Critique my CV!

I've only quickly skimmed it so sorry if this is brief; I'll do more tomorrow if you want.

The CV is almost a one pager which, unless you are far more amazing than your CV lets on, is a big no-no. It's terribly compact! Use the two pages to really expand on the things you believe sell yourself to whichever company you're applying to.

Also, 'tasks' is when one is being ordered to do something. Did you ever have any responsibility in any of your mentioned jobs? Regardless, 'tasks' is dreadful.

Dump the 'British', as well. DOB is not necessary but many recruiters will be interested so keep it.

The list style/bullet points is not doing what you think it's doing. It's very impersonal and tells me next to nothing about what you did at either University or in your jobs. Well, it does but it doesn't tell me anything about you, it tells me what the course entailed and what those jobs entailed. A CV should be your achievements but also your personality, in print.

I think you have a factually accurate CV. Not enough, man, not enough. If I'm reading that, I want to know about you probably more than I want to know what you've done or where you were schooled. Many CVs come to a pass/fail gate based on an expected level of education and experience; it becomes a go/don't go response to whether you stay on the desk or go in the bin. What can get you the job is you, how you deal with matters, how you gel with people, how you approach problems, how you handle defeat and view challenges etc. Of course, some or even most of this will come at interview stage but injecting personality into your CV is tremendously important.

tl;dr - a factual CV is good. A factually accurate CV which also conveys the writer's personality is far, far better.


e : wait, are you the guy who was banging on about being far better positioned to hand out financial advice as an Accountant (even though you're not one and even if you were, you're still not in a position to do so as you were told by actual Accountants) in the Shep thread?
 
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[FnG]magnolia;18280038 said:
I've only quickly skimmed it so sorry if this is brief; I'll do more tomorrow if you want.

The CV is almost a one pager which, unless you are far more amazing than your CV lets on, is a big no-no. It's terribly compact! Use the two pages to really expand on the things you believe sell yourself to whichever company you're applying to.

Also, 'tasks' is when one is being ordered to do something. Did you ever have any responsibility in any of your mentioned jobs? Regardless, 'tasks' is dreadful.

Dump the 'British', as well. DOB is not necessary but many recruiters will be interested so keep it.

The list style/bullet points is not doing what you think it's doing. It's very impersonal and tells me next to nothing about what you did at either University or in your jobs. Well, it does but it doesn't tell me anything about you, it tells me what the course entailed and what those jobs entailed. A CV should be your achievements but also your personality, in print.

I think you have a factually accurate CV. Not enough, man, not enough. If I'm reading that, I want to know about you probably more than I want to know what you've done or where you were schooled. Many CVs come to a pass/fail gate based on an expected level of education and experience; it becomes a go/don't go response to whether you stay on the desk or go in the bin. What can get you the job is you, how you deal with matters, how you gel with people, how you approach problems, how you handle defeat and view challenges etc. Of course, some or even most of this will come at interview stage but injecting personality into your CV is tremendously important.

tl;dr - a factual CV is good. A factually accurate CV which also conveys the writer's personality is far, far better.


e : wait, are you the guy who was banging on about being far better positioned to hand out financial advice as an Accountant (even though you're not one and even if you were, you're still not in a position to do so as you were told by actual Accountants) in the Shep thread?
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Thanks for the advice, big big help. Always thought my CV was actually quite good, obviously not!

Yes, that's me. However I never said I was a qualified accountant, just able to provide a better general 'how-to' than my mother.
 
Just got your message!

I'd say (not knowing what sort of accountancy role you're interested in) make some point of being able to work well on your own and mention time management and problem solving (all useful skills in accountancy). If you like the technical aspects (e.g. if you like tax and enjoy the complexities of the surrounding legislation) say so, it may sound sad (because it is) but people will like that as it shows enthusiasm.

You don't get exemptions in AAT/ACA (and I'd expect ACCA) but you do get credits. I'd also check to make sure you DO get credits just in case you haven't (degree courses don't automatically give you a certain credit).

Personally I'd write in first person but I'm not an employer so not sure whether it matters or not.

Other than that the more specific stuff would go on a cover letter. Good points made by others as well.

And most importantly, good luck on the job hunting!
 
Pudney@work said:
Just got your message!

I'd say (not knowing what sort of accountancy role you're interested in) make some point of being able to work well on your own and mention time management and problem solving (all useful skills in accountancy). If you like the technical aspects (e.g. if you like tax and enjoy the complexities of the surrounding legislation) say so, it may sound sad (because it is) but people will like that as it shows enthusiasm.

You don't get exemptions in AAT/ACA (and I'd expect ACCA) but you do get credits. I'd also check to make sure you DO get credits just in case you haven't (degree courses don't automatically give you a certain credit).

Personally I'd write in first person but I'm not an employer so not sure whether it matters or not.

Other than that the more specific stuff would go on a cover letter. Good points made by others as well.

And most importantly, good luck on the job hunting!
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I was originally looking at audit, but i've heard from a friend currently training at PwC is that it's incredibly dull and far from enjoyable (only one opinion though).

Possibly tax? I did specialise in it at uni and it was enjoyable in comparison to other modules. But then again i've not had the chance to gain any first hand experience.

According to the ACCA system, i'm exempt from F1 - F4, F5, F6, F7 and F9. Also 6 with ACA and the first 3 stages of AAT (pointless really as it's sub-degree level).

If you don't mind me asking, what role do you currently work in?
 
Robi said:
I was originally looking at audit, but i've heard from a friend currently training at PwC is that it's incredibly dull and far from enjoyable (only one opinion though).

Possibly tax? I did specialise in it at uni and it was enjoyable in comparison to other modules. But then again i've not had the chance to gain any first hand experience.

According to the ACCA system, i'm exempt from F1 - F4, F5, F6, F7 and F9. Also 6 with ACA and the first 3 stages of AAT (pointless really as it's sub-degree level).

If you don't mind me asking, what role do you currently work in?
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I work in practice doing corporate tax although currently personal tax have stolen me due to the impending self assessment deadline.

I started off working in audit as well and have done a short stint (about 3 months) in our accounts preparation team - which sort of makes me a jack of all trades in our office unfortunately!

For me personally Corporate tax is by far the best. I enjoy the technical nature of it and the fact you feel like you are doing something useful for the client. It helps that I'm perfectly happy leafing through legislation looking for that one sentence that helps support a position we want to take (like I said, it's sad but you find a lot of people in tax are the same way giving you something to connect with!).

Audit is incredibly dull. And people don't tend to like you very much. BUT, you are exposed to far more accounting principles that way. I personally think audit is a great way to learn from a practical viewpoint, I know I have a better understanding of accounts than quite a few in our tax team from my time there.

Personal tax I don't mind. But I can't help feel when doing it that it's not the same as corporate which is what I really enjoy!

And accounts. Dullest of them all in my eyes. Not much thought is required, just do whatever the client has done in the statutory format. But then I've never worked on truly complex jobs like a consolidation of a large group from an accounts viewpoint so it may just be the jobs I was given!

Anyway, pub lunch time, feel free to ask more and I'll answer when back! :D
 
I would look at removing the job at Blue Mountain Restaurant. You have two jobs listed there that are essentially the same. Unless you are planning on becoming a waiter, I don't think prospective employers will care too much that you have been a waiter in two different places.

Also consider using the space better. Consider having two columns for your education/work.

Thin Column on the left with the employer/school, job title and dates, larger column on the right explaining your roles and responsibilities.

Also change the font, what size is it? You'd be surprised how small you can go and still have the document be legible. 12pt is too big, I'd normally got for around 8/10pt dependent on the font.
 
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Right, i've changed the host. It should work now.

I've used Calibri as the font but for some unknown reason the PDF viewer on that site is showing something slightly different.
 
The problem with CV's is they are highly personal if people like them or not. Im afraid I dont like yours.

You have a profile but no objective to show ambition.
I really dont think you need to list modules under your education.
Your grades dont stand out.Esp for your degree
Your layout takes leaves you with tones of white space - not good!
History? Of what? Experience? Of what? - should be work history etc.
You should also list your relevant skills for the job and your transferable skills. - these should be easy to see and not left to the reader to pull out of your blurb.

Overall before reading it the layout looks poor. Is your driving licanse important to the job? I dont think id deserves the space and importance of the 2nd line. I can't tell what your 3rd line is but it looks very cramp for address, tel, mob, email. HAve your paragraphs the line under your headers, they can be indented but not by half the page as they are now. Right align your grades to make them stand out.

Sorry for the rant, there is good stuff in there but they layout just puts me right off.
 
I think you need a lot more personal interests tbh, especially if it's going to be a 2 page document.
 
TheCrow said:
The problem with CV's is they are highly personal if people like them or not. Im afraid I dont like yours.

You have a profile but no objective to show ambition.
I really dont think you need to list modules under your education.
Your grades dont stand out.Esp for your degree
Your layout takes leaves you with tones of white space - not good!
History? Of what? Experience? Of what? - should be work history etc.
You should also list your relevant skills for the job and your transferable skills. - these should be easy to see and not left to the reader to pull out of your blurb.

Overall before reading it the layout looks poor. Is your driving licanse important to the job? I dont think id deserves the space and importance of the 2nd line. I can't tell what your 3rd line is but it looks very cramp for address, tel, mob, email. HAve your paragraphs the line under your headers, they can be indented but not by half the page as they are now. Right align your grades to make them stand out.

Sorry for the rant, there is good stuff in there but they layout just puts me right off.
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I thought it was key to list University modules, especially since i've specialised in certain areas of accountancy, therefore highly relevant to the job role?

Secondly, it's too spacious? I thought my main problem was that it was too cramped, now it's too spaced out?

I'll change the History to Work History and add a few more interests to make them stand out a little more. However, I was under the impression that it's completely pointless to state interests unless they are relevant to the job? For example, vice captain demonstrates that I have leadership skills.
 
If they are specialised modules and directly applicable to your job then ok. Im not sure what your original layout was, but I dont think spacious is the same as having lots of unusable white space.

I agree with you for personal interests. Take up the extra space with a new section listing your core skills/transferable skills.

Remember all this is just imo and the next person will come along and completely disagree.
 
TheCrow said:
If they are specialised modules and directly applicable to your job then ok. Im not sure what your original layout was, but I dont think spacious is the same as having lots of unusable white space.

I agree with you for personal interests. Take up the extra space with a new section listing your core skills/transferable skills.

Remember all this is just imo and the next person will come along and completely disagree.
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Thanks for the advice anyway! I've changed the alignment and added Work History. Definitely looks a lot more polished.

With regard to skills, in my profile, work history and experience I have demonstrated the following skills (all backed up with examples):

Adaptability
Teamwork
Ambition
Time Management
Organisation
Planning
Problem Solving
Leadership
Perseverance
Communication / Interpersonal

Is it not enough? Or have I demonstrated it the wrong way?

Thanks again.
 
I think your examples should be in what you already had (work history etc) this is just a quick reference list. Your uni documents should list what transferable skills you have gained (I think). Layout just go for two comma separated lists core skills and transferable skills. It dont need to take up lots of space just make it easy to see that you have what they want.

Im computer programming so would list all the languages/environments I know, having the ones listed as required in the job spec 1st followed by and desirables followed by others I have.

Looks like a good list there, just customise it to match job descriptions - your cv is not a fixed document, best to adjust it for every job.
 
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