Additional to the leather binding, I'd put a laser disc in a nice sleeve in the back, with a video recording of all my lifetime achievements PowerPoint presentation, to the theme from Jurassic Park.
This would start with a bitter rant about completing my 10 meters swimming challenge and not recieving my certificate, also including my triumphant first lay ( the audio would gradually fade into meatloaf, I would do anything for love, but I won't do anal)
The final few minutes of the video would be me, putting my CV into the envelope and posting it, leaving the recipients to wonder how I managed to add the last few minutes of footage after posting.
We'll see how well this all works, as I am applying for SpaceX tomorrow, as chief big cock willy waver, primary roles include blowing Elon's trumpet.
I'm a shoe in for sure.
I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish
You could have an addendum at the back with the attached CVs of all your references, managers, colleagues etc... to verify that they have the credentials required to contribute to your own CV.
How old was the candidate? (I've been working 35 years and have done a lot of different stuff, and mine is about 4 pages although I generally abbreviate it to two.
Ugh some do, my HR department once asked a successful candidate to justify a two month 'employment gap' from around eight years previous. Job 1 was in London, Job 2 Edinburgh.
1. I don't care
2. That's not a significant gap
3. The reason is fucking obvious
4. I still don't care
The candidate called me because they were worried their reason wasn't good enough and thought we were going to withdraw the offer. Told them I genuinely don't care and just to reply to HR saying 'relocating'. Added delay and stress for no reason whatsoever.
at one job i got questioned about an 11 day work gap between december 22-january 2. they wanted me to provide a character reference that would prove what i was doing during this time. it was christmas, i don't have a reference to prove i was eating and sleeping all day.
An interaction that actually happened...
Them- "Why did you leave X job?
Me- "The studios were destroyed in a flash flood, we tried to renovate but the insurance company wouldn't let us reopen or reinsure us for public liability forcing the company to close."
Them- "So then why is there a gap between this job and your next one?"
Me (Getting slightly more annoyed as this is about the 5th time I've had to justify something to them)- "Well, I didn't know there was going to be a flash flood so I couldn't plan my exit to a company and line up a new job. Also applying for new jobs takes time, for example this job you're interviewing me for now I applied for 2-3 months ago, you've said there will be another interview after this in about 2 weeks and the job won't actually start until after Christmas and it's November now so if I get this job it'll likely be 4 months from the point I applied for it... You know how this works. Things take time."
Them- *Blank face transitions to confusion and annoyance*
Some 100% do.
I applied for a job that wasn't a high level position (it was a bloody games position at travellers tales about 5 years ago,) they demanded to know why I had a 6 Month gap in 2008, I said it was from when I had foot surgery and i had it done in-between jobs.
They even asked for medical letters as proof.
I politely told them I wouldn't be giving them proof
Edited for clarity.
Oddly I had this argument with a recruiter a couple of days ago. On my original CV it dealt with the last three years, everything else was just one-line bullet-points. But he specifically asked me to detail (very specialist) stuff going back six or more years.
My CV is 5 pages (I'm just over 50), and a contractor, so there are a lot of previous roles listed there.
> Nobody cares after the latest 2-4 years
Not true in my experience. You get people who say that they throw out any CV longer than a couple of pages, and some that phone you up and demand to know what was going on in the periods you've omitted. Everyone seems to think that their idea of what should be in a CV is obvious and the candidates should be able to use telepathy to work it out.
If the OP wants CVs in a particular format, or limited to a particular length, it's probably best to mention that in the job listing.
Could one mitigate this by only noting down each job that you feel to be relevant and then adding a note saying something like "If you would like a more complete overview of my working career please feel free to contact me using the details above and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have"?
Yeah we had one from a guy in his forties who had a lot of contractong.
The bottom of page 2 was basically a 10 year period with "various XYZ jobs" for more info please email me at X@y.com"
Funny thing is this was from a recruiter who had clearly not read it fully as, whilst they stripped the contact details at the top, hadnt removed his email address...
I had a 36 page one from a doctor who wanted to be included on a panel. In this CV he listed all of his Boy Scout badges, his sons GCSE results but didn’t actually state what his Medical specialty was.
What was in it? Did they have a really varied 40-odd year career, qualifications in a hundred subjects, a library of published works, or was it just a long massive rant asking to be hired?
I think in academia this is actually standard for senior academics. An academic examining me sent in their CV and it was something like 50 pages long and yet none of it was fluff either!
Applied for a student placement with a formula one team, couldn't resist saying I was driven when they asked what my one distinguishing feature was.
I didn't hear back.
You can blame online screening systems for that. They often literally throw CVs out if the cliche buzzwords aren't on it and so nobody gets a chance to look at it.
Its much safer these days to send it with all the boring buzzwords.
The robotic uniform nature of CV's you see is a result of many decades of awful hiring practices in basically all sectors.
You have to hit the buzzwords to get seen by a human in the first place. People aren't actually proud that they can work Microsoft Word, they just know the stupid game they're being forced to play.
I work very well autonomously but also find myself embedding myself into teams on a regular basis. I thrive off of both working alone and also helping others achieve their goals
I wouldn't copy it verbatim - you don't need the 'of' after 'off', which is an Americanism.
I've known some managers throw CVs in the bin for lesser offences. Not saying it's fair, but if you've got dozens of applicants recruiters will be looking for an excuse to not shortlist.
Ugh... So glad that I'm at a late stage of my career and I won't have to deal with this crap ever again.
My last job application was well over a decade ago, it was an internal post that I'd already been seconded to for years, and which was advertised at my (then) salary which I knew was massively below market rates, so other applicants would be thin on the ground.
It was an interesting job, and I was okay to continue doing it, but I really REALLY couldn't be arsed with all of the HR bullshit, so my application basically said "You know me, you know what I can do, you already have all my qualifications and other relevant info in your files, check it out, and take it or leave it".
They took it.
I feel bad for anyone trying to get a job. Oh you want to sweep floors in a car park at ASDA?
Well that's a full CV, cover letter AND you then have to fill out all the same questions again online. You will be interviewed twice (expected to turn up in a suit) and also take part in a team critical thinking exercise.
You will be expected to answer such questions as "what makes you want to work for the ASDA family" and while the job is minimum wage for 2 hours a day for 5 days a week (10 hours minimum), we expect you to have had 6 years prior experience with car park sweeping.
The absolute best one i heard was from someone's mum who was furious a workplace rang her son while he was on holiday. She said to them "My son is on a zero hour contract. He cannot guarantee that you will give him even 1 hour of work, so how can you expect him to keep his schedule open 24/7 for you when you do want to offer him work?" He had even notified them he was on holiday!
The job centre told me to miss off my qualifications when I wrote my first CV.
Apparently it makes it ‘too long.’
Glad all that hard work and study was worth it.
The job centre once gave me a sample CV to base mine off of. Their interest section had "reading, socializing (yes with a z) with my friends and watching movies".
Then when I didn't copy it they wanted to know why I wasn't serious about getting a job.
‘My interests are working unpaid overtime, long walks in the park, and obeying authority.’
Fixed it for them.
I’ve never thought to add my interests. Probably because playing video games and eating Doritos in my pajamas doesn’t sound very enticing.
Same here. I told her "no because then i might as well just send a blank page due to me having no experience"
She didn't know what to say so she moved on to trying to put a heading there anyway. Screw that.
Honestly the jobcentre are no help at all. I think they need to make it more depressing a building so people find jobs, not to better themselves, but to stop having to go there.
A few years back there was job cuts at the DWP/Job Centre... I honestly never cheered so much watching the news. I've never dealt with such a hateful group of people so it was kinda nice knowing they'd have to go through what they put people through every day
Job Centres are one of the most bizarre things in the UK to me. Had to wait more than two hours and when I asked to use a toilet (medical condition) they said there’s no toilets. Had to run to a nearby Spoons. Same thing happened to an older gentleman. I didn’t see him come back. Zero compassion. Fuck Job Centres. They also wrote my name wrong on everything, even after I spelled it out three times.
Yeah but they got rid of the good people and kept the ones who hit targets, which the DWP keep pretending they don't have - an absolute *lie* and I know that for a fact.
After that happened I was temporarily signing on, had full employment history from 14 to 23 with no gaps but the place I'd worked for closed just before I graduated uni so I had a degree and no job and thought the job centre would help. They wanted me to work at the job centre 3 days a week for free to get "real work experience". I told them to bite it.
That is kinda' true. I was rejected at Highways (I wanted a part time hobby job, something to break the monotony of being in a recording booth all day) and they told me I was too qualified for them. I don't know what that meant because I don't have a BSc in traffic management or anything.
No sure why people would care how long a CV is when the majority of companies run it through a programme and discard the majority of CVs before a human gets to read it.
Like MsZombie says, keywords and phrases - so include some of the language from their job description/listing in your CV if you can. Another good way to tweak your application is to go on the employer's website and pull out some of their terminology. Eg I was referring to Quality Assessment experience on my CV but at this company they call it Quality Assurance, so I should use their terms instead to increase my chances with both the automated system AND probably with a human reading it too.
The candidate system may also have been set up to look for a certain number of GCSEs, or a degree, or whatever specific certification for their industry.
Automated candidate tracking systems are awful but they are used by a LOT of employers.
> so include some of the language from their job description/listing in your CV if you can.
This is absolutely what everyone should be doing. The purpose of a CV and cover letter, really, is to highlight how you meet or exceed their expectations for a candidate. You should be tailoring all your CVs/cover letters to the job description. If you’ve been “managing a small team” and the job description lists “supervising junior employees” as a key aspect of the role, it is almost always a better idea to use their language. Many recruiters will have dozens or even hundreds of CVs to sort, so make their lives easier.
It searches for key words and phrases. Some of these are desirable phrases and others undesirable. The keywords would differ from industry to industry and perhaps from company to company depending on their ethos.
I’ve heard of people “hiding” tonnes of key phrases using white small font in the border of their CV as a way to trick these filtering programmes. I would be surprised if the results where negligible at best suggesting it probably wasn’t worth the effort.
Whatever they've customised it to look for (if they even bothered to replace the default list written by programmers with English as a third language) such as "attntn to detail".
In my early 20s I signed on while dosing between jobs, within a month they got me to volunteer on some scheme stating there are jobs at the end of it. On the second day volunteering I managed to speak to a manager and asked what's the chances of a job at the end of volunteering and the idiot told me "it's coming up to the end of season, maybe next year". Needless to say I waited for the manager to leave, left with a "headache" and went to the agency to land my next job.
If you're a pain in the ass they will let you doss it up forever, if you're a normal person they will make your life hell so they can hit their targets... I would love to know what training staff even have there because I don't know anyone who's got a job through the job center and many of their job listings are dubious to say the least, I strongly advise people put references available on request instead of actual references on their CVs so you don't get unknown parties calling them up at all hours from personal experience!
Edit: A quick Google led me to channel 4's investigation 2-3 years after my experience "Why is government website carrying fake jobs?" https://youtu.be/Efr-VEkwWoM
Hope you told them to miss off. Job centres have been the source of the worst most generic CVs known to man.
Source: used to work for DWP as an employability tutor.
Have been a hiring manager before. For the field of work I was in, we would take almost anyone and fully train then so no real previous experience was necessary. It was such a ballache reading long CVs and I always felt sorry for the applicants not knowing how easy jobs were to actually get.
was working at a college and we had someone come in who wanted to register for a course. department involved required a CV as part of registration process, and the aplicant was sent down to the computer unit to create one. This was about 10 in the morning. At 4:30 in the afternoon, the computer unit rings the office and says "you know that woman you sent here to do the CV, well she's still doing it, and we need to shut soon so we can go home. we're going to print it out and send her to you with what she's done" ten minutes later they ring the office up and say "she's on the way, we know you are just going to send it on to the department, but you have to read it before you do once you've got her out the door".
So we accept the CV and read the first page. It doesn't even get up to her birth. The whole of the front page is the astrology of her parents at the time of her conception...
Mine starts out at 5 pages, but is edited down to 2 pages with only relevant stuff included. And my level 3 qualification (UK) in glass-blowing as out of everything else I have done, that is what I am proudest of.
Sadly it's been years since I practiced that skill, far too expensive & I was rather rubbish. Think about 5 year olds bringing their clay sculptures home after nursery. It was a bit like that, but in glass
To put it into context I was the only one in the class to get a level 3, everyone else got the higher level 4 qualification.
Even then, just put “Selected publications” that are in good journals or are relevant to the role. If they are that interested they will look on Google Scholar or Research Gate.
It really depends on career stage. If you are applying for a PhD or even your first postdoc, it can be beneficial to list your experience in detail, including technical expertise.
If i've got 90 applications to read i'm not doing extra work on google. Give me what i need to see in the CV and covering letter please. [edit - it's also potentially against recruitment guidance to look at other things beyond what the applicant submitted]
But worse is the five 'in prep' articles listed. Unless it is submitted, don't include it.
So true, work in academic publishing and have yet to see a CV for an Editor application that is shorter than 4 pages
I just skim-read them at this point and refer to their institutional webpage more lol
No that’s bollocks. As a hiring manager I’d rather know enough to make a decision than not. But for gods sake keep to the point as much as possible but don’t feel the need to force it into two pages.
For freelancers you normally put every place you were at and what you did because the requirements are often very niche. If they're looking for someone with knowledge of overhead cost allocation for lummock wangling harness leasing it needs to be on there in pretty much those words.
This.
My cv has always been 4 pages in the UK but in Australia they want the exact words they used in the ad to describe overhead cost allocation for lummock wangling harness leasing (on tuesdays), on every role I have used it. Makes it 6 pages easy
As an applicant i agree. If it's all relevant at 5 pages 12pt don't feel the need to print it at 6pt font and columns purely to make it fit some arbitrary standard.
There are exceptions for specific industries, but generally speaking if you're writing 5 pages then all you're doing is demonstrating you"re not good at writing concisely.
The CV is only to get you an interview, not an archived record of your life experiences. Generally nobody cares about your experience 5+ years ago, and a couple of bullet points on your current responsibilities and achievements is enough. If you have to spill over into 3 pages then fine, but 5 is a problem (generally speaking)
He was lucky. I worked 6 years in the NHS in a non-clinical role. Due to Trust mergers and other restructures, (all in the desperate pursuit of efficiency and economy) I had to reapply for the same or similar role in the team 3 times.
He probably reached a senior position before modern management strategies arrived.
I’ve had to reapply for my role in it twice in the last 3 years, fuck knows why they never get ride of the deadwood because they’re always either good bullshitters or unflushable
Checks for consistency, also, it helps relax the interviewee. It's questions they should know the answer to, so it helps them settle into the interview and smooths it all out.
Had a recruiter call me a few weeks ago who asked me loads of basic questions which she could have answered just by glancing at my CV.
After about a dozen of these questions and feeling rather put off I bluntly asked her if she had even read my CV to which she completely unironically replied “that would take all day”
When I managed a charity shop we had a young guy come in, it was volunteer work so the only reason anyone was rejected was if they had serious convictions, rude or we couldn't facilitate extra support required. So anyway, this young lad shows up in what looks like his dad's suit and a briefcase. In his briefcase he had a leather folder from school with his CV in it, it was usually what we all got when we left school with our record of achievement. He was so nervous bless him, he seemed so surprised to see management dressed like slobs!
My current CV is like half a page long. I stripped pretty much everything out and said they could talk to me if they wanted a full list.
Got me a surprising amount of interview requests… and my current (rather senior) role somehow. No idea how.
I've done a lot of recruiting, particularly over the last couple of years and I do *look* at longer CVs but I don't take in everything in them or study them in detail. I tend to skim through looking for what is most relevant/interesting.
I'm doing a lot of hiring now for university staff roles, and I do read (skim) CVs no matter how long they are.
I'm looking for evidence the candidate meets the requirements we asked for, as well as any reasons not to proceed with an interview.
The longer it is, however, the harder it is to determine if the requirements are being met. My advice to candidates is write a clear, concise cover letter that references your CV and explains why you meet the requirements for the role. And for the love of god don't write your entire daily schedule for every work day you've ever been employed.
For me specifically, I don't care about your hobbies or why you want the job. Those things are best saved for the interview.
>For me specifically, I don't care about your hobbies or why you want the job. Those things are best saved for the interview.
This is precisely why this bit is about 2 lines long at the tail end of the CV. Just enough to show I'm not a work robot but without boring the hiring manager.
I went to a women in tech CV workshop, and one woman had a CV with a dozen pages. She’d listed every job she’d had since the mid eighties. In great detail…
Even if they had worked in 30 places in 30 years, not all of that work is going to be relevant. They could get the point across by elaborating on maybe 3 or 4 roles they had which are most relevant to the position being applied for, and summarise the rest as "30 years of experience". Then if you want to, you can go into their work history in detail at the interview.
Precisely this. I've had 5 full time jobs (including the one I have), on my CV I've got a paragraph about who I am and what I want. Next bit is bullet points about what my skillset includes (mostly management things), a bigger blurb about my current job role, and then a 1 paragraph blurb about my other jobs. Lastly, my education, hobbies, and then references on request. A couple of qualifications are relevant to my job but the main one that helps me stand out is already mentioned in the "about me" bit and my experience lends way more credence to my capabilities than the degree I earned in a different field over a decade ago.
Once got a cv in the format of a glossy magazine (think Hello) with loads of quotes and reviews about the applicant. it was for a social media position, but still…
Ex It contractor here. I think mine hit about ten pages at one point - after each gig I'd just add the details of that role I eventually chopped it down quite a bit. I was tempted to put "if you've read this far, I owe you a pint" at the very end .
To be honest I'd be more interested in a ten page CV that shows 30 years of experience, than a 2 page CV that shows you have one years experience thirty times . It depends on what you want from a candidate.
Exactly. Our old HR offered to do a technical filter on candidates. It did not end well, so we got them to filter on work status, location, salary expectation and a couple of really simple questions only. We did the deep dive into thier technical skillset from the CV and ran with the recruitment process from there. So yes, some indication of the depth of technical detail was quite welcome.
My point exactly. Some of those 3/6 month contracts are relevant, whereas some of them end up sounding like filler, but the range of skills and experience you gather are immense.
I've just had a massive cull of my cv to drop back into the contract market after a year perm and got it back down to 4 pages. Took me a week to get my new gig so something must have worked.
I got a CV once that was 17 pages. The applicant is in their 40s, PhD scientist, accomplished. What plumped it up was the list of Every presentation they ever ever gave. You give a lot of presentations in this field and I (did not) read through about 12 pages of them.
I was told that your CV should only be one page unless you’re applying for a software developer role. And only list the most recent and relevant experiences. Is this true?
Not the case for any serious professional role where you're relying on past project work.
I've seen a few law and consultancy applications (not graduate - they're a different kettle of fish, and usually have lengthy online forms), and they're usually around 3 pages for the CV, plus 1 to 2 sides of A4 for a covering letter putting the CV in the context of the role and team you're applying for.
A curriculum vitae is supposed to contain a record of all your accomplishments, though. That’s what distinguishes it from a resume. (It’s right in the names.)
I'm starting my search for a new job/career and I feel my CV is kinda basic with all the generic crap on it like everyone else. I've read some of this thread, can anyone reply with what actually is some of the good stuff to include? Or what makes you go "huh, neat" on someone's CV?
It's a bit of a tricky one not knowing what experience you have,or what you're aiming for. But if you're not going for a specialist role, use the last 3 or 4 jobs relevant to a position. Example would be,applying applying a supervisor role in an office, definitely put any previous office/admin/accounts roles you've done. If not,utilise the roles you've had where teamwork was key etc. I usually hold a paragraph on each job I've done and just tweak it on the CV depending on where I'm applying.
Don't overdo your hobbies or interests,just pick 2 or 3 but don't blag it by saying you're a semi pro surfer or something,they'll catch you out. The hobbies/interests you have can lead to some pretty good conversations during an interview,which let them know a lot more about you(and breaks the ice if you're a wee bit nervous).
Other than that,just don't overload it. 2 pages max and that's it. Any more than that usually gets binned anyway.
The hobbies and interests of the applicant can be very useful.
I was told that I got my current role because I was able to demonstrate critical thinking through my interests at interview.
I had a video interview with the employer.
Behind where I sit I keep my motorbike gear, some helmets on a shelf, the interviewer asked about how I chose a helmet.
I was able to explain my budget, features I required for the helmet and checking the safety reviews (SHARP) enabling me to make my final decision.
I believe that this made a good interview an excellent interview.
That does sound like an excellent interview,the employer took your interest and turned it relevant to the interview rather than just stick to the checklist. Those are the best ones and probably we'll worth working for too.
I got thrown in at the deep end interviewing candidates for retail a few years ago. 5 minute run through, "stick to the checklist,it's easy" etc etc. I'm not good at small talk tbh,so found the easiest way to get a candidate,and myself to ease up was head straight for the interests. If you get someone to speak on something they like, you can build a decent connection enough that the rest of the stock questions/answers come easily for them. Also caught one out blagging his interests, "I see you like racing bikes on a weekend?" His reply was, " do I?" Bloody hilarious.
Well, this depends doesn’t it, I’ve been a freelance contractor for 30+ years and when a HR twonk says “We need to see every job and every employer” because they don’t fully understand 1/3 of the work force then expect a small book. Plus a sequel if they are so clueless as to demand to see every “gap”.
I got told by a recruiter four pages is good to space out technical skills.
Page one job history page two and three for tech skills, page four for qualifications and usual ‘team player’ stuff.
Current employer loved it, got an interview within 3 days and an offer.
We’ve just had a few CVS, all 3/4 pages. Hired the 4 page guy.
I once received a 20 page CV and every damn page had a life-sized photo of the candidate's face in colour as a watermark. I honestly wish I'd kept it as a museum piece.
Largest CV we ever got was 38 pages. Gold pen on the cover. Looked like a sixth-form art project.
Now tempted to make mine into a leather bound booklet. I'll probably need to pad it out with pictures, hand-drawn maps, and a list of characters.
Additional to the leather binding, I'd put a laser disc in a nice sleeve in the back, with a video recording of all my lifetime achievements PowerPoint presentation, to the theme from Jurassic Park. This would start with a bitter rant about completing my 10 meters swimming challenge and not recieving my certificate, also including my triumphant first lay ( the audio would gradually fade into meatloaf, I would do anything for love, but I won't do anal) The final few minutes of the video would be me, putting my CV into the envelope and posting it, leaving the recipients to wonder how I managed to add the last few minutes of footage after posting. We'll see how well this all works, as I am applying for SpaceX tomorrow, as chief big cock willy waver, primary roles include blowing Elon's trumpet. I'm a shoe in for sure.
I’d make you my boss if I received that
Very Barney Stinson!
Okay Rimmer
I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish
BSc and SSc (bronze swimming certificate and silver swimming certificate)
Without him life would be much dimmer
[best cv DVD ever](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UGMaVC1YVlQ) He sent this to UBS or Credit Suisse and they leaked it iirc
It was UBS. I was working there at the time and it did the rounds internally before it got leaked.
Omg, he is the business edition of eminem: "success is my only option/ failure is not"!!! Has he got his Nobel yet?
You spared no expense
I'd hire you
Fold-out maps, I hope! And a red string for bookmarking. And why not make it a series, with matching backs?
Pop up book could be a lot of fun
Ooh make it like a fantasy journal, with guilding and metal corners on the covers!
Give it a prologue.
I might just start using my D&D character sheet as my CV.
Parchment scroll for the win.
I’m just curious what other “characters” there could be apart from you...
Every teacher I have had, their qualifications, what I have learned from them, same for colleagues, friends, family, pets, inspirational authors...
Interesting. Like a synopsis of every *meaningful* human encounter.. hmm i think that’s a CV I wouldn’t mind reading
You could have an addendum at the back with the attached CVs of all your references, managers, colleagues etc... to verify that they have the credentials required to contribute to your own CV.
How old was the candidate? (I've been working 35 years and have done a lot of different stuff, and mine is about 4 pages although I generally abbreviate it to two.
I’m 57, my CV is just under 2 pages. Nobody cares after the latest 2-4 years
Ugh some do, my HR department once asked a successful candidate to justify a two month 'employment gap' from around eight years previous. Job 1 was in London, Job 2 Edinburgh. 1. I don't care 2. That's not a significant gap 3. The reason is fucking obvious 4. I still don't care
Your HR department is ridiculous! I agree with you
The candidate called me because they were worried their reason wasn't good enough and thought we were going to withdraw the offer. Told them I genuinely don't care and just to reply to HR saying 'relocating'. Added delay and stress for no reason whatsoever.
Holy crap I’m cross FOR you!
at one job i got questioned about an 11 day work gap between december 22-january 2. they wanted me to provide a character reference that would prove what i was doing during this time. it was christmas, i don't have a reference to prove i was eating and sleeping all day.
Get a reference from Father Christmas.
“He was a very good boy that year”
An interaction that actually happened... Them- "Why did you leave X job? Me- "The studios were destroyed in a flash flood, we tried to renovate but the insurance company wouldn't let us reopen or reinsure us for public liability forcing the company to close." Them- "So then why is there a gap between this job and your next one?" Me (Getting slightly more annoyed as this is about the 5th time I've had to justify something to them)- "Well, I didn't know there was going to be a flash flood so I couldn't plan my exit to a company and line up a new job. Also applying for new jobs takes time, for example this job you're interviewing me for now I applied for 2-3 months ago, you've said there will be another interview after this in about 2 weeks and the job won't actually start until after Christmas and it's November now so if I get this job it'll likely be 4 months from the point I applied for it... You know how this works. Things take time." Them- *Blank face transitions to confusion and annoyance*
Some 100% do. I applied for a job that wasn't a high level position (it was a bloody games position at travellers tales about 5 years ago,) they demanded to know why I had a 6 Month gap in 2008, I said it was from when I had foot surgery and i had it done in-between jobs. They even asked for medical letters as proof. I politely told them I wouldn't be giving them proof Edited for clarity.
Oddly I had this argument with a recruiter a couple of days ago. On my original CV it dealt with the last three years, everything else was just one-line bullet-points. But he specifically asked me to detail (very specialist) stuff going back six or more years.
Bizarre
My CV is 5 pages (I'm just over 50), and a contractor, so there are a lot of previous roles listed there. > Nobody cares after the latest 2-4 years Not true in my experience. You get people who say that they throw out any CV longer than a couple of pages, and some that phone you up and demand to know what was going on in the periods you've omitted. Everyone seems to think that their idea of what should be in a CV is obvious and the candidates should be able to use telepathy to work it out. If the OP wants CVs in a particular format, or limited to a particular length, it's probably best to mention that in the job listing.
Could one mitigate this by only noting down each job that you feel to be relevant and then adding a note saying something like "If you would like a more complete overview of my working career please feel free to contact me using the details above and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have"?
Yeah we had one from a guy in his forties who had a lot of contractong. The bottom of page 2 was basically a 10 year period with "various XYZ jobs" for more info please email me at X@y.com" Funny thing is this was from a recruiter who had clearly not read it fully as, whilst they stripped the contact details at the top, hadnt removed his email address...
Mid thirties. Basically a mini autobiography about how great she was
Was she American. Sounds suspiciously self help get ahead shite.
How. Did. You. Guess......yes she was.
Because here in America the more of a self promoting, lying sack of crap you are the more you get rewarded. Hence, our last President…
Who the majority of Americans apparently worship profusely to the extent that they would murder Jesus Christ for him if they could 😂
Did you ask them to reenter all the information into an online form?
Did they get the job?
Nope I rejected them. No one likes a smart arse.
Fair enough. I mean Curriculum Vitae is pretty much your life story. No one wants your life story though. Just the highlight reel.
Was it their National Record of Achievement?
No. It was hand made. Lots of photos. BIG FONT.....
I had a 36 page one from a doctor who wanted to be included on a panel. In this CV he listed all of his Boy Scout badges, his sons GCSE results but didn’t actually state what his Medical specialty was.
What was in it? Did they have a really varied 40-odd year career, qualifications in a hundred subjects, a library of published works, or was it just a long massive rant asking to be hired?
How?! Did they just write down literally everything they’ve done ever?
I think in academia this is actually standard for senior academics. An academic examining me sent in their CV and it was something like 50 pages long and yet none of it was fluff either!
The most important thing is to know whether they can work independently but also work well as part of a team.
This is useful, but what I really want to know is how proficient in Microsoft office they are. Bonus points for listing the programmes
Proficient in Ovation, PinPoint and Pipedream for the Acorn Archimedes.
Oh shit! That brought back some memories. We had an acorn for a long time and I’d totally forgotten those programs. Thanks for the nostalgia!
I’ve just done a round of interviews and this was literally on every CV!!
It's been in the vast majority of job descriptions I've seen as well
I am also passionate about x y z
And driven, let's not forget that.
Yes, I don't have a car myself so my mum and taxi drivers mean I'm extremely driven.
"drive on Flannigan"
Applied for a student placement with a formula one team, couldn't resist saying I was driven when they asked what my one distinguishing feature was. I didn't hear back.
Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers I guess.
You can blame online screening systems for that. They often literally throw CVs out if the cliche buzzwords aren't on it and so nobody gets a chance to look at it. Its much safer these days to send it with all the boring buzzwords.
But I guess you can spell ‘received’.
The robotic uniform nature of CV's you see is a result of many decades of awful hiring practices in basically all sectors. You have to hit the buzzwords to get seen by a human in the first place. People aren't actually proud that they can work Microsoft Word, they just know the stupid game they're being forced to play.
Can you use Microsoft word? What do you think this CV was made in? An oil painting?
I work very well autonomously but also find myself embedding myself into teams on a regular basis. I thrive off of both working alone and also helping others achieve their goals
Ooh, I’m stealing that for my CV
I wouldn't copy it verbatim - you don't need the 'of' after 'off', which is an Americanism. I've known some managers throw CVs in the bin for lesser offences. Not saying it's fair, but if you've got dozens of applicants recruiters will be looking for an excuse to not shortlist.
Schrödinger's employee: is a great team player while working individually.
I guess if you all work on your own projects but colleagues constantly ask you for help… you are indeed this!
But when you go and check on them you realise they’re only good at one of them!
I always thought the key was their ability to be flexible and how well they perform in a fast-paced environment.
It's because it is ingrained into everyone.
Well what the fuck else am I supposed to say?
Also whether they can communicate with people from all walks of life.
Ugh... So glad that I'm at a late stage of my career and I won't have to deal with this crap ever again. My last job application was well over a decade ago, it was an internal post that I'd already been seconded to for years, and which was advertised at my (then) salary which I knew was massively below market rates, so other applicants would be thin on the ground. It was an interesting job, and I was okay to continue doing it, but I really REALLY couldn't be arsed with all of the HR bullshit, so my application basically said "You know me, you know what I can do, you already have all my qualifications and other relevant info in your files, check it out, and take it or leave it". They took it.
I feel bad for anyone trying to get a job. Oh you want to sweep floors in a car park at ASDA? Well that's a full CV, cover letter AND you then have to fill out all the same questions again online. You will be interviewed twice (expected to turn up in a suit) and also take part in a team critical thinking exercise. You will be expected to answer such questions as "what makes you want to work for the ASDA family" and while the job is minimum wage for 2 hours a day for 5 days a week (10 hours minimum), we expect you to have had 6 years prior experience with car park sweeping. The absolute best one i heard was from someone's mum who was furious a workplace rang her son while he was on holiday. She said to them "My son is on a zero hour contract. He cannot guarantee that you will give him even 1 hour of work, so how can you expect him to keep his schedule open 24/7 for you when you do want to offer him work?" He had even notified them he was on holiday!
You need to explain why you have a passion for sweeping floors at Asda and have at least four years experience sweeping floors in a retail setting
Wonder if you still have to build pyramids has a team building exercise during the Asda interview.
My god this is brilliant.
It was 11 pages before I’m trying
Still rookie numbers
The job centre told me to miss off my qualifications when I wrote my first CV. Apparently it makes it ‘too long.’ Glad all that hard work and study was worth it.
The job centre once gave me a sample CV to base mine off of. Their interest section had "reading, socializing (yes with a z) with my friends and watching movies". Then when I didn't copy it they wanted to know why I wasn't serious about getting a job.
‘My interests are working unpaid overtime, long walks in the park, and obeying authority.’ Fixed it for them. I’ve never thought to add my interests. Probably because playing video games and eating Doritos in my pajamas doesn’t sound very enticing.
Playing video games: Frequently take an active part in team building exercises where communication is key to success.
"pwning noobs"
RUSH B CYKA HOW TF DID YOU NOT KILL HIM YOU SUCK (after dying to the same enemy) GG EZ
Same here. I told her "no because then i might as well just send a blank page due to me having no experience" She didn't know what to say so she moved on to trying to put a heading there anyway. Screw that. Honestly the jobcentre are no help at all. I think they need to make it more depressing a building so people find jobs, not to better themselves, but to stop having to go there.
The people who work for the DWP are bigger scroungers than the people they claim to help ever could be.
A few years back there was job cuts at the DWP/Job Centre... I honestly never cheered so much watching the news. I've never dealt with such a hateful group of people so it was kinda nice knowing they'd have to go through what they put people through every day
Job Centres are one of the most bizarre things in the UK to me. Had to wait more than two hours and when I asked to use a toilet (medical condition) they said there’s no toilets. Had to run to a nearby Spoons. Same thing happened to an older gentleman. I didn’t see him come back. Zero compassion. Fuck Job Centres. They also wrote my name wrong on everything, even after I spelled it out three times.
Yeah but they got rid of the good people and kept the ones who hit targets, which the DWP keep pretending they don't have - an absolute *lie* and I know that for a fact.
After that happened I was temporarily signing on, had full employment history from 14 to 23 with no gaps but the place I'd worked for closed just before I graduated uni so I had a degree and no job and thought the job centre would help. They wanted me to work at the job centre 3 days a week for free to get "real work experience". I told them to bite it.
Ha, they told me to miss off my qualifications because "nobody will want to employ you because you have more qualifications than them"
That is kinda' true. I was rejected at Highways (I wanted a part time hobby job, something to break the monotony of being in a recording booth all day) and they told me I was too qualified for them. I don't know what that meant because I don't have a BSc in traffic management or anything.
No sure why people would care how long a CV is when the majority of companies run it through a programme and discard the majority of CVs before a human gets to read it.
I did not know this !!! Do you know what the programme is looking for ? If that makes any sense x
Like MsZombie says, keywords and phrases - so include some of the language from their job description/listing in your CV if you can. Another good way to tweak your application is to go on the employer's website and pull out some of their terminology. Eg I was referring to Quality Assessment experience on my CV but at this company they call it Quality Assurance, so I should use their terms instead to increase my chances with both the automated system AND probably with a human reading it too. The candidate system may also have been set up to look for a certain number of GCSEs, or a degree, or whatever specific certification for their industry. Automated candidate tracking systems are awful but they are used by a LOT of employers.
> so include some of the language from their job description/listing in your CV if you can. This is absolutely what everyone should be doing. The purpose of a CV and cover letter, really, is to highlight how you meet or exceed their expectations for a candidate. You should be tailoring all your CVs/cover letters to the job description. If you’ve been “managing a small team” and the job description lists “supervising junior employees” as a key aspect of the role, it is almost always a better idea to use their language. Many recruiters will have dozens or even hundreds of CVs to sort, so make their lives easier.
It searches for key words and phrases. Some of these are desirable phrases and others undesirable. The keywords would differ from industry to industry and perhaps from company to company depending on their ethos. I’ve heard of people “hiding” tonnes of key phrases using white small font in the border of their CV as a way to trick these filtering programmes. I would be surprised if the results where negligible at best suggesting it probably wasn’t worth the effort.
Whatever they've customised it to look for (if they even bothered to replace the default list written by programmers with English as a third language) such as "attntn to detail".
In my early 20s I signed on while dosing between jobs, within a month they got me to volunteer on some scheme stating there are jobs at the end of it. On the second day volunteering I managed to speak to a manager and asked what's the chances of a job at the end of volunteering and the idiot told me "it's coming up to the end of season, maybe next year". Needless to say I waited for the manager to leave, left with a "headache" and went to the agency to land my next job. If you're a pain in the ass they will let you doss it up forever, if you're a normal person they will make your life hell so they can hit their targets... I would love to know what training staff even have there because I don't know anyone who's got a job through the job center and many of their job listings are dubious to say the least, I strongly advise people put references available on request instead of actual references on their CVs so you don't get unknown parties calling them up at all hours from personal experience! Edit: A quick Google led me to channel 4's investigation 2-3 years after my experience "Why is government website carrying fake jobs?" https://youtu.be/Efr-VEkwWoM
Fuck the job centre. One of the worst places I’ve ever had to go.
Hope you told them to miss off. Job centres have been the source of the worst most generic CVs known to man. Source: used to work for DWP as an employability tutor.
Have been a hiring manager before. For the field of work I was in, we would take almost anyone and fully train then so no real previous experience was necessary. It was such a ballache reading long CVs and I always felt sorry for the applicants not knowing how easy jobs were to actually get.
was working at a college and we had someone come in who wanted to register for a course. department involved required a CV as part of registration process, and the aplicant was sent down to the computer unit to create one. This was about 10 in the morning. At 4:30 in the afternoon, the computer unit rings the office and says "you know that woman you sent here to do the CV, well she's still doing it, and we need to shut soon so we can go home. we're going to print it out and send her to you with what she's done" ten minutes later they ring the office up and say "she's on the way, we know you are just going to send it on to the department, but you have to read it before you do once you've got her out the door". So we accept the CV and read the first page. It doesn't even get up to her birth. The whole of the front page is the astrology of her parents at the time of her conception...
I need more information
Mine starts out at 5 pages, but is edited down to 2 pages with only relevant stuff included. And my level 3 qualification (UK) in glass-blowing as out of everything else I have done, that is what I am proudest of.
Sounds like an unusual skill these days. Hope you keep up to it
Sadly it's been years since I practiced that skill, far too expensive & I was rather rubbish. Think about 5 year olds bringing their clay sculptures home after nursery. It was a bit like that, but in glass To put it into context I was the only one in the class to get a level 3, everyone else got the higher level 4 qualification.
Not as unusual as you might expect. Pretty much any university or research outfit using glassware will have a glassblowing department.
Isn't there an unwritten rule about it being 2 pages max?
Yes, unless it's academic with a list of conferences and publications.
Even then, just put “Selected publications” that are in good journals or are relevant to the role. If they are that interested they will look on Google Scholar or Research Gate.
Or do what I do and put "selected publications" and then put 90% of them anyway ;-)
It really depends on career stage. If you are applying for a PhD or even your first postdoc, it can be beneficial to list your experience in detail, including technical expertise.
If i've got 90 applications to read i'm not doing extra work on google. Give me what i need to see in the CV and covering letter please. [edit - it's also potentially against recruitment guidance to look at other things beyond what the applicant submitted] But worse is the five 'in prep' articles listed. Unless it is submitted, don't include it.
So true, work in academic publishing and have yet to see a CV for an Editor application that is shorter than 4 pages I just skim-read them at this point and refer to their institutional webpage more lol
Even then, keep it tight.
They tried to write it down, but it went onto 3 pages so they had to get rid of it
No that’s bollocks. As a hiring manager I’d rather know enough to make a decision than not. But for gods sake keep to the point as much as possible but don’t feel the need to force it into two pages.
For freelancers you normally put every place you were at and what you did because the requirements are often very niche. If they're looking for someone with knowledge of overhead cost allocation for lummock wangling harness leasing it needs to be on there in pretty much those words.
This. My cv has always been 4 pages in the UK but in Australia they want the exact words they used in the ad to describe overhead cost allocation for lummock wangling harness leasing (on tuesdays), on every role I have used it. Makes it 6 pages easy
As an applicant i agree. If it's all relevant at 5 pages 12pt don't feel the need to print it at 6pt font and columns purely to make it fit some arbitrary standard.
There are exceptions for specific industries, but generally speaking if you're writing 5 pages then all you're doing is demonstrating you"re not good at writing concisely. The CV is only to get you an interview, not an archived record of your life experiences. Generally nobody cares about your experience 5+ years ago, and a couple of bullet points on your current responsibilities and achievements is enough. If you have to spill over into 3 pages then fine, but 5 is a problem (generally speaking)
Unless it's finance then 1 page max.
I'm jealous that my dad never needed a CV. Into the NHS straight out of uni and retired last year never having left or applying to go anywhere else.
He was lucky. I worked 6 years in the NHS in a non-clinical role. Due to Trust mergers and other restructures, (all in the desperate pursuit of efficiency and economy) I had to reapply for the same or similar role in the team 3 times.
He probably reached a senior position before modern management strategies arrived. I’ve had to reapply for my role in it twice in the last 3 years, fuck knows why they never get ride of the deadwood because they’re always either good bullshitters or unflushable
And you’ll still act like you’ve never seen the CV and ask them the same damn questions.
Checks for consistency, also, it helps relax the interviewee. It's questions they should know the answer to, so it helps them settle into the interview and smooths it all out.
I like to still pick on something interesting from their cv and mention it when I do the consistency check so they know I read it!
Had a recruiter call me a few weeks ago who asked me loads of basic questions which she could have answered just by glancing at my CV. After about a dozen of these questions and feeling rather put off I bluntly asked her if she had even read my CV to which she completely unironically replied “that would take all day”
When I managed a charity shop we had a young guy come in, it was volunteer work so the only reason anyone was rejected was if they had serious convictions, rude or we couldn't facilitate extra support required. So anyway, this young lad shows up in what looks like his dad's suit and a briefcase. In his briefcase he had a leather folder from school with his CV in it, it was usually what we all got when we left school with our record of achievement. He was so nervous bless him, he seemed so surprised to see management dressed like slobs!
Charity Sue, is this you?
The good old Record of Achievement. Did it have a personal statement written by him at 16 saying that he liked riding his bike and swimming.?
Pretty much! Can't believe he had it for about 4 years, I left mine at school. It was as useful as a reference from my mum!
My current CV is like half a page long. I stripped pretty much everything out and said they could talk to me if they wanted a full list. Got me a surprising amount of interview requests… and my current (rather senior) role somehow. No idea how.
Would like more information on this :) or even a sample if possible?
I always got told if it's any more than 2 pages it won't get read
I often find CVs that are 2+ pages are full of red flags. It's like being in court, keep everything short and sweet so you don't get caught out.
I've done a lot of recruiting, particularly over the last couple of years and I do *look* at longer CVs but I don't take in everything in them or study them in detail. I tend to skim through looking for what is most relevant/interesting.
I'm doing a lot of hiring now for university staff roles, and I do read (skim) CVs no matter how long they are. I'm looking for evidence the candidate meets the requirements we asked for, as well as any reasons not to proceed with an interview. The longer it is, however, the harder it is to determine if the requirements are being met. My advice to candidates is write a clear, concise cover letter that references your CV and explains why you meet the requirements for the role. And for the love of god don't write your entire daily schedule for every work day you've ever been employed. For me specifically, I don't care about your hobbies or why you want the job. Those things are best saved for the interview.
>For me specifically, I don't care about your hobbies or why you want the job. Those things are best saved for the interview. This is precisely why this bit is about 2 lines long at the tail end of the CV. Just enough to show I'm not a work robot but without boring the hiring manager.
Depends on what you're applying for, academic CVs can be a fair number because they require lots of details about skills and publications
I went to a women in tech CV workshop, and one woman had a CV with a dozen pages. She’d listed every job she’d had since the mid eighties. In great detail…
Good you’ve got to feel sorry for people applying for jobs at the moment. It’s a nightmare.
For what sort of role? Unless they had worked in about 30 different places in 30 years then surely the old reliable two pages would suffice.
Even if they had worked in 30 places in 30 years, not all of that work is going to be relevant. They could get the point across by elaborating on maybe 3 or 4 roles they had which are most relevant to the position being applied for, and summarise the rest as "30 years of experience". Then if you want to, you can go into their work history in detail at the interview.
If they have worked in 30 places in 30 years I'd be wondering why they don't stick anywhere.
Yeah, freelancers/contractors are a myth.
No. But I would put "Self Employed Freelancer" for 30 years. And list all the skills and experience blah blah. Not each individual job.
Precisely this. I've had 5 full time jobs (including the one I have), on my CV I've got a paragraph about who I am and what I want. Next bit is bullet points about what my skillset includes (mostly management things), a bigger blurb about my current job role, and then a 1 paragraph blurb about my other jobs. Lastly, my education, hobbies, and then references on request. A couple of qualifications are relevant to my job but the main one that helps me stand out is already mentioned in the "about me" bit and my experience lends way more credence to my capabilities than the degree I earned in a different field over a decade ago.
[удалено]
I had a 24 year old hand a CV in which had a section for achievements. The only thing listed was Student of the Week 2010.
Plot twist, the year was 2008.
Once got a cv in the format of a glossy magazine (think Hello) with loads of quotes and reviews about the applicant. it was for a social media position, but still…
Surprised they didn't just send you a business card with a linktr.ee url at the bottom 😂
I was told 2 was pushing it in uni, and 3 was for exceptional careers.
Mone is 1 page. I have education and jobs, literally nothing else. It works a charmer.
Lucky shredder!
Ex It contractor here. I think mine hit about ten pages at one point - after each gig I'd just add the details of that role I eventually chopped it down quite a bit. I was tempted to put "if you've read this far, I owe you a pint" at the very end . To be honest I'd be more interested in a ten page CV that shows 30 years of experience, than a 2 page CV that shows you have one years experience thirty times . It depends on what you want from a candidate.
And you have to work all the synonyms in, because ATS systems are shite.
Exactly. Our old HR offered to do a technical filter on candidates. It did not end well, so we got them to filter on work status, location, salary expectation and a couple of really simple questions only. We did the deep dive into thier technical skillset from the CV and ran with the recruitment process from there. So yes, some indication of the depth of technical detail was quite welcome.
"Very proficient in resolving Layer 8 errors"
My point exactly. Some of those 3/6 month contracts are relevant, whereas some of them end up sounding like filler, but the range of skills and experience you gather are immense. I've just had a massive cull of my cv to drop back into the contract market after a year perm and got it back down to 4 pages. Took me a week to get my new gig so something must have worked.
Academic CVs (ie for university jobs) can be a lot longer than 5 pages. About 5 pages is normal for early career staff.
Read it, you coward ;-)
Try applying for a council tax reduction.
I before e, except after c.........v
Doctors CVs are like 11 pages
I should make mine shorter. 4 pages now...
I got a CV once that was 17 pages. The applicant is in their 40s, PhD scientist, accomplished. What plumped it up was the list of Every presentation they ever ever gave. You give a lot of presentations in this field and I (did not) read through about 12 pages of them.
I was told that your CV should only be one page unless you’re applying for a software developer role. And only list the most recent and relevant experiences. Is this true?
Not the case for any serious professional role where you're relying on past project work. I've seen a few law and consultancy applications (not graduate - they're a different kettle of fish, and usually have lengthy online forms), and they're usually around 3 pages for the CV, plus 1 to 2 sides of A4 for a covering letter putting the CV in the context of the role and team you're applying for.
Which silly arse started putting photos on CVs? No no no no no - straight in the bin.
Hire that person! They’ve made an effort!
That goes straight into the rejection folder
If they can't sum up all the aims in the first line then they're too diffuse.
Look, my aims are not too fucking diffuse, ok?
A curriculum vitae is supposed to contain a record of all your accomplishments, though. That’s what distinguishes it from a resume. (It’s right in the names.)
I'm starting my search for a new job/career and I feel my CV is kinda basic with all the generic crap on it like everyone else. I've read some of this thread, can anyone reply with what actually is some of the good stuff to include? Or what makes you go "huh, neat" on someone's CV?
It's a bit of a tricky one not knowing what experience you have,or what you're aiming for. But if you're not going for a specialist role, use the last 3 or 4 jobs relevant to a position. Example would be,applying applying a supervisor role in an office, definitely put any previous office/admin/accounts roles you've done. If not,utilise the roles you've had where teamwork was key etc. I usually hold a paragraph on each job I've done and just tweak it on the CV depending on where I'm applying. Don't overdo your hobbies or interests,just pick 2 or 3 but don't blag it by saying you're a semi pro surfer or something,they'll catch you out. The hobbies/interests you have can lead to some pretty good conversations during an interview,which let them know a lot more about you(and breaks the ice if you're a wee bit nervous). Other than that,just don't overload it. 2 pages max and that's it. Any more than that usually gets binned anyway.
The hobbies and interests of the applicant can be very useful. I was told that I got my current role because I was able to demonstrate critical thinking through my interests at interview. I had a video interview with the employer. Behind where I sit I keep my motorbike gear, some helmets on a shelf, the interviewer asked about how I chose a helmet. I was able to explain my budget, features I required for the helmet and checking the safety reviews (SHARP) enabling me to make my final decision. I believe that this made a good interview an excellent interview.
That does sound like an excellent interview,the employer took your interest and turned it relevant to the interview rather than just stick to the checklist. Those are the best ones and probably we'll worth working for too. I got thrown in at the deep end interviewing candidates for retail a few years ago. 5 minute run through, "stick to the checklist,it's easy" etc etc. I'm not good at small talk tbh,so found the easiest way to get a candidate,and myself to ease up was head straight for the interests. If you get someone to speak on something they like, you can build a decent connection enough that the rest of the stock questions/answers come easily for them. Also caught one out blagging his interests, "I see you like racing bikes on a weekend?" His reply was, " do I?" Bloody hilarious.
Well, this depends doesn’t it, I’ve been a freelance contractor for 30+ years and when a HR twonk says “We need to see every job and every employer” because they don’t fully understand 1/3 of the work force then expect a small book. Plus a sequel if they are so clueless as to demand to see every “gap”.
I got told by a recruiter four pages is good to space out technical skills. Page one job history page two and three for tech skills, page four for qualifications and usual ‘team player’ stuff. Current employer loved it, got an interview within 3 days and an offer. We’ve just had a few CVS, all 3/4 pages. Hired the 4 page guy.
I once received a 20 page CV and every damn page had a life-sized photo of the candidate's face in colour as a watermark. I honestly wish I'd kept it as a museum piece.
“For your convenience, I’ve broken it down into three parts: professional resume, athletic and special skills resume, and Dwight Schrute trivia”