had a cv the other day for a potential intern that listed that he was a trusted ebayer FFS

Edited by Adam B on Thursday 7th July 23:59

Playing devil's advocate if they're a younger person what would you expect them to put on their CV? I ask as you mention intern and I assume from that its attracting young people.


ETA

I do agree as you get older you should start to bullet point the older less relevant jobs. I've been applying for internal jobs over the last few years so haven't given my CV much love but recently I tidied it up and had a clear out of the pointless I like to read and go gym comments and worked as a cleaner part time when at college as it takes up space and doesn't add value to anything I am likely to go for. Doing that I'm at 2 pages just.

Edited by Miguel Alvarez on Friday 8th July 09:38

[Lefty]

As long as it's related to work it's fine. No personal ste.

[russ_a]

I deleted mine and found it made no difference. Though the 3cm of extra space helped no end!!

[STW2010]

I recently received a CV with 'surfing the internet' listed under interests, and then 'a high knowledge of internet surfing ability' listed under skills.

I duly ignored that, especially as he had forwarded the email he had sent to another company. This even included the persons name and email address who received the email before me. The laziness and stupidity of some people is never to be underestimated.

This CV didn't have a personal statement, but it did come with a cover letter (with my employers name spelt incorrectly). In this case, with or without a personal statement, it would have made no difference whatsoever. So my point is- personal statements are not vital, a good CV and cover letter are!

[Flintstone]

Fleckers said:

i work in IT when employing a low end job I dont want someone wiht degrees and suck like....
accross...releven...dont...

I can see why you wouldn't want anyone too bright working under you

Mobsta said:

I don't have a CV, but if I did it definitely wouldn't feature any personal statements. Instead I would built a radio controlled full size wooden advent calendar type CV with lots of boxes, and the correct answers to every conceivable question which would pop out (think cuckoo clock) and possibly even bite/pull on the potential employers nasal hair if they asked the wrong questions.

The big box in the centre with my face on it, would have a spring loaded haymaker boxing glove effect (just in case) and during the commotion the big Boss would undoubtedly make an appearance to investigate the contraption, at which point I'd present him with an expensive Prada hand bag from compartment 69 for his wife, and bypass the hiring process.

I don't know what you do for a living but you are wasted there. Wasted I tell you.*

• Pun intended

[whoami]

doogz said:

I have a personal statement that mentions how i own an equestrian livery yard on the side. As a contractor, no-one cares, and as an engineer, it's not exactly a conflict of interest, but i feel its worth mentioning. I don't rattle on about how "I enjoy walks in the park and feeding the ducks" and other such crap.

Why?