Psy 350 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Any of you have much experience writing CV's / Resume's? I'm re-writing mine for the first time in about 5 years and it needs to be a lot more professional than it was back then. Just wondering if anyone had any tips or advice. Then again to be honest if I use most of the advice I'll get from you lot on here I'll never get another job again and probably end up in prison Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Ok. So never put cv at the top of your cv. Put your name and address as this is what you want then to remember. Always stick to two pages, if you go over they won't read it. Do not post your life history, do not say you are married with three kids, or your nationality as they could disregard u as they don't want to look bias. If your experience is limited consentrate on key skills. Eg, communication, customer service. Things u may have learnt from education. Do not add experience that u have worked at for less than 3 months. Add some colour, maybe print it on colour paper or add some seperators that are colour as this will make your stand out. If you are sending it by email just for a professional touch pdf it using primo pdf, its really easy to downlaod. Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieface 15 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Put that you hold a full uk drivers license, so that they know if need be you can travel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Marney1 is sexy Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Any of you have much experience writing CV's / Resume's? I'm re-writing mine for the first time in about 5 years and it needs to be a lot more professional than it was back then. Just wondering if anyone had any tips or advice. Then again to be honest if I use most of the advice I'll get from you lot on here I'll never get another job again and probably end up in prison Depending on the type of job you're going for just keep your CV relevant, by that I mean don't bother having your school grades on there - don't even bother saying which school you went to. Don't include work history that has nothing to do with the job you're applying for either, unless of course your role involved doing something which is relevant. Keep it short, anything more than 3 short paragraphs is boring. Get your local MP or someone who holds an OBE or something to act as a character reference - that goes a long way. So, keep it totally relevant, don't ramble and keep it short. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psy 350 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Decent advice so far. I've read quite a lot of "professional CV writing" articles and a fair few of them are mentioned, although they generally suggest you don't use special fonts or colours etc and keep it standard looking. Personally I think a bit of colour would help you stand out, but I guess some people think that looks unprofessional. How am I gonna get an MP as a reference? o_O Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Well that's y mind has lines in it, I just used auto shapes and used it to seperate my personal profile, experience and education. You just edit it and change the colour and it still looks professional. My teacher for business a level said to print it on quality coloured paper, I have never done it myself but its an option. It depends on the job I guess, I mean if its something more manual labour then you won't need a cv that has to much info. If its managerial you will. Use your own judgement based on the role. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Marney1 is sexy Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Decent advice so far. I've read quite a lot of "professional CV writing" articles and a fair few of them are mentioned, although they generally suggest you don't use special fonts or colours etc and keep it standard looking. Personally I think a bit of colour would help you stand out, but I guess some people think that looks unprofessional. How am I gonna get an MP as a reference? o_O Keep it black and white in the usual format. Just ask your MP if he/she'll mind being put down as a referee, it'll be worth it, it shows an employer you can probably be trusted. I got a few friends jobs at the Land Rover plant here by getting a friend who has an OBE to be their referee. Failing that, get someone who has a high up job with your local council, it'll all be worth the effort. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psy 350 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Hmm, makes sense but seems like a lot of bother to go through just so they phone him and he goes "who? Oh yeah... err... quality bloke". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Totally lol'd at that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zen 5 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 If I were an employer, I'd pick the guy who has an MP as his referee over somebody who doesn't, any day of the week. Keep it relevant and don't ramble, that's about as much as I know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Marney1 is sexy Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Hmm, makes sense but seems like a lot of bother to go through just so they phone him and he goes "who? Oh yeah... err... quality bloke". Try your university lecturer or something then. I interviewed my apprentice and told him that while having a yellow belt in ju-jitsu among his qualifications was very impressive I don't think it would help him when carrying out work on a gas installation. I gave him the job though because I believed he really wanted to make a career out of his plumbing and gas work. He showed a real interest in the job and wasn't afraid to ask questions or tell me he was willing to always learn more. He didn't pretend to 'know it all'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psy 350 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 What if I do know it all though? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 I was told I got my job because I researched the company, if you get an interview make sure you do coz they will ask what you no about them and u need an answer. Also after the interview after a day send an email saying it was great to meet them, that u felt the interview went well and you look forward to hearing from them. This way they remember you. Just incase you get an interview its good to have the knowledge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Indy 350 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Crap: I like to volunteer. Good: I enjoy meeting new people and making a difference through volunteering. Crap: I like to play football with my mates. Good: I enjoy playing football as it allows me to exercise leadership and communication skills as well as relieving stress. etc. Basically, you can always put a spin on things to make you sound better than you really are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Marney1 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Make sure you squeeze their index knuckle with your thumb when you shake hands at the beginning of an interview. If they think you're a fellow mason then you're in, if they're not a mason they wouldn't have noticed it anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ViceMan 1380 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 And cup their ball sack and/or stimulate their clitoris. I see everyone else has gone for the serious route, meh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TreeFitty 2631 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Put a little rose icon in the top right corner. Something noticeable for them to pick up and make your CV stand out.* And yeah, keep it simple. Use lines to separate sections (Name+contact info, skills+qualifications, work history, awards/degrees/certificates) but don't make tables. Horizontal lines are all you need. *no idea if that will actually work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Marney1 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Put a little rose icon in the top right corner. Something noticeable for them to pick up and make your CV stand out.* And yeah, keep it simple. Use lines to separate sections (Name+contact info, skills+qualifications, work history, awards/degrees/certificates) but don't make tables. Horizontal lines are all you need. *no idea if that will actually work Make the rose, or whatever symbol green. Green attracts the eye like no other colour does for some reason. As TF says, it'll stick in their head without them realising it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Put a little rose icon in the top right corner. Something noticeable for them to pick up and make your CV stand out.* And yeah, keep it simple. Use lines to separate sections (Name+contact info, skills+qualifications, work history, awards/degrees/certificates) but don't make tables. Horizontal lines are all you need. *no idea if that will actually work Make the rose, or whatever symbol green. Green attracts the eye like no other colour does for some reason. As TF says, it'll stick in their head without them realising it. Yeah that rose idea is good, see we are all learning here if all this fails tho by all means take vices advice haha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asthenia 138 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 One page maximum for length. Good points in here, but if you want your CV to actually be read, you've only got a page to do it in. Short, relevant, impressive points. Nobody needs to know that you 'thoroughly enjoy meeting new people and sucking dick, after cups of tea and circle jerking for 3 minutes and 45 seconds. Funny story, I only last 3 minutes and 45 seconds. All stems from a horrid experience I had at my last job where I got caught masturbating into my managers cup of coffee. He liked Blue Mountain, which is, as you obviously know, rather expensive. I just thought it would be funny to add a little jazz to the mix.' This is what I've done. This is why you need to employ me, this is what I can do for you. And only relevant to the job you're going for. Going for 6 jobs with 6 different roles? You're writing 6 CV's. You can keep the bare bones, but it has to change for each position. I've had more experience in writing successful CV's than I care to remember. I had to bullshit my way into this job trojan horse style. I knew I could do it and I was qualified, but I'd never dealt with any of the systems we use here and failed the fuck out of the technical test. Made the CV look boss (creative director goes down a treat..), got an interview with the Team Leader who grilled me for an hour and by the end of it he told me I had the job as soon as his higher up's gave him the go ahead for a new position. Now I'm redoing our website (internal and bound by the laws of Google Sites, so not half as impressive as it sounds... I cry at night over that one, but it wins me big brownie points) and as soon as I hit 6 months he's putting me on every training course he can so I can move up and out of the service desk... you just gotta love what you're going for, or at least be able to put up with it to get to the place you love. I learnt the core of our systems in a month, with no experience prior. Now I'm rambling. Don't do that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 Good advice asthenia, and well done on the job, at my work i update our website, have to go through the back end of the site to do it, not as impressive as creating a site but I get where u are coming from, I also use Google analytics for our site, to find out how many visits we have had, avg length of time on the site, referral traffic, bounce rate etc. Do u use that? I was the same tho, no experience at all, I'm only 19 so I had only had 2 other jobs and they were rubbish ones. My cv made then call me in and my reserch made them give me the job. I now go to events in different cities for three nights at a time and stay in lavish hotels. Your cv can make or break u! Don't lie, but exaggerate your skills and make them sound much more complicated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psy 350 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 Well I'm more or less finished my CV thanks to some advice from you guys, particularly Marney. If anyone fancies proof reading it for me and giving some feedback (even though most of it won't make much sense unless you're technical with web development), PM me and I'll send you a link. And Mercedes, the back end system you use is probably the same sort of thing I actually create Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 O right, that's really cool, I wish I knew how to make the site. I can take a look if you want, just at the basics. I can't open an attachment tho on my phone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psy 350 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 You'll probably have to look at it on the computer because its a PDF (Adobe Reader) file. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mercy 30 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 O yeah, good that you changed it to pdf . Well I can't take a look then, but I'm sure its fine. Best of luck and let us no how it goes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
