CV Critique

[NotAGolf]

This evening I've attempted to get my CV in shape. This is the first CV I've done since leaving uni so is the first one where I actually have relevant work experience. I've cut out a load of waffle about the 2 other jobs I've had, cut down on the interests bit, and gone into much more detail on my skills relating to the job.

I've highlighted a couple of sections in red that I want to adjust - I like what it's saying, I just think I need to tweak the wording to make it fit in with the rest of the content.

Any other pointers? Anything look good/bad, need removing? Anything I've missed? Dodgy formatting etc.

Any help would be gratefully received

Links:
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I can link the images in full here if you like, just didn't want to waste everyone's screen space!

 

[King Damager]

I'm slightly confused over the 03-09, and how important it was. Judging by it being alongside uni + college, I'm thinking it's something like Purple shirts or the such like? May be wrong, but that's my guess?

I might consider moving IT Skills/Certificates further up, and above employment history, and then make 09-present job as first page, and the 03-09 and 01 jobs on the other side as they don't seem too important...

I'll admit, I haven't had huge experience with CV's, but I've written a few, and my general thoughts are that most companies won't do more than skim the first page, so they need to know what IT skills you have at a quick glance (presuming that's what you're applying for)

kd

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

I'll have a look but this is one of the reasons I posted this

BRB

e : It's very blocky and the 'all of which I was awarded a grade A' sentence in the Education section doesn't flow properly. Always lead with your strongest line so swap "I was project manager on ..." with "Participated in ..." (also change 'participated' to something more engaging).

What happened between your Maths GCSE and your Maths A Level? That's a hell of a drop! I'm not having a go, just curious.

The lady who heads up our HR has a particular thing for the 'Additional Information' section of CVs and it is the one place, in her estimation, where you can really be you. I tend to agree and I will often shortlist on this section not because it's well-written or funny or I share similar interests but because it tells me what you're really like. You have a first so you've either worked hard or are intelligent or both but so are a lot of other people. The 'Additional Information' part is the bit that tells me if I want to hire you or whether you sound like every other applicant. My wife recently appointed a Senior Category Manager to her team. The reason this woman got it and not the other four short-listed applicants? "I enjoy baking but I'm not very good at. I keep trying though and my daughter loves telling me when recipes become edible." Open, honest, self-aware yet still positive. When all other things are equal -and you have to understand that this is almost always the case at certain levels - it can be the human part of your CV that sticks in the mind and demands a re-read.

Finally, tell me more about your voluntary work experience. That's a great chance to show character.

 

[Mr^B]

It doesn't say what programming languages are involved anywhere.

The job description is a bit "dead", it reads like your formal job description, rather than a CV.

Did you work with other people? Where's the description of how you meet your own description. You say you have problem solving abilities, where's the evidence in the CV? What new technologies did you introduce? What were the benefits of doing so?

 

[anything I don't mind]

I am going to steal danza's cv formatting. I realy like the design of it and the way it is laid out. I already have all those sections on my cv I just need to put it in to that layout.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Yeah, his layout is really good.

 

[NotAGolf]

Thanks for all the quick feedback

I'm slightly confused over the 03-09, and how important it was. Judging by it being alongside uni + college, I'm thinking it's something like Purple shirts or the such like? May be wrong, but that's my guess?

Not very important at all, just supermarket work. Only in there to fill the time gaps and show that I wasn't dossing around during the school holidays.

I might consider moving IT Skills/Certificates further up, and above employment history, and then make 09-present job as first page, and the 03-09 and 01 jobs on the other side as they don't seem too important...

I'll admit, I haven't had huge experience with CV's, but I've written a few, and my general thoughts are that most companies won't do more than skim the first page, so they need to know what IT skills you have at a quick glance (presuming that's what you're applying for)

I thought about moving it to the first page too, but decided against it for a couple of reason; 1) that would interrupt the employment timeline, 2) it's not massively impressive!

e : It's very blocky and the 'all of which I was awarded a grade A' sentence in the Education section doesn't flow properly. Always lead with your strongest line so swap "I was project manager on ..." with "Participated in ..." (also change 'participated' to something more engaging).

I'll looking at re-wording that bit. Any pointers on making it less blocky? I do agree, but making it less blocky generally involves cutting out content - it's trying to find the right balance.

What happened between your Maths GCSE and your Maths A Level? That's a hell of a drop! I'm not having a go, just curious.

Yea I know, worst result I ever got. Should really have re-taken it - I didn't care at the time as I already got into uni. I had to take my Maths A-level in the evening after a full day's college an my tutor was Italian and didn't speak great English. I was oncourse for a low B/high C but royally messed up a module that was my banker module . Can't really think of a way to disguise it either, unless I remove grades completely - but I'm pretty happy with all my other grades.

The lady who heads up our HR has a particular thing for the 'Additional Information' section of CVs and it is the one place, in her estimation, where you can really be you.

When reading sample CV's I always find things along those lines a bit unprofessional tbh, especially the example you gave. But then again I'm not in the business of reading CV's so maybe I should listen to someone who does!

Finally, tell me more about your voluntary work experience. That's a great chance to show character.

I avoided this as I didn't want to ramble on about too much that's unrelated. I would have thought this is the kind of things people would bring up in an interview rather than expect to be explained in the CV itself.

It doesn't say what programming languages are involved anywhere.

It's for a testing job, and I'm currently a tester, so languages don't really come into it much, and te few I have experienced are mentioned in the 'IT Skills section'

The job description is a bit "dead", it reads like your formal job description, rather than a CV.

Did you work with other people? Where's the description of how you meet your own description. You say you have problem solving abilities, where's the evidence in the CV? What new technologies did you introduce? What were the benefits of doing so?

I agree, and to be honest most of the points are pulled and re-worded from job descriptions - but they are relevant. I started to give evidence on some of the points but I found it hard to do succinctly which meant taking out some of the other info. I was thinking that these are the kind of things I could expand on in the interview, or maybe in the covering letter if possible.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

The fact that you have ready answers for all of those questions is in itself a good thing. (You're wrong about the 'unprofessional' bit but I'll let that slide)

 

[InKursion]

I'd remove the word "perfected" from that job description, even if it was a menial retail-type job. Saying you've "perfected" a certain job role or ability comes across... well, arrogant. I know you're probably using it as verb in a matter-of-process, but it can be misread

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

That's a good call.

 

[The Halk]

Don't CVs have no dates these days, or is that just within my company?

Edit : Magnolly pls sig is awesome.

 

[NotAGolf]

The fact that you have ready answers for all of those questions is in itself a good thing. (You're wrong about the 'unprofessional' bit but I'll let that slide)

Do you think my reasoning behind those responses are fair, or do you tend to agree with the original comments? As I've said I'm more than happy for someone to tell me it's all wrong! I'll have a think about the personal section at the end and try and make it a little more interesting and 'standout'.

I'd remove the word "perfected" from that job description, even if it was a menial retail-type job. Saying you've "perfected" a certain job role or ability comes across... well, arrogant. I know you're probably using it as verb in a matter-of-process, but it can be misread

Fair point, and I will re-word it. I wasn't intentionally being arrogant so I don't want it to come across that way!

Don't CVs have no dates these days, or is that just within my company?

How would they know how many years experience you had then, or that I didn't spend 5 years at college constantly re-taking exams and dossing about? Obviously you could replace "2008-2011" with "3 years", but then that looks like you're being intentionally vague. I'm happy for a company to know how old I am. If they're looking for someone younger/older (which I'm not sure they're supposed to do anyway), then I'd rather they binned my CV than call me up for an interview, only to be disappointed that I'm 25 and won't be calling me back based on this.

 

[Mr^B]

It's for a testing job, and I'm currently a tester, so languages don't really come into it much, and te few I have experienced are mentioned in the 'IT Skills section'

How do you write unit tests without using a programming language?

I agree, and to be honest most of the points are pulled and re-worded from job descriptions - but they are relevant. I started to give evidence on some of the points but I found it hard to do succinctly which meant taking out some of the other info. I was thinking that these are the kind of things I could expand on in the interview, or maybe in the covering letter if possible.

Take out all the other info, 90% of that isn't important - people know what a tester does - they want to know what YOU do, what makes YOU good at doing those things.

That's the commonest mistakes with a CV is telling the reader what you have done, but not telling them how good you were at it.

 

[NotAGolf]

Thanks Mr^B. I appreciate the input.

How do you write unit tests without using a programming language?

Ah I see what you're getting at. My mistake. Tbh I rarely do unit tests, but when I do it's reviewing a bespoke scripting language based on an engine that is tested elsewhere. So it's not really a transferable language. Hence I just dropped in the fact that I am capable but didn't expand on it.

Take out all the other info, 90% of that isn't important - people know what a tester does - they want to know what YOU do, what makes YOU good at doing those things.

That's the commonest mistakes with a CV is telling the reader what you have done, but not telling them how good you were at it.

I'll try and wangle that in somewhere, I just didn't want to replace the list of things I'm capable of with something that sounded big headed and rambling. I want to keep my CV short and succinct, so I might drop in a few examples of key achievements in there.