Discussion
Ghastly things I know but needs must and all that.
So any tips for someone who hasnt written a CV in the best part of ten years?
Is design/layout important?
Should one include such things as a mission statement (i.e. what direction I want to move in) or a photo? (the latter I cant see as ever being a good idea in my case :hehe:)
What about descriptions of previous jobs? Verbose technical skill type stuff or more used this technology and these skills/methodologies to solve these problems type stuff?
The premise is that the development tool I am skilled in has all but collapsed, I really need to frame my skill set in a different way in order to widen my market, if you see what I mean.
Any info would be most appreciated and I do value PH'ers opinion as most of you are career types that have either prepared a killer CV for yourself or seen a load from potential applicants.
Thanks in advance
:)
So any tips for someone who hasnt written a CV in the best part of ten years?
Is design/layout important?
Should one include such things as a mission statement (i.e. what direction I want to move in) or a photo? (the latter I cant see as ever being a good idea in my case :hehe:)
What about descriptions of previous jobs? Verbose technical skill type stuff or more used this technology and these skills/methodologies to solve these problems type stuff?
The premise is that the development tool I am skilled in has all but collapsed, I really need to frame my skill set in a different way in order to widen my market, if you see what I mean.
Any info would be most appreciated and I do value PH'ers opinion as most of you are career types that have either prepared a killer CV for yourself or seen a load from potential applicants.
Thanks in advance
:)
My advice would be to keep it short and succinct - one side of A4 if possible (and no photo 
).
Try to focus on how your past achievements have added value to the organisations that you have been in e.g. not just that you worked on Project X, but that you helped bring it in y% under budget so contributing to an improvement in the profit for the job of $Zm.
If you're trying to move into a different area, evidence of your ability to adapt and work in a wide range of technologies/environments would be good.
I'm sure some experts will be along with the correct answers soon ....
). Try to focus on how your past achievements have added value to the organisations that you have been in e.g. not just that you worked on Project X, but that you helped bring it in y% under budget so contributing to an improvement in the profit for the job of $Zm.
If you're trying to move into a different area, evidence of your ability to adapt and work in a wide range of technologies/environments would be good.
I'm sure some experts will be along with the correct answers soon ....
I'm in the process of going through the Agencies at the moment and everyone insists that you come in for a CV workshop. My CV has been changed more times than you care to shake a stick at as everyone has a different opinion.
General consensus is that
* you have your name, address, email, telephone etc on single lines at the top without titles.
* have a Personal Profile which says some keywords about yourself (self-motivated, experienced...) and introduces what you can do and want to do.
* Have a list of Achievements such as already mentioned (brought Project X in y% under budget) and things you've done in personal life.
* List your generic and specailised skills such as "team working", "communative"...
* Depending on age, put Education/Work Career next. Keep each with small paragraphs.
* Include a section on interests to show that you have a life outside of work.
* where possible use bullet points/lists as they are easier to scan.
A couple of "don'ts":
* Have "Career History" instead of "Work Experience"
* Don't bother with CV or Curriculum Vitae on the top - they know what it is.
* Save space on non relevant stuff like name/address, keep it on single lines at the top of the first page. Make your name larger than the rest to act as a heading.
* Don't lie about work history or interests, be prepared to back up what you put on your CV.
* Make sure you have a complete and full account of your time - i.e. no missing time in career history.
* Keep it to 2 pages, unless you have a crap-load of work experience you need to share.
* Don't bother with coloured paper but do use a heavier 100g/m2 plain white paper when printing and post in A4 envelopes.
General consensus is that
* you have your name, address, email, telephone etc on single lines at the top without titles.
* have a Personal Profile which says some keywords about yourself (self-motivated, experienced...) and introduces what you can do and want to do.
* Have a list of Achievements such as already mentioned (brought Project X in y% under budget) and things you've done in personal life.
* List your generic and specailised skills such as "team working", "communative"...
* Depending on age, put Education/Work Career next. Keep each with small paragraphs.
* Include a section on interests to show that you have a life outside of work.
* where possible use bullet points/lists as they are easier to scan.
A couple of "don'ts":
* Have "Career History" instead of "Work Experience"
* Don't bother with CV or Curriculum Vitae on the top - they know what it is.
* Save space on non relevant stuff like name/address, keep it on single lines at the top of the first page. Make your name larger than the rest to act as a heading.
* Don't lie about work history or interests, be prepared to back up what you put on your CV.
* Make sure you have a complete and full account of your time - i.e. no missing time in career history.
* Keep it to 2 pages, unless you have a crap-load of work experience you need to share.
* Don't bother with coloured paper but do use a heavier 100g/m2 plain white paper when printing and post in A4 envelopes.
Wow thanks guys, a few mails to be sent shortly.
I have a question on one of your points Stefan.
Back in the glory days I could pick and choose my rate and when I wanted to work. Consequently I have huge holes in my dates where I didnt work because I didnt have to, I actively tried to have at least 3 months off a year.
In light of this, do you and the assembled, have any views on whether; I should say this in a profile type section or just omit it explaining if asked in an interview?
I've got a CV specifically for my core skills but that just isnt going to cut it when a recruiter sees it and hasnt even heard of the tool let alone know what it does and how it works.
I have a question on one of your points Stefan.
Back in the glory days I could pick and choose my rate and when I wanted to work. Consequently I have huge holes in my dates where I didnt work because I didnt have to, I actively tried to have at least 3 months off a year.
In light of this, do you and the assembled, have any views on whether; I should say this in a profile type section or just omit it explaining if asked in an interview?
I've got a CV specifically for my core skills but that just isnt going to cut it when a recruiter sees it and hasnt even heard of the tool let alone know what it does and how it works.
Lol, my problem revolves around writing "unemployed" not "earned so much I could take long holidays" 
If you were working freelance why not put that and mention the companies you worked for? I guess it depends on the timescale, if it was last year then I'd try and do something sensible, but if it was 10+ years ago then who really cares?
Then again, I'm not the man to ask - I can only relay what information I was given with regards to my post-graduate CV
If you were working freelance why not put that and mention the companies you worked for? I guess it depends on the timescale, if it was last year then I'd try and do something sensible, but if it was 10+ years ago then who really cares?
Then again, I'm not the man to ask - I can only relay what information I was given with regards to my post-graduate CV
option click said:
A bit late, but mail me if you want. I used to be a recruitment consultant and have had a lot of positive feedback on my CV.
At the risk of hijacking the thread, I'd also really appreciate some feedback on my CV. Would you mind if I emailed you too?
No, go ahead.
Plotloss said:
Wow thanks guys, a few mails to be sent shortly.
I have a question on one of your points Stefan.
Back in the glory days I could pick and choose my rate and when I wanted to work. Consequently I have huge holes in my dates where I didnt work because I didnt have to, I actively tried to have at least 3 months off a year.
In light of this, do you and the assembled, have any views on whether; I should say this in a profile type section or just omit it explaining if asked in an interview?
I've got a CV specifically for my core skills but that just isnt going to cut it when a recruiter sees it and hasnt even heard of the tool let alone know what it does and how it works.
A big help would be to put 'contract' in brackets next to each role, that will /should make the gaps seld explanatory, when asked about them a better angle might be to say that between contracts up updated your skills set, read manuals etc.
I don't think there is a format as such: it should be tailored for each application, so that academic qualifications are expanded and given prominence if they want someone with potential, outputs if they want a proven track record etc. I would never waste more than a line of pre-degree level qualifications unless they are trade requirements . It should be complete..no gaps.
I got a CV last week from someone very well qualified, but who failed to mention the fact their degree was not properly accreditted which made it impossible to employ them.
I got a CV last week from someone very well qualified, but who failed to mention the fact their degree was not properly accreditted which made it impossible to employ them.
Plotloss said:
I've just read somewhere:
In education only list degrees, nothing before that.
I dont have a degree or any other real qualifications to be brutally honest, should I just omit the entire section?
Exactly my problem. I left in 4-A Levels, 7 O-Levels, was tempted to omit the enitre section and certainly didn't mention any grades - I wondered instead about filling it with a few courses that I've been on?
One thing I always wondered about CVs was trying to make them stand out from the rest of the bunch - I opted for a longer CV (4 pages) with a short intro describing a bit of back ground about each 'episode' of work - not sure if it's working or not buy here is a typical example
My CV said:
In 2001 Inmarsat became a global partner to the World Rally Championship, which during each year visits some 16 different countries landing in places like Monte Carlo, Sweden, Argentina, Greece Turkey, Australia and Mexico.
Whilst providing technical support to the WRC during the Rally of Kenya it became apparent that Inmarsat were holding a golden egg in terms of demonstrating their systems in some of the World’s most demanding environments.
In reporting back to Inmarsat senior management I presented my ideas for the full integration of Inmarsat technology into the WRC.
The concept was to provide the WRC with a portable network, bypassing the local telecommunications that they had become so reliant upon. In some countries these systems are at best unreliable and the headache in provisioning ISDN to the middle of a field Argentina invariably led to delays in getting their systems up and running.
I was solely responsible for the design and integration of this network which comprised a central managed hub located in London. The hub is capable of terminating both MPDS and ISDN data calls from satellite terminals any where in the world.
Ruggedized portable communication cases were developed for deployment at Stage Timing Controls out it the field and Wireless LAN systems were integrated into the WRC Rally Cars.
Timing and telemetry data could now be delivered from anywhere on the rally route back to the Rally Headquarters where it was processed and forwarded to the associated media groups.
With this system results data is now being delivered back to manufacturers and media centres all over the world within moments of a car crossing a finish line.
One of the key benefits of this system is that when timing controls are deployed out on the rally route system managers based in London are easily able to gain direct access to the systems that are running on a road side on the other side of the planet.
Inmarsat recently won the coveted 2004 Hollis Sponsorship award for their involvement with the WRC.
Anyone wanna gimme a job?
best
Ex
about what they were doing 15 years ago :scratchcin: 
My old Dad (now a retired secondary head teacher) taught me how to apply for jobs, and it has worked very well over the years.
If you are serious, tailor the CV to the job (eg, many companies like the short focused type, especially for management jobs, whereas a full-tilt academic CV with publications etc can run to 20 pages). BUT the best thing he taught me was to write a maximum of two sides about why I am suitable for the job, carefully using words from the job details supplied to stress the main points. As someone who does a lot of shortlisting, I can assure you that it makes that job easier and hence results in you getting more interviews.
Prof Beard
If you are serious, tailor the CV to the job (eg, many companies like the short focused type, especially for management jobs, whereas a full-tilt academic CV with publications etc can run to 20 pages). BUT the best thing he taught me was to write a maximum of two sides about why I am suitable for the job, carefully using words from the job details supplied to stress the main points. As someone who does a lot of shortlisting, I can assure you that it makes that job easier and hence results in you getting more interviews.
Prof Beard
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