Any CV pros or recruiters?

MikeHiow

MikeHiow

MikeHiow

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Joined
26 Oct 2004
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Isle of Wight
I'm looking for tips/advice/proof on my CV.

Some of you may have read my previous thread, and regardless of the results of that situation I feel it prudent to apply for as many jobs as possible anyway, and as early as possible to prevent any period of unemployment if that is what it comes to.

I've not really had to write a CV before, not one that mattered anyway. I freelanced, then worked with the family business and I was offered my current job off the back of some freelance work I did.

CV: http://mike-hughes.net/share/MikeHughes_CV.pdf

Any criticism/advice welcome.

Thanks :)
 
The template is nice, this goes a long way.

I think a CV written in the first person reads better. You should munge the summary and headline sentences into a single paragraph, make it punchy.

Core Competencies
Broaden this and bold what you are really good at.

Jobs
Lots of bullet points here, but they don't tell me anything. Talk about what you *really* did. Lose the minor stuff.

Education & Personal Info
Nobody gives a ****.
 
Your grammar and syntax need tidying up - too many commas, inappropriate capital letters, mixing of tenses etc. Also, "A proven ability to meet tight deadlines under self-motivation, and to the highest standards." doesn't make any sense and requires re-wording.

The education peice is less of a summary as it is, literally, a two liner. Do you have A levels, what was your BTEC grade? Did you actually achieve anything? It's unclear.

Work experience typically comes at the top of the CV with Skills being towards the end.

I would probably start again using one of the many hundreds of very good templates available on the web. If I received your CV I would probably have stopped before getting to the end of the Skills section. Not being harsh, just truthful.
 
I shall echo what Magnolia has already said. You state that you have 'Excellent writing skills' yet capitalise quite a few words unnecessarily, misuse a semi-colon or two and actually miss out some chunks:


"A genuine interest in a wide area of IT, including software development, internet technologies, networking and hardware..."

Add in "I have" or "I enjoy" to the start of that quote and it will read much nicer. There are lots of examples of this in your CV. Remember that even bullet points can be nice to read. I'd like to critique the whole thing from a writey POV, but I just don't have time :(

Good luck with it all, you're not too far off!
 
I am looking to recruit a new developer myself, so seeing a fair few cvs atm.

i don't really understand the Until Jan 2006 bit, from when to when, what did you do in that time?

for 10 years experience, I don't really get the feel for what you did and developed, where are portfolio sites?
 
Just had a look again and you have a 2 page CV that could be easily placed on 1 page. This is actually pretty good news because it allows you to pad out some of the very bare areas and get a stonking 2 pager put together.

Definitely have a look at some online examples because there are many out there that are very easy to adapt.

Completely agree with nIck in that there is not a lot on show for 10 years experience. That's not to say you haven't got it, just that it's not at all clear what you've actually done. This stuff needs to be screaming at a prospective employer, "Hire me right now because look at all the clever and important stuff I've achieved/performed/delivered etc"

Make it count. Good luck :)
 
Contact info etc should be at the top under your name etc, useless having it at the bottom.

Delete references available on request. If they want references then they will ask.

Lose the bit about your fiancee and daughter, no need for them to know that.

'Until Jan 2006' ?? Needs a start date.

In skills summary remove the first 2 points, cringeworthy and look copy and pasted generic skills.

Education section is blank! How many GCSEs?, any A-levels? What about training you have either been on or trained yourself in?

Completely agree with nIck in that there is not a lot on show for 10 years experience. That's not to say you haven't got it, just that it's not at all clear what you've actually done. This stuff needs to be screaming at a prospective employer, "Hire me right now because look at all the clever and important stuff I've achieved/performed/delivered etc"
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+1

I have only 3 years experience since uni and mine is crammed to the 2 page limit. You need to bring in cost savings (they like to see hard ££££ figures), efficiencies in processes, interpersonal skills, innovation. EXAMPLES EXAMPLES EXAMPLES and also talk things up a little, but don't BS.
 
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Thanks for the tips.

Contact info is at the bottom, based on something I read about also putting a contact number on the covering letter. The idea here is to write an awesome covering letter that should make them want to get in contact right away, putting it on the covering letter at least puts the opportunity there. For that reason, it didn't seem appropriate to put the contact details at the top.

Other points are more than fair, and all taken on board.

From an education point of view, there isn't much - I have no formal qualifications beyond GCSEs and understand at this point in life, GCSEs become irrelevant. Beyond that, the national diploma was never completed. I spent a long time 'umming' and 'arring' whether I should put it in there, but in the end concluded that I can explain it if asked.

There are no cost savings in hard figures, my previous employer simply was not run like that, so I don't have anything there. I am not entirely sure what examples can be used - I find it difficult to example previous projects without either rambling or missing key information. Can you provide an example for clarification?

This is difficult :/
 
You should include references. We hated seeing 'references available on request' as it flags up worries that you either don't have any, they are faked, or they are poor.
(Used to work in a recruitment agency, dealing with all the CVs).
 
Ahleckz said:
You should include references. We hated seeing 'references available on request' as it flags up worries that you either don't have any, they are faked, or they are poor.
(Used to work in a recruitment agency, dealing with all the CVs).
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That is ridiculous, IMO.

Whilst it may be fine for someone who is currently unemployed, I'm not about to go and ask my employer for references before making it clear I'm looking for another job, which I'm not going to do until I've at least been successful in an interview.
 
Don't just use bullet points for everything :(

Ahleckz said:
You should include references. We hated seeing 'references available on request' as it flags up worries that you either don't have any, they are faked, or they are poor.
(Used to work in a recruitment agency, dealing with all the CVs).
Click to expand...

Weird, I've always been advised by my agencies not to put them on there and on that note, I don't think I've ever been asked for them either.
 
MikeHiow said:
That is ridiculous, IMO.

Whilst it may be fine for someone who is currently unemployed, I'm not about to go and ask my employer for references before making it clear I'm looking for another job, which I'm not going to do until I've at least been successful in an interview.
Click to expand...

Well, it was policy of the leading recruitment agency in their sector in Aberdeen... You don't have to put your current employer, but we much preferred to have at least a reference on file before matching customers to clients if we hadn't used them before.
Slightly different if you're not going to agencies, I agree, but it is still very beneficial especially when comparing two very similar candidates.

Sp00n said:
Don't just use bullet points for everything :(

Weird, I've always been advised by my agencies not to put them on there and on that note, I don't think I've ever been asked for them either.
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Perhaps depends on the job/sector.
 
Ahleckz said:
Well, it was policy of the leading recruitment agency in their sector in Aberdeen... You don't have to put your current employer, but we much preferred to have at least a reference on file before matching customers to clients if we hadn't used them before.
Slightly different if you're not going to agencies, I agree, but it is still very beneficial especially when comparing two very similar candidates.

Perhaps depends on the job/sector.
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Seems to be.

My advice came from a headhunter so quite high up in the chain.

@Mike:

Hard to give examples as I'm not in IT etc, but an engineer so do PM, design, construction, commercial, cost savings, innovation, lots of everything really.

Here is one extract from mine:

Principle Engineer for [Project] and [Project] projects, anticipating future issues and providing solutions, co-ordinated and improved assurance documentation collation with contractors and investigated installation non-compliances
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You mention 10 years web development experience, but from a commercial point of view you've got not quite 4 years worth listed on there, so might not quite add up for some people reading it.

-Ad- said:
I have only 3 years experience since uni and mine is crammed to the 2 page limit.
Click to expand...

Not really relevant to this particular case, but there is no hard 2 page limit, really does depend on the job, person, sector etc.

I've been doing a lot of work on my CV lately, taking advice from quite a few senior managers, HR people, and at the moment I've got mine at 3 pages and that's squeezing things in.

Will be different for different people, but don't fill it with waffle or nonsense.
 
MikeHiow said:
Ad, that is a little difficult for me as I have no where near as much diversity in my job as that.

I've taken people's advice on board, and made what I felt were relevant changes.

http://mike-hughes.net/share/MikeHughes_CV2.pdf

Edit: updated link to avoid issues with caching.
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Ye it is hard to see as we are in such different fields.

Blab a bit and explain some projects, It's more info than just generic buzzwords and sentences. You're cv could be discounted vs another because they have project examples and yours doesn't. Better to give a little too much info than not enough.

In your examples try to get in an outcome, say streamlined x, reduced wasted time on y, helped out member z. Think of your best achievements and get them in there along with the parts you really enjoyed. It shows enthusiasm and the will to improve!
 
If I uploaded my CV, would anybody have a spare few mins to read it over and offer some pointers?

In the process of applying for new jobs but don't really think its up to scratch and I'm unsure of how to freshen it up and make it more concise and recruiter friendly!
 
I work in the industry and one of the most useful tools for a developer is a portfolio site clearly outlining what elements you worked on.
Have you got this? If not then start on this ASAP and try not to use Wordpress (or any other off the shelf solution).
When I look to hire I like to see some effort in a portfolio, so use some interesting coding tech to make it stand out, and ensure it works on mobile too, etc.
Points for innovation and attention to detail will make you stand out from the crowd.

IMHO the most important thing for me is a clear concise outline of your core skills. Are you Java, .NET or an open source specialist? These things need to be at the very beginning.

Also, at each position on the CV I add a particular big 'win' that I achieved. What have you done in each role that you were proud of? Make it brief but accurate and expand if you get an interview.
 
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I've added a 'win' for both my development positions, and I've made it clear what my core skills are.

As for a portfolio site - that isn't really appropriate having done this work under employment rather than freelance.
 
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