CV structure advice

[NotAGolf]

It's been a few years since I last updated my CV and I think it's due a refresh. I was wondering if anyone is able to provide a bit of feedback on what I've got .

My own thoughts:

• Ditch the voluntary work experience and second bullet-point in the additional info. I previously had these in as a bit of a conversation starter, but no one has ever mentioned it so feels unnecessary.
• Not sure how to handle the older jobs. It's so long ago I barely remember what I did, certainly nothing I'd like to shout about!
• I don't like the list of skills towards the top of the page. It's just a messy dump of tech. I've left this in though as: a) if I don't list it somewhere, people/AI doing keyword scanning would pass me by, and b) listing the tech in the job history section feels like it interrupts the point I'm trying to get across.
• The abilities section at the top doesn't really sell me very well. Most of that is 'fluff'. I think some of the points in the job history are a better, but are buried further down the CV. Yet I feel like I need some kind of overview of skills that span multiple jobs.
• I'm not sure if I've got the balance right between someone that understands what being a QA involves, and someone who knows nothing about the role and is just keyword scanner.

Would appreciate any feedback or suggestions on things to change.

 

[Rob_B]

I dunno, I like seeing a bit of non-work stuff on a CV but I get that it isn't the same for everyone. Maybe merge the 'outside of work' sections into one?
Are you managing anyone?
Any specific savings/big wins you can add?
You've got 6 previous experiences, I'm guesing that spans quite a few years?
I'm a grumpy old man so that frisbee line makes me shudder!

 

[throwaway4372]

I would ditch the voluntary work and additional info sections. I think any time spent talking about that in an interview is time not spent talking about things that actually get you the job.

Older roles should be listed, but it's fine to reduce the content based on age and relevance, and to keep the cv length down. As your cv fits on 2 pages it's not a pressing concern.

I find the skills dump useful. It indicates what sort of job you're suitable for to those who only spent 30 seconds per CV filtering out the trash. Check the casing though, spelling a skill wrong triggers some people.

I think your qualifications in the intro section belong with education. This section is too long. Aim for 1 or 2 sentences. The other info can be covered under roles.

Overall your CV is well laid out and your experience is solid. A candidate worth interviewing imo.

 

[radderfire]

HTML and CSS are not scripting languages or frameworks.

 

[radderfire]

Give the details of the app you built. Explain what you learnt doing it.

Explain the second app you are developing and its functionality / challenges.

Have you tried applying for any jobs recently? Software testing seems ultra competitive in terms of applicant to vacancy ratios.

 

[NickK]

2 pages max:

* contact details - name, email, phone number (I don't have age, nationality, or location)
* small paragraph (5 lines max) exec summary which are skills and capabilities selling yourself as a match to the job spec. List of skills (if contract) engineering - specifically highlight examples such as git hub projects involved with that use them.
* Professional Experience - max 7 years of jobs (keep to max 2 pages total for the entire CV), I have three positions - Role - company - date / short summary / achievements /responsibilities. I walk through the achievements so it should be simple to show the reader I've actually done the role with the responsibilities.
* Education - I have three - BSc software engineering degree, AI Said Business School course and a marketing/product course.
* Certifications - professional certifications with verifiable credentials (ie Said Business school proof), I have the degree and product paper certificates.
* Papers - I have a research paper I was involved with, so I have a reference for the paper.

That's it.

If you have hackathon competitions and placings - then I'd list those. If you have a coding gig with happy customers - I'd list those if they're happy with it.

 

[NickK]

Have you tried applying for any jobs recently? Software testing seems ultra competitive in terms of applicant to vacancy ratios.

It's better to get into the circuit for hackathons etc and get your "brand" known.

You'll find quality and testing being pushed by AI - so a key thing here is to demonstrate excellence and working with AI along with a team. An interviewer may ask good experience and 'tell me about a failed AI experience with your coding.'

As an example - I did a little project of AI coding Homomorphic neural networks. I can give a clear examples of where it works and the where it fails (specifically the error accumulation of the homomorphic encryption when the neural network is made up of a long chain, or the effect it can have on bias when attempting to distill a model into a HE model).