A good CV.

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BoomAM

BoomAM

Soldato
Joined
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Location
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Hi.
Im looking to re-write my CV, quite extensivly if im being honest as i think my existing one (despite landing me my current job) is cack.

Anyone got any hints/tips for writing CVs, specifically for the IT industry?

Thanks in advance all. :).
 
Why not post your old one up, and we'll make improvements to that; whether visual, content or style.

Might be easier than starting from scratch.
 
Could do, but im not too keen on advertising myself on a forum. lol.
I don't mind people requesting it though and putting hints/tips on here about it...

Basically at the moment, my CV is in the format of:

----------

Name
Address
Home Telephone
Mobile Telephone
Email Address
DoB
Nationality

Education
Then listing institutes/courses at the top followed by 4-6 short bullet points listing what was done/learnt on them

Work Experience
Then listing jobs/titles at the top followed by 4-6 short bullet points listing what was done/achieved on them

Additonal Skills
Briefly lists competancy in things like Office and programming languages.

Interests & Achievements
3 small subtitled sections listing my interests and reasons.

Referees

----------

And then a 'covering letter' basically describing where my interest in computing came from, how i got to where i was, what ive achieved, ect;
 
You don't need your DOB or Nationality on a CV any more.

In your experience, try and say something you felt you achieved from working there and make it relevant to the job/company ideas you're applying for, but then again that can always go in your covering letter.

Additional skills could be referred to as 'Transferable Skills' or 'Industry Skills' too, to perk it up.
 
What area of IT are you in?
What area of IT are you looking to move into?
How much experience have you got?
Any certifications?
Why do you have additional skills, are they relevant? Why aren't they listed as part of education and/or work experience?
 
this is kinda diluting your original question so sorry, but i was just wondering....

how important are covering letters ie ones just saying i want an interview as opposed to ones which talk about your pluses and reasons why the job suits you?:confused:
 
Mr^B said:
What area of IT are you in?
Click to expand...
At the moment im a Network Manager.

What area of IT are you looking to move into?
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Any sort of support or support managerial role. Would like to work with exchange and/or VMware if possible.

How much experience have you got?
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About 6 years in IT, with the last 3 as a NM.

Any certifications?
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Apart from a few bits of paper that say 'youve turned up to this MS course', none, although i am saving to do the VCP course.

Why do you have additional skills, are they relevant? Why aren't they listed as part of education and/or work experience?
Click to expand...
Because i was always told that on CVs, those sort of generic, applys to everything, skills, should go in that section.
Of course if that needs changing, then i dont mind. :)
 
If you've that much experience it needs to be the first thing you put on your CV.

If you have additional skills, they need to be put into context. If you've used a technology, if it's not part of a job or part of formal training, or part of a hobby, you have nothing to back it up with (on a CV at least) and therefore it's not really relevant.

I loathe and detest and despise a list of skills, like:

Windows 2003; 5 years
ASP.Net; 4 years.

They're worse than useless. All skills need context. You administer servers? How many people for? 20? 2,000? 20,000? What sort of company is it? Is there stress and yelling when servers go down?

Putting that down without the context of a company or an environment is not really telling the person reading the CV anything. I can install Windows 7, but that doesn't mean I could do it professionally.

:)
 
Yeh with 6 years of IT, that's more important than your education go for something like:

Page 1
Name + Details
Short Profile
Recent Experience
Education

Page 2
Older Experience
Industry Skills
Interests
References
 
RandomTom said:
Yeh with 6 years of IT, that's more important than your education go for something like:

Page 1
Name + Details
Short Profile
Recent Experience
Education

Page 2
Older Experience
Industry Skills
Interests
References
Click to expand...
What should be in 'short profile' then?
I take it each of these sections should be paragraphed? Or summed up in bullet points?

Thanks btw everyone. :)
Appriciated. :).
 
i used to be a headhunter/recruiter, i don't mind taking a look at it - sorted out a couple of friend's cvs this summer and all have since found new jobs! generally you shouldn't seperate new and old experiences on a cv, definitely not by whacking your education in the middle. 2 pages, concise, tidy, etc. its a good idea to try to find IT example cvs online to have a look at (and try not to follow the American examples - they're quite different).
 
As said, with that much work experience your education really will be short and sweet.

Mine is about 3 or 4 bullet points, 1 says what degree I have, 1 says what A levels I have, 1 says what GCSEs I have (is there any point even leaving these on anymore?), can't remember if I've got anything else on there.

Think mine goes something like:

Personal Info like name, dob etc
Key Skills - a few bullet points of quite high level things
Then a section on what I'd call soft skills
Technical Skills
Employment details - Very little info here bar where, job title and when, most of what I'd do is listed in the other skills sections above.
Education
Interests
References

Split over 2 pages, however in the process of redoing it for a job I've seen so might change it a bit.
 
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Put an amusing picture on your CV to catch the attention, better still put a picture of yourself dressed as a clown or the likes.
 
I've just been researching ways of improving my CV and general job application techniques including use of pitching techniques and effective use of English.

I decided that I knew nothing and went on a research mission - including revisiting my appalling grammar.

Next I'll be attacking my current CV.

I'm currently writing an OcUK CV guide too :D Perhaps toshj could critique?

Clear, Concise, Positive, Solid and Sell.

You need to write for the position you're applying for. So listing skills in technical areas has to be toned down to give room for emphasis on the management skills used with those.

Have a read of:
Life's a Pitch , Bayley & Mavity, Corgi. A CV is a written pitch just as an interview is.
Improve your writing skills, Graham King, Collins which covers CV and letters.
Some interesting points
 
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