CV questions

unclebob123

unclebob123

unclebob123

Associate
Joined
28 Jul 2007
Posts
646
I currently writing my CV and was wondering if my personal statement is along the right lines.

This is what I have so far.

During my time at university I began working as a freelance camera operator. I soon found myself predominantly working in the corporate sector; providing crewing services for Exhibitions, Trade shows and conferences. Working in this industry has enabled me to develop the skills needed to work to a tight deadline and to deliver to a specification laid out by the client.

After graduating from university I continued to work predominantly in the corporate sector as a camera operator, until September of 2009 when I enrolled in a 3 month voluntary position working in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar for a Business television.

After leaving BTV I decided to travel across Asia before seeking new employment.

Is that heading in the right direction? Any recomendations

Thanks
 
I like that. I guess it could be a bit shorter but it will be tricky cutting out the right bits. Maybe remove the 'Working in...' bit. And perhaps remove the dates to save a few words. If they want dates, they can read the CV.
 
Sorry to take this a little off topic, but I was looking at doing the journalism equivalent of your scheme to Ulan Bataar. I never did, and it's always been a bit of a regret of mine. How was it? What's Mongolia like? It's top of my list of places to visit :)
 
shifty_uk said:
It doesn't really specify what you're aiming towards?
Click to expand...

True. He could add a few words at the end.

"After leaving BTV I decided to travel across Asia before seeking new employment."

This could become...

"After travelling across Asia, I have returned to X to seek full time employment in [whatever sector].
 
Some good points.

I like the suggestion sidewinder.

manic111 - I started as an assistant camera operator, but my duties soon escalated to include script editing and presenting the nightly english news television show.

As for the country. I didnt get to see a whole lot of it because I was working most of the time. But I did get out to the country on weekends. I was their during winter though with temperatuers reaching -40 in the city to -45 in the country side
 
I think that personal statement reads more like something I'd expect to find on a covering letter.

I hate them personally. But something more along the lines of a career aim/statement would be better.
 
meghatronic said:
I think that personal statement reads more like something I'd expect to find on a covering letter.

I hate them personally. But something more along the lines of a career aim/statement would be better.
Click to expand...

So I should target the personal statement it to be more specific for the job?

Is a covering letter important?
 
I have 3 or 4 different CVs for different industries. That way i don't need to keep changing one CV constantly.

I think of a covering letter as an 'explained personal statement'. So the personal statement is a brief summary and the covering letter just provides more detail.
 
Definitely agree on losing the second predominantly, for me it one of those words which just sticks out throughout a whole paragraph, I find it quite distracting.

Pretty cool personal statement though!
 
Whilst at university I elected to undertake work as a freelance camera operator. I soon found myself predominantly working in the corporate sector, providing crewing services for exhibitions, trade shows and conferences. My experiences around this helped me to develop the skills needed to work to a tight deadline and to capture, understand and satisfy customer requirements.

After graduating from university I continued to work primarily in the corporate sector as a camera operator, until September 2009 when I enrolled in a 3 month voluntary position working in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar for Business TeleVision.

Following my time at BTV, I chose to travel across Asia prior to seeking new employment.
 
SideWinder said:
I have 3 or 4 different CVs for different industries. That way i don't need to keep changing one CV constantly.

I think of a covering letter as an 'explained personal statement'. So the personal statement is a brief summary and the covering letter just provides more detail.
Click to expand...

OK that makes sense

Makhaira - I like some of those changes. Especially the ''Following my time...'' instead of "after leaving...". Kinda makes it sound more positive.

TMP- Thanks
 
Sorry, I have one more question.

Should I include all my previous jobs. I worked at road chef between the ages of 16-21. It's the only job I've really been employed for since all my other jobs have been freelance and voluntary. Its not exactly reliant to the job I'll be applying for, but it does represent quite a large chunk in my employment history(even if it was part time during school, full time during holidays).
 
If it isn't relevant, leave it out of your CV. You would be wasting precious space by including it. If however you haven't done much in the way of work and you're looking for a job, every single detail helps.

For your case, i think you should put it in if there is space. But make it very brief. Perhaps upload your CV later on and it will be easier to judge. :)
 
Advise I got from a cv writing course for the personal statement part:

Don't use the word 'I'
Only put things in that will grab attention & add benefit.

You are going to include work experience in the body of the cv (I assume) so aim to target the skills you excel at (2nd sentence of the 1st part is good) rather than presenting a career history as you will just be repeating yourself. I personally would make the last two bits combine (and leaving out dates) and just put something like 'Experience of working abroad in media for a buisness television (studio? station? currently the sentence doesn't make sense on the cv unless you were standing on a business tv :p) doing XYZ has focused/strengthened/enhanced my ABC skills'.

I would agree that it currently looks more like covering letter blurb than personal statement. It has some content I would look for...but is a bit flowery imo :)

as an example of a completely different industry I have included mine as an example which has worked for me but could I imagine easily be picked on and is still getting tweaked from time to time :D

A dedicated and proactive ISEB qualified senior system tester with seven years experience in the Financial Services industry. Skilled in functional, non-functional, manual and automated testing and experienced as a Test Lead for a multi-million pound project leading a team of testers through estimation, planning and execution stages of the project lifecycle. Key strengths are building good relationships within the work environment, working to deadlines and problem solving, aided by strong communication, analytical and technical skills.

Point of the above should show the reader you can bring something to their organisation rather than giving them a job history which will be below. Try & put in any relevant qualifications if you have them for the industry that are key as an employer will be looking for it. If there is a specific job advert that asks for a person matching a certain type (e.g. proactive etc) put those words in.
 
Cemetery said:
Advise I got from a cv writing course for the personal statement part:

Don't use the word 'I'
Only put things in that will grab attention & add benefit.

You are going to include work experience in the body of the cv (I assume) so aim to target the skills you excel at (2nd sentence of the 1st part is good) rather than presenting a career history as you will just be repeating yourself. I personally would make the last two bits combine (and leaving out dates) and just put something like 'Experience of working abroad in media for a buisness television (studio? station? currently the sentence doesn't make sense on the cv unless you were standing on a business tv :p) doing XYZ has focused/strengthened/enhanced my ABC skills'.

I would agree that it currently looks more like covering letter blurb than personal statement. It has some content I would look for...but is a bit flowery imo :)

as an example of a completely different industry I have included mine as an example which has worked for me but could I imagine easily be picked on and is still getting tweaked from time to time :D

A dedicated and proactive ISEB qualified senior system tester with seven years experience in the Financial Services industry. Skilled in functional, non-functional, manual and automated testing and experienced as a Test Lead for a multi-million pound project leading a team of testers through estimation, planning and execution stages of the project lifecycle. Key strengths are building good relationships within the work environment, working to deadlines and problem solving, aided by strong communication, analytical and technical skills.

Point of the above should show the reader you can bring something to their organisation rather than giving them a job history which will be below. Try & put in any relevant qualifications if you have them for the industry that are key as an employer will be looking for it. If there is a specific job advert that asks for a person matching a certain type (e.g. proactive etc) put those words in.
Click to expand...

Hi cemetery, thanks for your input.

One thing I have to ask, and I'm not being critical just curious.

When you say sentences like Key strengths are building good relationships within the work environment, working to deadlines and problem solving, aided by strong communication, analytical and technical skills. do you then back these claims up later on in the CV and/or covering letter. Or just wait until interview?
 
Ok, following on from the thread I started yesterday.

Firstly, sorry about the formatting. I originally made this in word 2007. Ive had to move to another internet cafe who only have open office installed and its completely screwed with it.

Formatting aside, I'm looking for feedback on this CV so far. Its by means finished yet but hopefully getting there. In particular I'm looking for people opinions/input on the covering letter. To be honest I'm not sure how to start and finish it.

Thanks and all feedback is welcome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom