'Old' skills on CV

MouthBoy

MouthBoy

MouthBoy

Soldato
Joined
6 Apr 2010
Posts
2,905
Location
Cambridgeshire
Hi All,

I am in the middle of updating my CV as I have not done so in a few years. I notice that some of the skills I have listed I have not used in ages so my memory is a little vague. I am sat thinking "am I 100% confident in doing that now?".

For example in university I used a lot of Autodesk Maya and to be fair I was very good at it, but its been about 4-5years since touching Maya and yes I could pick it up again quickly, but not instantly.

Would you remove anything like this from your CVs or when asked?

Obviously I would not have this on my CV if the job did not require it, but you get what I mean right?
 
Not if you think you can pick it up again, no. It will come up in the interview if the interviewer knows what they are doing. Just tell them that it has been a while since you have used the application, but you were good at it and are confident you could pick it up again very quickly. :)

Or, if you know that the role will require a certain skill, give it a go and brush up on it to see how you feel about it.

Do you have your CV structured into dates of your previous roles? If so, and if the Maya entry is against one of these older roles, then it would hopefully be assumed anyway.
 
Last edited:
I work in the same field and always keep everything on my cv. If it's for a role using software I'm slightly rusty on I let the interviewer know when I last used it and give them a timeframe of how long I think it'll take before I'm back to being proficient with it (I've often offered to do this in my spare time before a role is due to start).

It's pretty common in these kind of roles, you can't stay fully up to date with all software.
 
Obviously you would take priority for your newer/more relevant skills to fit on your CV (I for one have issues still trying to condense everything to 2 pages) but if you have room, and you be honest leave older skills on there.

It will also demonstrate your ability to pick up new technologies, just be honest if questioned about it.

I once interviewed someone who listed storage technologies (NAS/SAN) as a "core, high skill" competency. When I questioned him about it he mentioned he hasn't touched storage technologies for a good 5 years or so...
 
smeaney said:
For example in university I used a lot of Autodesk Maya and to be fair I was very good at it, but its been about 4-5years since touching Maya and yes I could pick it up again quickly, but not instantly.

Would you remove anything like this from your CVs or when asked?

Obviously I would not have this on my CV if the job did not require it, but you get what I mean right?
Click to expand...

just be prepared to answer questions about anything you list

can you still answer questions about autodesk whatever?

if yes - no reason not to keep it if relevant

if no because you're now really rusty and have forgotten lots of it - well remove it, you'll look like a total spaz in the interview
 
DiscoDave said:
Obviously you would take priority for your newer/more relevant skills to fit on your CV (I for one have issues still trying to condense everything to 2 pages) but if you have room, and you be honest leave older skills on there.
.
Click to expand...

I was told quite recently by a specialist IT recruitment company that the 2 page "limit" isn't such a big deal for IT roles, due to the huge scope of some positions...
 
I'd only remove something if I felt it either:

a) might imply I'm not up to date with software, for example being skilled in an old software suite that was superseded a long time ago but I haven't listed the modern equivalent.
b) was not relevant to the role I was applying for and could potentially trip me up e.g. haven't used it for ages and wasn't that skilled in it to begin with

Of course over time if adhering to a page limit on the CV you have to start culling somewhere; when I was younger and less experienced my CV had more detail about my education and skills for example.
 
Now that I am the grand age of 28 I am starting to miss things off my CV now. My first few jobs are just not relevant anymore unless I wanted to go back to retail. My college is still on there but only as a mention. Some of my college education is a little hazy now. :)
 
HangTime said:
I'd only remove something if I felt it either:

a) might imply I'm not up to date with software, for example being skilled in an old software suite that was superseded a long time ago but I haven't listed the modern equivalent.
b) was not relevant to the role I was applying for and could potentially trip me up e.g. haven't used it for ages and wasn't that skilled in it to begin with

Of course over time if adhering to a page limit on the CV you have to start culling somewhere; when I was younger and less experienced my CV had more detail about my education and skills for example.
Click to expand...

Or you wanted plausible deniability about knowing the product ;). Lotus Notes experience? Don't mention it, act like you've never heard of it if you get asked at your new job. Same with BES.
 
Don't mention any specialist skill or knowledge on your CV that you can't back up during the interview.

The number of applicants I've interviewed where they list a whole bunch of telecoms tenchonlogies on their CV, but couldn't even tell me what the acronyms stood for is shocking.

And these are applicants supposedly vetted by our recruiters...
 
If it's semi relevant, I'd go the route of listing the version, or putting the years you used it in brackets. That way you can show you could do it and easily would be able to again but not give the impression you're bang up to date, doing it day in day out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom