| My CV needs an intervention 10:49 - Jul 13 with 2578 views | wkj |
I have always held jobs where I start low level, then get rapidly promoted within - so I have never actually had to apply for a job with a CV. At 38 this leaves me in a precarious situation.
I am trying to switch industries, if anyone has intimate knowledge on how to construct a CV, especially with a long gap in employment - I would appreciate it dearly.
My desire for a job is fast becoming a necessity, as self employment is BARELY paying the bills since covid as more and more people are freelancing. |  |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 10:52 - Jul 13 with 2339 views | hype313 |
I'd suggest getting someone to help, a CV writer, normally I would be against that idea, but your case sounds different. Someone might be able to piece your career together in a structured, professional manner whilst highlighting and presenting the key points such as successive promotions.
Otherwise it could look disorganised and dysfunctional. |  |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 11:12 - Jul 13 with 2287 views | Parsley |
I'd focus on your skills/experience and try to tailor the CV to the job spec of the position that you're applying for. It can feel a bit like a box-ticking exercise but if your skills match up with what they're looking for and you can get an interview then you can explain your situation in more detail. Good luck! |  | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 11:14 - Jul 13 with 2275 views | vilanovablue |
I've worked in recruitment and also as a hiring manager for over 20 years and have reviewed and helped people with their CV's on countless occasions. Happy for you to DM me and I may be able to help or at least enable you to better understand how to frame your CV/profile. |  | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 11:15 - Jul 13 with 2273 views | Durovigutum |
Aware that this is a random internet message board, so I've slightly paraphrased all of my examples.....
The CV should ideally be two pages, any third page is purely for work experience if you can't fit it all on two.
Your CV will not be read by a human until the 3rd or 4th HR stage, it will be key words that will decide if/when a human sees it. My CV used to have a narrative line about "skills equal to x qualification" because that is what people asked for, and I could do it easily, but I didn't have the time to acquire it. Also, people will ask for random stuff that isn't actually important to the role, but understand that most recruitment agents (in the technology world especially) add no value and many don't understand what they are recruiting for therefore this "helps them out".
Once a human sees it the key is the first part of page one, this decides if the rest of page one is read. Page two is only looked at if they like page one, and then to see if the career history is what they want and shows progression.
Page One:
Contact details - Name, address, phone, email.
I then have a "tick list" of the (currently ten) key things I'd like to person to know . This is my "why you should short list me" list:
- Industry professional with over 20 years’ experience across multiple sectors.
- Track record of successfully leading teams and departments of up to 40 staff.
- Wealth of best practice knowledge demonstrated as ....
Then I have a short (one paragraph) "professional profile" which I amend based on the role.
I am an experienced professional with a tenacious yet pragmatic vision and drive to successfully deliver "stuff". I am a strategic and lateral thinker who knows what good looks like and can point to a history of success in managerial, technical, architectural and holistic business projects. I enjoy challenging roles in organisations where I can contribute to the company’s strategic aims and successes.
I then list six core competences - again these are amended to be a replay of the job advert/role description that best match what I can do to the job and offer the employer.
Next I list education and qualifications.
I finish page one with "other personal details" - qualified referee, trustee of foodbank etc.
Page two (and three IF YOU MUST) is all about career history, I break this down as final job title, company, date of employment
For each role I then list as two sections what the role required and what my key achievements were, so:
Head of Something Company Name 2010—2015
- Head of something for Europe’s largest someone.
- Lead a department of 40 somethings
- Managed contractors, vendors, partners and ran a budget of £16 million.
- Key achievements
- Delivered this thing
- Delivered new strategy for that thing
I had a gap in employment when we went travelling for 9 months. Just write it in the career history as if it were an employment, stating what and why. The important thing is a narrative - I tried something that didn't work, I went to have some fun, I had a sick relative, just not "I was in strangeways" - something like that would need to be up front. |  | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 11:49 - Jul 13 with 2164 views | chrismakin |
WK, there are CV builders online which are simple questions for you to complete and it will sort the template for you.
Once done, save it and upload it to a CV checker, this will review it for you and tell you any problems.
Most recruiters now have a system based CV checker, if a CV falls below an 80% pass mark, an employer won't even see the CV [Post edited 13 Jul 2021 11:51]
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| My CV needs an intervention on 11:51 - Jul 13 with 2152 views | wkj |
| My CV needs an intervention on 11:49 - Jul 13 by chrismakin |
WK, there are CV builders online which are simple questions for you to complete and it will sort the template for you.
Once done, save it and upload it to a CV checker, this will review it for you and tell you any problems.
Most recruiters now have a system based CV checker, if a CV falls below an 80% pass mark, an employer won't even see the CV [Post edited 13 Jul 2021 11:51]
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I appreciate that, though most companies use CV scanning software - most CV builders show up like a sore thumb when you run them and can actually be detrimental to the applicant. The shoe has been on the other foot many times when recruiting for roles, and something without the human touch will soon be evident - even if it passes the CV scan. | |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 12:02 - Jul 13 with 2105 views | itfctilidie |
apologies if already mentioned above- i am no expert but my advice would be to think about what sort of job you will be applying for an tailor your experience to highlight the key points that would make you suitable for that industry |  | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 12:24 - Jul 13 with 2054 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
I am currently recruiting and see lots of different CVs, some that have been filtered by agencies and some direct. Here is my preference and what I look for
Education. You are 38. I have zero interest in how you did at school. Does not matter one iota. A degree perhaps you could add but nothing lower.
Personal details - I could not give two hoots that you help tidy up at the village fete. Lets keep that off there please.
Page one: Bullet points. What do you do? What do you know? What are you knowledgeable in?
Last two employers. Assuming that takes you over the last 2 years, I don't need to know before that, it has no bearing on the position. Don't include it.
Your CV should be a short snappy intro into who you are and what you do. So the aforementioned bullet points are key to catch my eye as is a brief write up of your last job and some of your responsibilities. [Post edited 13 Jul 2021 12:25]
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| My CV needs an intervention on 12:30 - Jul 13 with 2030 views | lightuser |
| My CV needs an intervention on 11:15 - Jul 13 by Durovigutum |
Aware that this is a random internet message board, so I've slightly paraphrased all of my examples.....
The CV should ideally be two pages, any third page is purely for work experience if you can't fit it all on two.
Your CV will not be read by a human until the 3rd or 4th HR stage, it will be key words that will decide if/when a human sees it. My CV used to have a narrative line about "skills equal to x qualification" because that is what people asked for, and I could do it easily, but I didn't have the time to acquire it. Also, people will ask for random stuff that isn't actually important to the role, but understand that most recruitment agents (in the technology world especially) add no value and many don't understand what they are recruiting for therefore this "helps them out".
Once a human sees it the key is the first part of page one, this decides if the rest of page one is read. Page two is only looked at if they like page one, and then to see if the career history is what they want and shows progression.
Page One:
Contact details - Name, address, phone, email.
I then have a "tick list" of the (currently ten) key things I'd like to person to know . This is my "why you should short list me" list:
- Industry professional with over 20 years’ experience across multiple sectors.
- Track record of successfully leading teams and departments of up to 40 staff.
- Wealth of best practice knowledge demonstrated as ....
Then I have a short (one paragraph) "professional profile" which I amend based on the role.
I am an experienced professional with a tenacious yet pragmatic vision and drive to successfully deliver "stuff". I am a strategic and lateral thinker who knows what good looks like and can point to a history of success in managerial, technical, architectural and holistic business projects. I enjoy challenging roles in organisations where I can contribute to the company’s strategic aims and successes.
I then list six core competences - again these are amended to be a replay of the job advert/role description that best match what I can do to the job and offer the employer.
Next I list education and qualifications.
I finish page one with "other personal details" - qualified referee, trustee of foodbank etc.
Page two (and three IF YOU MUST) is all about career history, I break this down as final job title, company, date of employment
For each role I then list as two sections what the role required and what my key achievements were, so:
Head of Something Company Name 2010—2015
- Head of something for Europe’s largest someone.
- Lead a department of 40 somethings
- Managed contractors, vendors, partners and ran a budget of £16 million.
- Key achievements
- Delivered this thing
- Delivered new strategy for that thing
I had a gap in employment when we went travelling for 9 months. Just write it in the career history as if it were an employment, stating what and why. The important thing is a narrative - I tried something that didn't work, I went to have some fun, I had a sick relative, just not "I was in strangeways" - something like that would need to be up front. |
With your experience of recruitment wkj, I would have thought that you would be fine with the HR world of sifting through all of the bullsh*t bingo, gaming the system, outright fakery and the more modern social media history faux-pas. Just think like this is a role reversal and you are now gamekeeper turned poacher!
But seriously though, good luck with your search.
Desperate times at the moment for hundreds of millions of people around the world through no fault of their own .
Balls | | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 12:41 - Jul 13 with 2000 views | bluespud |
Hi wkj - I run my own business providing personalised career change advice and can also support with CV writing. My details are on my website (insightedge.co.uk) or feel free to drop me a message if I can help. Cheers | | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 13:02 - Jul 13 with 1947 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
| My CV needs an intervention on 12:41 - Jul 13 by bluespud |
Hi wkj - I run my own business providing personalised career change advice and can also support with CV writing. My details are on my website (insightedge.co.uk) or feel free to drop me a message if I can help. Cheers |
Wow. £500. Good luck to you if that works out. | | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 13:09 - Jul 13 with 1927 views | StokieBlue |
My only CV advice is to write it using LaTeX or some other product which produces a PDF in order to stop any recruitment companies messing about with it.
Good luck.
SB |  |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 13:13 - Jul 13 with 1907 views | hype313 |
| My CV needs an intervention on 13:09 - Jul 13 by StokieBlue |
My only CV advice is to write it using LaTeX or some other product which produces a PDF in order to stop any recruitment companies messing about with it.
Good luck.
SB |
Trouble is, PDF's are so easy to convert, as I found out the hard way a few years ago. | |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 13:19 - Jul 13 with 1890 views | StokieBlue |
| My CV needs an intervention on 13:13 - Jul 13 by hype313 |
Trouble is, PDF's are so easy to convert, as I found out the hard way a few years ago. |
Still takes more effort than a simple word document, especially if the formatting isn't straightforward.
Nothing is perfect though as you say.
SB | |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 13:24 - Jul 13 with 1876 views | wkj |
| My CV needs an intervention on 12:30 - Jul 13 by lightuser |
With your experience of recruitment wkj, I would have thought that you would be fine with the HR world of sifting through all of the bullsh*t bingo, gaming the system, outright fakery and the more modern social media history faux-pas. Just think like this is a role reversal and you are now gamekeeper turned poacher!
But seriously though, good luck with your search.
Desperate times at the moment for hundreds of millions of people around the world through no fault of their own .
Balls |
Thanks. Its a delicate balancing act. You can soon detect a CV that has been constructed by sites like LiveBuilder, where people merely click and construct CVs.
Like someone said, I was never interested in 'cleaning up the village fete' - but I did want to see evidence that someone was personally connected to their CV and life experiences. | |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 13:25 - Jul 13 with 1869 views | footers |
Glad you've got some great advice on here, saladers. But if you need an extra pair of eyes from a word wrangler before sending off, always happy to help. |  |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 14:05 - Jul 13 with 1820 views | Durovigutum |
| My CV needs an intervention on 13:19 - Jul 13 by StokieBlue |
Still takes more effort than a simple word document, especially if the formatting isn't straightforward.
Nothing is perfect though as you say.
SB |
Sadly, my experience (from both sides of the desk) is that a CV as a PDF will not be put forward by the recruiter. They want a Word document so they can add their value with a logo and to remove your contact details.
I'd always send both however, as at least then they have an idea of what it should look like after they've attempted to butcher the Word doc. | | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 14:34 - Jul 13 with 1785 views | wkj |
| My CV needs an intervention on 14:05 - Jul 13 by Durovigutum |
Sadly, my experience (from both sides of the desk) is that a CV as a PDF will not be put forward by the recruiter. They want a Word document so they can add their value with a logo and to remove your contact details.
I'd always send both however, as at least then they have an idea of what it should look like after they've attempted to butcher the Word doc. |
I am finding that different industries have their preferences. The recruitment agency I am currently going through has a big desire for PDF CVs. | |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 14:45 - Jul 13 with 1765 views | Swansea_Blue |
For the gap, just add 'Guiding light to the masses on an nationally renowned sporting platform' 
The long post further up the thread has lots of good advice. I always like to see a short statement and a tick list type start (effectively mirroring the requirements for the job, so you show them in a bulleted list how you have all the skills/experience they look for). I rarely read beyond that first half page, except maybe a quick skim through titles of roles to see breadth of experience and how long in each company, to see if they stick at things or are a butterfly.
As others have said keep it short, keep it relevant, tailor personal statement/tick list to the role.
There are plenty of decent reference books out there too. What Colour is Your Parachute was a pretty decent one I used to use to help prepare for interviews; I've no idea if it's still recommended, but can't see that any of the basics have changed much over the years. Depends on type of interview of course. |  |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 14:50 - Jul 13 with 1753 views | factual_blue |
As all the ballerinas have moved into cyber, perhaps you should consider a move to ballet? |  |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 15:51 - Jul 13 with 1708 views | wkj |
Advice has worked well as I am on the shortlist for Jagex (Cambridge) and Curve Digital (London) | |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 16:47 - Jul 13 with 1647 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
| My CV needs an intervention on 15:51 - Jul 13 by wkj |
Advice has worked well as I am on the shortlist for Jagex (Cambridge) and Curve Digital (London) |
is that the Network Engineer role at Jagex? | | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 16:48 - Jul 13 with 1641 views | wkj |
| My CV needs an intervention on 16:47 - Jul 13 by BlueBlueBluex2 |
is that the Network Engineer role at Jagex? |
No, it is not. I am in no way ready for a network job - not on any terms at all. | |
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| My CV needs an intervention on 16:54 - Jul 13 with 1628 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
| My CV needs an intervention on 16:48 - Jul 13 by wkj |
No, it is not. I am in no way ready for a network job - not on any terms at all. |
Ok, I am not sure how to read that response, in that is networking something you want to do, or have zero interest in as Jagex have a number of positions free, however I am looking for a Junior network engineer (or two) to join our team, so drop me a PM if you want more details or the ones you mention do not work out.
If this is not for you or I am miles off, than apologies and good luck in your search. | | | |
| My CV needs an intervention on 17:13 - Jul 13 with 1581 views | wkj |
| My CV needs an intervention on 16:54 - Jul 13 by BlueBlueBluex2 |
Ok, I am not sure how to read that response, in that is networking something you want to do, or have zero interest in as Jagex have a number of positions free, however I am looking for a Junior network engineer (or two) to join our team, so drop me a PM if you want more details or the ones you mention do not work out.
If this is not for you or I am miles off, than apologies and good luck in your search. |
Sorry. Yes, working on networking is something that sends the fear of god up me. It is by far my weakest skill in IT. | |
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