CV criticism please!
- Thread starter Robi
- Start date
How does one manage to get 11.5 GCSCs?
Also, its a bit short, I'm still at uni and i'm rocking two pages, although I hear it is bad for a CV to be >2 pages.
Sponge. Those two jobs could be at least a page. With education taking up most of the second, perhaps include modules and marks, a single page can give a slap dash mis-interpritation, also write in full sentences, in 1st person narrative. This includes your profile. It feels corny but apparently looks good =]
Also, its a bit short, I'm still at uni and i'm rocking two pages, although I hear it is bad for a CV to be >2 pages.
Sponge. Those two jobs could be at least a page. With education taking up most of the second, perhaps include modules and marks, a single page can give a slap dash mis-interpritation, also write in full sentences, in 1st person narrative. This includes your profile. It feels corny but apparently looks good =]
Religious Education was only worth half a GCSE at my high school, very weird. I might change it to 11 though as it does look a bit daft.
I've read countless times that graduate CV's should ideally be 1 page only. Employers get heaps of graduates, so anything more than 1 page is utterly pointless.
The whole thing is 1st person?
-Remove the "in the absence of colleagues" part as it implies that you normally wouldn't have that responsibility (which may be the case but you don't want to give the impression that you have few genuine responsibilities and only pick things up as a 'last resort')
-The "Regularly meeting with... in an effort to discuss...." line feels like it could be made a lot snappier, some sort of punchy title for those meetings with a bit of explanation
-"team work" should be "teamwork"
-Gut feeling is that your first job sounds more impressive than your latest, although obviously looking at your background you may be seeking work in the Accounting sector so obviousy your most recent job has more relevance to that.
-First bullet point under your degree feels a bit too specific, I know this isn't the case but reading it the first thing that popped into my head was "OK he's spent 3 years at uni and learnt how to do pivot tables in Excel?" - maybe re-order it a bit and put something a bit more wide-ranging at the top
In general, it is far from the worst CV I've seen posted here, I think the balance is good in terms of how much is in each section, you should maybe consider adding a second page to cover any vocational qualifications you have, specialist skills/software packages etc. 1 page for graduates sounds reasonable, but as someone who's had two jobs since graduating you can stretch your legs a bit.
-The "Regularly meeting with... in an effort to discuss...." line feels like it could be made a lot snappier, some sort of punchy title for those meetings with a bit of explanation
-"team work" should be "teamwork"
-Gut feeling is that your first job sounds more impressive than your latest, although obviously looking at your background you may be seeking work in the Accounting sector so obviousy your most recent job has more relevance to that.
-First bullet point under your degree feels a bit too specific, I know this isn't the case but reading it the first thing that popped into my head was "OK he's spent 3 years at uni and learnt how to do pivot tables in Excel?" - maybe re-order it a bit and put something a bit more wide-ranging at the top
In general, it is far from the worst CV I've seen posted here, I think the balance is good in terms of how much is in each section, you should maybe consider adding a second page to cover any vocational qualifications you have, specialist skills/software packages etc. 1 page for graduates sounds reasonable, but as someone who's had two jobs since graduating you can stretch your legs a bit.
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Everyone will tell you different things about CV's
I agree with the narrative of the profile, as it's what I've always been told.
But then everyone at my uni tells me CV's should be 2 pages, but no more.
I would try just expand it a bit.
I agree with the narrative of the profile, as it's what I've always been told.
But then everyone at my uni tells me CV's should be 2 pages, but no more.
I would try just expand it a bit.
Thanks for the help, all worthy points that should enhance my CV!
The main problem is that I don't have any vocational qualifications and most of the specialist skills/software packages aren't related to the field of work I'm hoping to move into. A second page will probably be filled with unrelated drivel.
Your 4th point is absolutely spot on. I'm moving out of accounting and back into insurance (although not a claims role), so the 2nd does need to sound better/more relevant than the first!
Even if it doesn't seem that relevant it may be,
If you have used a piece of software with a smaller company, don't assume that they've never heard of it! It at least shows literacy of the type of software and whatnot.
My CV contains mini-shpeels about module coursework. The modules alone seem irrelevant, but focus on the relevant parts of the work and the words just come to you =]
If you have used a piece of software with a smaller company, don't assume that they've never heard of it! It at least shows literacy of the type of software and whatnot.
My CV contains mini-shpeels about module coursework. The modules alone seem irrelevant, but focus on the relevant parts of the work and the words just come to you =]
Soldato
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Same at ours, one of our compulsory subjects was Philosophy and Ethics (Short Course) which meant we all ended up with n.5 GCSEs.
I don't get people that list every single GCSE subject and grade on their CV though. Fair enough if it's your highest qualification, but if you've got something on top of that (A-Levels, Degree, etc) then don't waste the space.
For my CV I round it up to 12 and say "12 GCSEs taken (all grade A-C), options including the natural sciences as three separate awards and double award ICT." as only the clever kids did Triple Science and ICT is relevant to jobs I'm applying for. There's no point in listing other options (German, History, etc) as I'm not applying to be a German or a Historian, and there's no point in listing every compulsory subject (2xEnglish, Maths, etc.) as they were compulsory and you're hardly going to have done A-Level Maths and then go to University without having done Maths GCSE!
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I could spend ages writing a very constructive post, but since I'm feeling relatively lazy, I would say you need to work on how it looks, format wise and also in terms of how you structure it.
Here is an amended snippet of my CV which I personally think looks much nicer (this is a text heavy template that is tweaked depending on the job applied for):
This is followed up with a brief section on other experience and personal interests. If you are going to put GCSEs then just write 'X GCSEs - grades y-z'.
Here is an amended snippet of my CV which I personally think looks much nicer (this is a text heavy template that is tweaked depending on the job applied for):
This is followed up with a brief section on other experience and personal interests. If you are going to put GCSEs then just write 'X GCSEs - grades y-z'.
I think this whole 2 page thing is a myth, if you have stuff to put down then put it down. Just don't repeat yourself or woffle on, mine is currently a solid 3 pages.
I'll try and work through top to bottom as how mine is listed:
Personally, on my CV I have my most relavent and recent education details at the top, this includes anything extra like Prince 2 as it was relevant. I summarised my A-levels and GCSE's at the bottom.
Echo what has been said above, summarise those GCSE grades into Number - Grades A-C. I also include a line which says what A-Levels I have, not the grades I achieved though.
As you have done, I did a profile summary - key abilities, key experience etc
I would get rid of the detailed school names, I simply list the University name & year next to my degree classification. If they want further details of schooling this can be requested at interview / background checks.
Things to think about:
- List the software you have worked with at the end of your CV?
- Any business processes you changed or created which saved any money / cut costs? This can be minimal, just give examples...what was the issue, what needed to be done, how was it done, benefits realised?
- If you want to appeal to the major firms you need to show progression in your CV, why did you move to a new job...what greater responsibilities did this give you? Basically show you are always developing and eager to learn more - This is very true for the big 4 consultancy firms.
- List some interests you have, why not? Show them you actually have a life and are an active person...if that's true of course
- Additional information, here is what is at the base of my CV
I'll try and work through top to bottom as how mine is listed:
Personally, on my CV I have my most relavent and recent education details at the top, this includes anything extra like Prince 2 as it was relevant. I summarised my A-levels and GCSE's at the bottom.
Echo what has been said above, summarise those GCSE grades into Number - Grades A-C. I also include a line which says what A-Levels I have, not the grades I achieved though.
As you have done, I did a profile summary - key abilities, key experience etc
I would get rid of the detailed school names, I simply list the University name & year next to my degree classification. If they want further details of schooling this can be requested at interview / background checks.
Things to think about:
- List the software you have worked with at the end of your CV?
- Any business processes you changed or created which saved any money / cut costs? This can be minimal, just give examples...what was the issue, what needed to be done, how was it done, benefits realised?
- If you want to appeal to the major firms you need to show progression in your CV, why did you move to a new job...what greater responsibilities did this give you? Basically show you are always developing and eager to learn more - This is very true for the big 4 consultancy firms.
- List some interests you have, why not? Show them you actually have a life and are an active person...if that's true of course
- Additional information, here is what is at the base of my CV
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I could spend ages writing a very constructive post, but since I'm feeling relatively lazy, I would say you need to work on how it looks, format wise and also in terms of how you structure it.
Here is an amended snippet of my CV which I personally think looks much nicer (this is a text heavy template that is tweaked depending on the job applied for):
This is followed up with a brief section on other experience and personal interests. If you are going to put GCSEs then just write 'X GCSEs - grades y-z'.
Thanks for the advice.
Yours just looks like a block of writing though? Not very appealing. Surely that'll be an instant turnoff? I was always under the impression it needs to be short, snappy and straight to the point. Big blocks of text is exactly the opposite of what's needed.
I'll change the fomatting a bit, to make the seperate sections a tad more visible / clear.
I think this whole 2 page thing is a myth, if you have stuff to put down then put it down. Just don't repeat yourself or woffle on, mine is currently a solid 3 pages.
I'll try and work through top to bottom as how mine is listed:
Personally, on my CV I have my most relavent and recent education details at the top, this includes anything extra like Prince 2 as it was relevant. I summarised my A-levels and GCSE's at the bottom.
Echo what has been said above, summarise those GCSE grades into Number - Grades A-C. I also include a line which says what A-Levels I have, not the grades I achieved though.
As you have done, I did a profile summary - key abilities, key experience etc
I would get rid of the detailed school names, I simply list the University name & year next to my degree classification. If they want further details of schooling this can be requested at interview / background checks.
Things to think about:
- List the software you have worked with at the end of your CV?
- Any business processes you changed or created which saved any money / cut costs? This can be minimal, just give examples...what was the issue, what needed to be done, how was it done, benefits realised?
- If you want to appeal to the major firms you need to show progression in your CV, why did you move to a new job...what greater responsibilities did this give you? Basically show you are always developing and eager to learn more - This is very true for the big 4 consultancy firms.
- List some interests you have, why not? Show them you actually have a life and are an active person...if that's true of course
- Additional information, here is what is at the base of my CV
I could possibly add additional information and interests, stretching it to 2 pages.
I could spend ages writing a very constructive post, but since I'm feeling relatively lazy, I would say you need to work on how it looks, format wise and also in terms of how you structure it.
Here is an amended snippet of my CV which I personally think looks much nicer (this is a text heavy template that is tweaked depending on the job applied for):
This is followed up with a brief section on other experience and personal interests. If you are going to put GCSEs then just write 'X GCSEs - grades y-z'.
I actually don't like the way this looks at all - too much text, font is too small and it just doesn't look attractive. When you're shuffling through 50 CVs, you are generally drawn to those which catch your eye.
If you read my post, you will see that I state that it's a text heavy template to be edited depending on the job.
Sorry where is it your applying for / what position of sort?
Bare in mind my comments below are my opinion:
- Good profile summary
- Have you left your current employment? If not, why does it say Jun-11 to Dec-11...put present
- Remove the reference to Excel, why limit yourself by saying Excel? I am sure you did some pre-analysis before using Excel...
- Did you lead the meetings with departmental managers? You just say you had them.
- Add a brief summary of what the job is, e.g. A client facing role dealing with multiple streams of communication to ensure both new and existing customers are dealt with quickly and efficiently - Some of the responsibilities included....
I would personally rethink those degree bullet points, go get some lingo from the university courses website. If you can't find much, I would just remove them altogether. Just have the know how to discuss what you learnt at university if challenged at interview. The bullet points to me seem like you didn't actually do much apart from fictional databases.
How about changing the GCSE comment to the following:
"12 GCSE's - Including Maths, Science and English" I wouldn't bother listing the grades then, though leaving out science as you have done, looks odd to me.
P.S. What about pre-university work experience or jobs whilst at uni? Just summarise it into one paragraph or area....e.g. 2007-2010 - Part time positions due to attending university, experience includes some of the following ............further details can be provided if requested
Bare in mind my comments below are my opinion:
- Good profile summary
- Have you left your current employment? If not, why does it say Jun-11 to Dec-11...put present
- Remove the reference to Excel, why limit yourself by saying Excel? I am sure you did some pre-analysis before using Excel...
- Did you lead the meetings with departmental managers? You just say you had them.
- Add a brief summary of what the job is, e.g. A client facing role dealing with multiple streams of communication to ensure both new and existing customers are dealt with quickly and efficiently - Some of the responsibilities included....
I would personally rethink those degree bullet points, go get some lingo from the university courses website. If you can't find much, I would just remove them altogether. Just have the know how to discuss what you learnt at university if challenged at interview. The bullet points to me seem like you didn't actually do much apart from fictional databases.
How about changing the GCSE comment to the following:
"12 GCSE's - Including Maths, Science and English" I wouldn't bother listing the grades then, though leaving out science as you have done, looks odd to me.
P.S. What about pre-university work experience or jobs whilst at uni? Just summarise it into one paragraph or area....e.g. 2007-2010 - Part time positions due to attending university, experience includes some of the following ............further details can be provided if requested
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I think it now looks easier on the eye.
Generally speaking, I don't write something unless it's relevant to the role. For example I could write about I have 1337 genetic engineering skills yet since it doesn't directly relate to anything I apply for its pointless. A CV should be you selling yourself to a particular role and outlining your competences, rather than a detailed list of everything.
It you can't link something to the role easily, I'd drop it personally.
Generally speaking, I don't write something unless it's relevant to the role. For example I could write about I have 1337 genetic engineering skills yet since it doesn't directly relate to anything I apply for its pointless. A CV should be you selling yourself to a particular role and outlining your competences, rather than a detailed list of everything.
It you can't link something to the role easily, I'd drop it personally.
I still think you should add something on the second page around technical skills, software packages e.g:
-MS Office (I know it sounds obvious, but it may tick a box with a HR bint who is doing a paper sift... you could move this out of the Profile section and add something else there)
-Any claims handling or other Insurance packages especially if well known within the industry (Guidewire etc)
If you have studied/read any Insurance regulation/materials e.g. CII it may be worth mentioning that somewhere, even if you don't have a formal qualification.
Likewise when you talk about building relationships with third parties, consider dropping some names if they are of relevance to the insurance industry (Police, credit reference agencies, HPI etc)
-MS Office (I know it sounds obvious, but it may tick a box with a HR bint who is doing a paper sift... you could move this out of the Profile section and add something else there)
-Any claims handling or other Insurance packages especially if well known within the industry (Guidewire etc)
If you have studied/read any Insurance regulation/materials e.g. CII it may be worth mentioning that somewhere, even if you don't have a formal qualification.
Likewise when you talk about building relationships with third parties, consider dropping some names if they are of relevance to the insurance industry (Police, credit reference agencies, HPI etc)