Information in CV..

1. Take the personal profile section out completely, save it for the interview, you'll never get yourself accross properly in writing.

2. Your experience is better than your education. Reduce the education section by saying "9 GCSEs grade B-C", instead of listing them all, nobody cares if you did double science or not.

3. Put dates with your employment history. How long did you do these things for?

4. Take your date of birth off, and put your email address on.

5. Try and fit the whole thing on one A4 sheet. If it goes onto a second sheet, make sure you fill both sheets.

There are other things you can do based on the specific job you're going for, but you neglected to tell us that :)
 
ok cool. My Cover letter :

Dear jim

I am very interested in the position of Customer Advisor.

I have just left B + W College after completing my A levels where I achieved my required grades for university. I have decided to hold off university to see what prospects I can find and to gain some proper experience in the work place. I was particularly interested in this job as the promotion opportunities seem vast and it is something I would be interested to get into.

Please find enclosed my CV which I hope has the qualities needed for this job and I hope you contact me back.

Name


and my new CV which takes up 1 and a half pages:


My name

Address:
Binfield
Bracknell

Contacts: [email protected]
(home)
(mobile)

Education and Qualifications:
B+W College
AS Level
Business B
Media Studies C
Law E
Politics E

A2 Level
Business C
Media Studies C

Key Skills Level 2 IT
Key Skills IT Level 2

School Bracknell 2002-2007
GCSE
English Language B
English Literature B
Maths B
Double Science CC
History B
Physical Education C
Resistant Materials C
Half Course Religious Studies C
Half Course French with Business

Employment History:
Anglian Home Improvements (Telesales and Foot canvassing) Apr 08 – Aug 08
Duties: Calling and meeting homeowners to book quotes for improvements to their homes.

Morissons Bakery Nov 08 – Feb 09
Duties: Making sure steady supply of Bread on shelves, Making the pastries and cakes, packing the pastries and cakes, cleaning up at end of working day.

Ascot Racecourse (Bar Work) Main Race days
Duties: Serving drinks to customers, ensuring there was a constant stock flow.


Transferable Skills:
Computer literate (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
Able to implement skills learnt, quickly and effectively
Good communication skills (At Anglian Home improvements I gained a lot of confidence speaking with strangers on a daily basis)
Can work well under pressure (Ascot bar work)
Able to work well in a team (Cadets, Basketball and Football)

Achievements:
I was promoted to Lance Corporal with my Cadet Unit at an Easter camp we went on where we learned discipline and teamwork skills. I believe the time at Cadets helped me greatly in life and made me a more sensible and mature person. Another achievement was being selected for Wilderness Expertise to Zambia and Botswana at name School. I achieved Gold in a county 1500 meter race and I also played for Guildford Heat basketball team as well as Binfield Football Club as a Midfielder.

Interests:
Sports (Basketball, Tennis, Football)
History (Medieval and World Wars)
Computers
Motorsports

References available on request



anything else? Should I take out some of my GCSES? Its a lot more neater than that and bolded and underliined etc but it didnt come up in the post
 
salami1212 said:
anything else? Should I take out some of my GCSES?
Click to expand...

All I would do is put: 8 GCSE Grades A-C including Maths and English.

I would also change the Cadet stuff to read something like:

Promoted to Lance Corporal with my Cadet Unit. Excelling at teamwork, discipline and leadership skills. The time at Cadets helped me greatly in life , making me mature person and teaching me responsibility.
Click to expand...

Focus more on what it allows you to offer to an employer rather than the achievement itself.
 
Yes, take out your GCSEs, as above. Get your CV to fit on a single A4 sheet.

I have more problem with your cover letter. It raises too many questions.

salami1212 said:
I am very interested in the position of Customer Advisor.
Click to expand...
Would you apply for a job you weren't interested in?

salami1212 said:
I have just left B + W College after completing my A levels where I achieved my required grades for university. I have decided to hold off university to see what prospects I can find and to gain some proper experience in the work place.
Click to expand...
You think a customer service job is better than a degree?

salami1212 said:
I was particularly interested in this job as the promotion opportunities seem vast and it is something I would be interested to get into.
Click to expand...
So is ur mom. $$ pwnt

salami1212 said:
Please find enclosed my CV which I hope has the qualities needed for this job and I hope you contact me back.
Click to expand...
Hope won't get you a job :)


Suggestion:

Don't do a cover letter. Submit your CV via email (Use .doc Word 97-2003 format), and in the email body write something like:


Subject: <your name> - Applying for <role>


Dear <whoever>,

My name is <your name>. I'm applying for <your pimp job>. I've attached my CV in Word format. I would love to be invited for an interview, please contact me at:

<repeat the contact info from your cv>


Kind Regards,
<you>
 
Key Skills Level 2 IT
Key Skills IT Level 2

These are the same thing. Remove one - and leave only "Key SKills ICT Level 2" which is the correct title. This is the only thing I'm certain on so the only advice I'll give.
 
A few things:
- Keep improving it. It's probably not as bad as the original but it still looks pretty bad to me and if you want to stand a chance at getting a job in a tough market you need to look good.
- Watch your spelling and grammar. For example, 'workplace' is one word. If it's not your strong point then that's no excuse to be sloppy - show your CV to people who will be able to spot mistakes. It's particularly worth asking your parents or any teachers you're still in touch with to look over it for you.
- In general you do want a full cover letter as well as a CV - the advantage is that it gives you a chance to explain in text how you think you're particularly suited to the job you're applying for. You probably also want your CV to be adjusted for different positions, but you'll be able to fit this sort of explanation in much better on a separate letter than as a 'profile' on your CV.
- Don't include unnecessary information anywhere - e.g. writing 'my name is Simon Smith' on your cover letter is silly because you've written that at the bottom of the page.
- Get the layout right. If your CV looks how it's displayed here then it's completely lopsided with the right side of the page wasted. I doubt the amount of stuff you have justifies more than a single page of A4.
 
Last edited:
For your age, I don't like this CV at all, I think you should summarize your qualifications (E.g. 9 [A-C]) no one cares if you have Half Course French with Business at grade E. The transferable skills bit is FFFAAAARRR too long. That Cadet stuff makes you sound about 12. Drop the term "character".

For a CV from a young person, it's (IMO) all about potential, your pasty baking experience probably means nothing. Granted work experience does.

It needs a lot of work IMO.

Good luck with whatever it is your applying for though
 
Covering letter is more of a covering note TBH. It should be a letter which explains why you are suitable for this job, 3 good paragraphs the 1st being your intentions. Can we see the advert? You may be able to specifically target something.

The achievements section is much better, but perhaps the 1st sentence gets a little clumsy towards the end?

It might actually be possible to fit that all on one side of A4 with a little formatting. I like my CV to be balanced, so a lot of the narrower sections are in 2 columns, like my references and my employment history.

Spelling and Grammar are important, I have seen many application processes where step 1 is to bin anything with a spelling mistake. There is no excuse for them in these days of spellcheckers. My spelling is awful, but putting the effort in to get it right gets you into the keep pile.
 
Last edited:
spitzoid said:
How much I can drink

How many fights I have won

Favourite Ninja Turtle

^^^

These are the sections of a CV I look for first when employing someone. If they haven't included them I will not consider them for the post. Omit at you peril! I would also include references.
Click to expand...
Who are you, Shredder?

:D
 
You don't need a seperate line for each GCSE, just put 8 GCSEs at grade C or above including English & Maths, something like that.

I achieved my required grades for university. I have decided to hold off university to see what prospects I can find and to gain some proper experience in the work place. I was particularly interested in this job as the promotion opportunities seem vast and it is something I would be interested to get into.
Click to expand...

This sets alarm bells ringing to me, you are stressing how you want to go to uni (albeit not yet), yet then proceed to talk about promotion opportunities. So which is more important? My concern reading this would be "he wants a job for a year or so before heading off to uni" - which may be fine for some jobs, but it just seems a bit contradictory to be looking for a career at that firm yet also have a university lined up.

Personally I thought the covering letter was also very short (more the sort of email I'd send to a recruitment agent?) but then again I tend to be a bit long-winded about things, some recruiters probably don't like reading too much :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom