Cant decide on CV style to use.

Lighters

Lighters

Lighters

Associate
Joined
11 Jun 2006
Posts
1,569
Can you guys please help me decide on the C.V I should use, I find myself going in circles after a weekend of adjustments and its still not getting any better.

I would also appreciate any feedback/critique on waffly/irrelevant/improvements please if you have the time.

I have been told the colour and formatting on the 3rd are a no no due to agencies reformatting cv's.

CV1https://www.dropbox.com/s/5blh9j0qon5n8ft/TEST CV1 CRITIQUE.docx
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3pmewdxwfl7ugy1/cv1 snip.JPG

CV2https://www.dropbox.com/s/6r3y9ifowwlfpc4/TEST CV2 Critique.docx
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pdpkzgwetjt03ym/cv2 snip.JPG

CV3https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xcq6h0a711wm1e/TEST CV3 Critique colour.docx
https://www.dropbox.com/s/08919u6wgtsjmxb/cv3 snip.JPG



Edit - just realised I should have saved them all as Microsoft Word 97 - 2003 Document (.doc) for accessibility correct?

BIG THANKYOU!
 
Lighters said:
Edit - just realised I should have saved them all as Microsoft Word 97 - 2003 Document (.doc) for accessibility correct?
Click to expand...

Do you really want to work for company that uses software that is a decade old?

I jest, where I work they are bragging about upgrading us to Windows 7 and Office 2010 (currently still on XP and 2003).
 
Remove #3 from the running. It looks bad and it won't print out well.

I prefer #1. Keep a doc + pdf.

remove:

References Available upon request

I'd probably also remove most of your personal achievements as you're repeating yourself and some people will take the cod stuff the wrong way (some people won't, so its up to you).
 
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any glaring/standout problems with them?
and thanks for the quick feedback.

edit -

Should I remove the references heading/text completely or just keep the heading?
I take it you mean the actual text references available upon request?

I'm inclined to agree on that! was a good talking point for my first JOB.
 
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Lighters said:
any glaring/standout problems with them?
and thanks for the quick feedback.

edit -

Should I remove the references heading/text completely or just keep the heading?
I take it you mean the actual text references available upon request?

I'm inclined to agree on that! was a good talking point for my first JOB.
Click to expand...

I assume you're looking for a software job?

Typically you'd put your work experience first and your education will be nothing but a footnote at the end, but in the case where you're trying to get your first grad job and your work experience isn't relevant then putting the qualification at top makes sense.

If you really want a job a good cover note explaining how the skills in your CV reflect that you'd be a good fit is just as important as the CV itself.

It's a pretty good CV though but what the hell is Thomas Hepburn Community School?
 
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Not really too bothered where I end up as my degree was in computer applications but my last role was as a graduate contractor for 9 months in the finance industry as a complaint handler and I really enjoyed it so wouldnt mind doing something like that again.

It's kind of a mixed cv between IT and the contracting role I was just doing.

Thomas Hepburn Community School is my 2ndary school year 7-11? ages 13-16?
Should I have said the before hand?
 
Lighters said:
Not really too bothered where I end up as my degree was in computer applications but my last role was as a graduate contractor for 9 months in the finance industry as a complaint handler and I really enjoyed it so wouldnt mind doing something like that again.

It's kind of a mixed cv between IT and the contracting role I was just doing.

Thomas Hepburn Community School is my 2ndary school year 7-11? ages 13-16?
Should I have said the before hand?
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I've never put a secondary school on a CV, I'd remove it.

If your contracting work was essentially answering phones and helping people then you should look for a 1st line support, 2nd line support or junior dev role. Thats from easiest to hardest to get and one can lead into the other, so you'll have a career profession path. Which one you'll get just depends on how good you are at the end of the day.

The actual contracting work sounds like it's a dead end, despite sounding similar to 1st line support. So I'd steer you to the IT side of things. I can't say how good you are but with 9 months experience you can probably go straight to 2nd line support.

P.S - Put your work experience at the top if you're going for a support role.

These you should be able to get.
http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/it-telecoms/1st-line-support-helpdesk/newcastle-upon-tyne

These you'll struggle to get but worth a punt with a very good cover letter.
http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/it-telecoms/2nd-line-support/newcastle-upon-tyne
 
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I only had it on as 5 years full attendance was a good achievement to put and it stands out.

Sort of, thanks for that question I have just realised I need to re-include the part where it explains what I was doing. Mainly issuing a final response to customers for their complaints.

My original CV had the following:
I was responsible for investigating customer complaints in Mortgages, Unsecured Loans and Payment Protection Insurance while completing a weekly target as well as submitting further complaint information to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I was also responsible for training staff in these roles. Initially I was contracted for 6 months in this role but it was extended a further 3 months due to demand and the service I was providing.

We were required to investigate customer complaints and queries by building a case of evidence, we then had to respond via letter and make an informed decision to reject or uphold complaints which included calculating redress payments based upon the guidelines set out by the Financial Services Authority. Work was performed on computers using bespoke programs and packages including Microsoft Word and Excel. I was responsible for communicating with customers and businesses, both verbally and in writing to gather further evidence and verify information.

Customers would contact me via telephone to discuss their complaint points further which has helped improve my communication and interpersonal skills. Each week I had a target to complete and I feel this has taught me to manage my workload efficiently and improve my timekeeping skills. As well as always maintaining my target my quality was excellent, I also worked overtime whenever necessary to help reach department goals. Other roles included tasks such as scanning, photocopying and printing. I was constantly improving my skills by completing online courses in Information Security, Treating Customer Fairly and the Data Protection Act etc. I was responsible for training a small team to submit further complaint information to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We were praised on how well we performed as we exceeded our target and substantially reduced the outstanding workload. I have thoroughly enjoyed this role and feel I have gained excellent experience working as an individual and part of a team.
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But it seemed like a massive wall of text lol and after reading people skim over in 15 seconds I worry they wouldnt even look at it.

I recently had an interview as a support analysts so see where that goes.

Cheers for the valued feedback!
 
Lighters said:
I only had it on as 5 years full attendance was a good achievement to put and it stands out.
Click to expand...

I might be being thick but is it a special school or some sorts or just a typical secondary school? At least remove the word "full" unless it has relevant meaning because it's jarring to me. :p

Lighters said:
Sort of, thanks for that question I have just realised I need to re-include the part where it explains what I was doing. Mainly issuing a final response to customers for their complaints.

But it seemed like a massive wall of text lol and after reading people skim over in 15 seconds I worry they wouldnt even look at it.
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The bullet points are enough. Remember you're going to need to have stuff to actually talk about in the interviews, thus giving full information is a hazard anyway.

I'd add in "call handling" though as people like to know you can actually deal with answering phones as many IT folks have terrible phone manner.

Lighters said:
I recently had an interview as a support analysts so see where that goes.

Cheers for the valued feedback!
Click to expand...

Being that you have 9 months experience you should find it fairly easy to find a role. Good luck though.
 
Hahaha we used to joke it was made of cardboard and was very special but nah was your average secondary school up here in the north east ha.

Basically I attended the full school term (5 years) with 100% attendance without having a day off.

It says on my records of achievement for 5 years full attendance so I have used the same wording.

Regarding the bullet points, so I found out in the interview I just had for that support analysts role.

Thanks again, yea its funny you say that as we had a guy who was absolutely hopeless on the phone, he used to stutter, go red, all the tell tale signs ha. He was the "office" serial killer lol.

Any information regarding adress/personal info.

Ideally I only want to include name/town/email/mobile
 
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Lighters said:
Hahaha we used to joke it was made of cardboard and was very special but nah was your average secondary school up here in the north east ha.

Basically I attended the full school term (5 years) with 100% attendance without having a day off.

It says on my records of achievement for 5 years full attendance so I have used the same wording.

Regarding the bullet points, so I found out in the interview I just had for that support analysts role.

Thanks again, yea its funny you say that as we had a guy who was absolutely hopeless on the phone, he used to stutter, go red, all the tell tale signs ha. He was the "office" serial killer lol.
Click to expand...

I'd still take it off but if you're going to keep it then you probably want to use "100% attendance" somewhere because I had no idea what you were talking about until just now. Don't put it in your profile though.

Either way the only job of your CV is to get people to meet you. If you actually get interviews it's doing its job. If you find you get ignored a lot, thats when you need to consider rewriting.
 
I would strip out a lot that complaint handler stuff.
I think you can improve on formatting, instead of having the modules listed out. Try putting them in bullet points on both side of the page. Will still take up the same amount of room but will look nicer.

Also another problem with your CV is you don't have a skills area. When someone looks at your CV they instantly want to know what skills you have.
So in your profile you should list out what tools you know in bullet points.
 
Thanks for the further information.

I actually submitted my CV3 on Friday and received a call today about an interview and asked him about my C.V and he says it was fine and that was the one with color so he must have been desperate ha.

Thanks RomanNose and aln
 
Set up three profiles on the job websites, upload a CV to each and then you can track the effectiveness of each one.
 
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