Critique My Curriculum Vitae!

danza

danza

danza

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I'm looking for a new job after recently completing my HNC. I've been out of the employment hunting loop for a little over 10 years, so maybe need some CV guidance.

Here's my CV:

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/58849652?access_key=key-2fsn46xi4na43srkacpj

If there are any improvements that I could make, please tell me where you think my CV is falling short, and I'll implement them. :)
 
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too late to read it all, but imo drop the 3rd person - i really do not like it, and try to condense it to two pages.
 
Pug said:
too late to read it all, but imo drop the 3rd person - i really do not like it, and try to condense it to two pages.
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Cheers for the comments

I have a first person version that I currently have on all the job websites, so I can stick with that if necessary. :) It is two pages long, but for some reason, Scribd pushed it onto three. :confused:
 
Don't refer to yourself in the third person.

You copied the personal statement directly from a template, didn't you? Change it up so it's not so obvious.

While you're at it, I'd suggest getting a better template for the whole thing. There are literally thousands of them available and will make a big difference to how well the layout reads.

Two pages, not three.
 
[FnG]magnolia;19467204 said:
Don't refer to yourself in the third person.

You copied the personal statement directly from a template, didn't you? Change it up so it's not so obvious.

While you're at it, I'd suggest getting a better template for the whole thing. There are literally thousands of them available and will make a big difference to how well the layout reads.

Two pages, not three.
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Okay, cheers. Will have a look around regarding templates. I didn't actually take the personal statement from a template though. :o

scott212 said:
Definitely drop the third person.
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It shall be dropped.
 
Also ideally try and keep it two pages but at the same time you don't want it to feel compressed so try and make it as succinct as possible.
 
It is (or should be) two pages in Word. As I said - Scribd formatting made it three.

I'll see what I can remove to 'streamline' it.
 
Don't really need the second job on there also drop some of the hobbies and interests I'd just keep photography and golf
 
Looks all right. Reads like a typical CV (works well individually and in a team etc.) This may or may not be a good thing depending on what you are looking to achieve. Few points:

10 years'
Reporting to, and working alongside,

There is inconsistent punctuation at the ends of the bullets throughout the CV - sometimes there is a full-stop, sometimes nothing.
List your golf handicap?
 
I don't have too much knowledge of engineering but do you need all those modules listed? I am doing an economics degree but want to work in accounting (to begin with), so I include the accounting and corporate finance modules I have done, not the macro, micro or rubbish statistics. It is about tailoring your CV to a job. Not including everything you have or haven't done. Make it good enough to get an interview then wheel out some more big guns to talk about.

Maybe say how your hobbies have benefited your life and or career.
 
Pug said:
too late to read it all, but imo drop the 3rd person - i really do not like it, and try to condense it to two pages.
Click to expand...

The usual advice is to use implied first person, third person reads really badly. I tend to ignore this a bit and use a mixture of first person & implied first as it comes across as more confident. You need to be careful not to come across as too cocky with it.

Good rule of thumb:

When you are talking about yourself, profile mainly first. (It's about you so I is appropriate)
When you are talking about your achievements, mainly implied first. (It's often about you with others, so drop the I - and make it more neutral, but still implied first as you are taking credit here)
 
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Advice part deux:

Profile: This should be a paragraph at most, try to put on your marketing hat here. This should be short, snappy and give the reviewer a feel about who you are, what you are like and what you are seeking. Intensely personal - but this is the thing that makes or brakes a CV. Don't be afraid to break out of the formal here - this is a hook to get someone to read the rest.

Experience: If you are in a technical role then BULLET POINTS of skills, you've hopefully hooked them with your profile so now you are reassuring them that you are capable of doing the job - often this is about getting past recruiters or HR.

Now do reverse chronological history on your career. For each position it should be a 1-2 sentence summary of the company and our position followed by achievments in this role, ideally emphasising the previously mentioned skills you think are most important + things that demonstrate success, responsibility etc. Your most recent positions should have the most time spent on them. A job 8 years ago should be distilled into 1 or 2 short sentences.

If you can fill 2 pages with experience, then cut education to location/qualification. I only have a bullet point about my degree these days - but earlier would mention it in more detail.

Make sure it's 2 pages maximum, make sure page breaks don't happen mid-job (rewrite if they do). no one really reads second page. If it's going via an agency try to give them a PDF so the recruiter cant mess up your formatting.

Spend some time making a blank template, whitespace and carefully chosen fonts go a long way to making it more readable.
 
Personal Statement

I am an innovative, organised and driven instrument technician with a decade of experience. I am looking for an opportunity to progress my career and take on more responsibility; in support of this I'm currently studying towards a HND in XXXXXXXXX

Technical Skills:
xxxx,
yyyy
etc

Experience
Current Employer - 2001 - current.
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These are mostly fine, prioritise them.
Key Achievements
(all with current employer)
•
Designed an alternative micro endoscope control body system resulting in costsavings of approximately 15% per instrument with a 50% labour saving percontrol body assembly and incorporation of high levels of ingress resistance.
•
Produced numerous one-off instruments and prototypes for customer approval
•
Reduced labour requirements for numerous instruments by simplifyingmanufacturing and assembly procedures
•
Played a key role in the development and improvement of side-viewing microendoscopes resulting in increased sales and the securing of a lucrative servicecontract
•
Completed an Advanced Modern Apprenticeship in 2005
•
Gained a Manufacturing Engineering HNC in 2011
EmploymentXxxxxxxxxxx
(2001 - present): Instrument Technician (opto-mechanical)
•
Reporting to, and working alongside the Technical Director in the developmentand improvement of existing mechanical and optical designs, including materialsselection and process improvements.
•
Producing large batches of instruments; delegating and supervising work toensure completion deadlines are met.
•
Training apprentices and new staff in the production of optical and mechanicalcomponents and assemblies with demonstration of techniques and description of procedures
•
Operating within an ISO 9001:2000 quality controlled environment
•
Stock control and order generation
•
Production of parts lists, assembly procedures and instructions
Xxxxxxxxxx
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Not Relevant
(2000 - 2001): Housekeeper and laundry operative
•
Working as part of a team of housekeepers in a large nursing home, where I wasresponsible for ensuring high levels of cleanliness and sanitation were maintainedin a sensitive environment with constant contact with the elderly and infirm.
•
Operating industrial laundry equipment and transporting laundry betweenlocations
•
Dealing with the elderly on a daily basis, assisting them where and when required
Key Skills
Technical:
•
Endoscope design/prototype manufacture
•
Optical system/lens assembly and inspection
•
Mechanical assembly and inspection
Page 1 of 3


•
Manual machining of small sized, intricate, fine-tolerance components
•
PCB assembly and wiring
•
Tooling production and modificationSoftware
•
AutoCAD (2D/3D)
•
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher)
•
Microsoft Project
•
COSIROP robot programming software (Melfa Basic IV)
•
KGL Win PLC programming softwareCertificates
•
HNC Manufacturing Engineering
•
C&G Level 3 Mechanical Production (2280)
•
C&G Level 2 General Engineering (2010)
•
Abrasive wheel regulationsInterpersonal
•
Strong team working, leadership and communication skillsPresentation
•
Excellent report writing and presentational skills
Education
•
College (2008-present)HNC Manufacturing Engineering (2011) with the following grades:Analytical Methods for Engineers -
Merit
Materials Engineering -
Distinction
Advanced Computer Aided Design -
Distinction
Planning and Scheduling Principles–
Merit
Business Management Techniques -
Distinction
Programmable Logic Control –
Distinction
Engineering Design -
Distinction
Project –
Distinction
Engineering Science -
Distinction
Project Management –
Distinction
Managing The Work of Individuals and Teams -
Distinction
Robot Technology -
Merit
•
College (2001-2005)
-
C&G level 3 Mechanical Production-C&G level 2 General Engineering
•
College (1998 -2000)
•
Secondary School, Burgess Hill (1993-1998)-7 GCSEs graded A-C
PersonalInformation
•
Full Driving Licence
•
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GET RID OF RELIGION IN YOUR CV

Interests:-Amateur photography-Hifi audio-Modification of hifi electronics-Amateur entomology and arachnology-Motoring-Golf Daniel is an active member of Xxxxx Church in Xxxx where he assists in the running of the property maintenance team, coordinating and running church work days anddelegating maintenance work for completion.
Contact Information
Email: xxxxxxxxx
Page 2 of 3


Telephone: xxxxxxx (home), xxxxxxx (mobile/daytime)
References
References are available upon request.
Page 3 of 3
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-I don't like the personal statement where every sentence starts with "Daniel....". Mix it up a bit, you've written 5 sentences and every single one of them starts with the same word.
-I like the key skills bit.
-Layout needs some work, try not to have page breaks in the middle of a section (reorder stuff if necessary, change page margins / font size etc). [not sure if this is due to the SCribd formatting].
-Ditch "references available on request" if you need to save any space
-Move the contact information to the start next to your name and address. You want to be easily contactable by the agent (or whoever gets your CV), not make them faff around skipping to page x just to look up your phone number.
-Education HNC section is a bit all over the shop due to the grades sometimes being on the same line as the unit, and sometimes below. You've almost defeated the object of putting them in two columns if they end up running onto multiple lines, it'd be much clearer to read in a single column with each on a single line. [Or is this just a Scribd formatting issue?]
-"College (1998-2000)" has literally zero information about what you did there. Therefore I will assume that you spent 3 years smoking weed.

Might be worth seeing what it would actually look like in Word if this scribd thing is messing up the formatting.
Finally and I'll write this seperately as others may disagree on this point, I'd expect to see date of birth on a CV. Admittedly it can probably be derived from the years you studied GCSEs but I'd say
 
Why not? There is no law prohibiting asking for it that I'm aware of, although it can't be used in a discriminatory fashion.
 
HangTime said:
Why not? There is no law prohibiting asking for it that I'm aware of, although it can't be used in a discriminatory fashion.
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It can be used in an ageist fashion, HR departments tend to bin CV's with this info, marital status, religion etc just all be stripped.
 
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