Question regarding CVs

Wyrdo · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:45

I've always included my date of birth, it's just one line!

Brum Man · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:46

JollyGreen said:
Do you really want your employer to judge your abilities based on your age though?

Or it could indicate that your trying to hide something about your age?

The way I see a CV is that your trying to get as much useful information across to the employer in the quickest way, I just see a DOB as something pretty important to tell them.

WIBSBOT · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:47

Bullet points and tables and to the point unless your an 'artist' and then you can put swiggles on it.

Saying that - there is no 'perfect C.V.' Make sure that whatever style you use, you're comfortable with it.

When I was recruiting, I didn't see 2 CVs the same style out of thousands.
The ones to go the way of the exective filing cabinet were....
1. any over 2 pages. Cba to read more than 2
2. any that clearly don't match what I want.
3. any that have more than the odd clear spelling mistakes and grammer.
etc.

I used to keep the ones with photos on for laughs - actually employed some fit girl who had a pic on her CV (she was actually best qualified for the job as well, honest

)

JollyGreen · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:47

Brum Man said:
Or it could indicate that your trying to hide something about your age?

I don't think lacking any information on a CV could be construed as a reliable source of information

And anyway, I do want to hide my age, most people don't fancy paying a 19 year old £30k a year!

Brum Man · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:49

JollyGreen said:
I don't think lacking any information on a CV could be construed as a reliable source of information

It could just mean that your lazy and haven't bothered to put it in.......

Anyway, just personal preference I suppose.

[TW]Fox · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:50

Brum Man said:
I personally would, it takes up one line and and it makes sure that the employer has all the info they need about you. I would think they would want to know how old you are. I mean when do you ever see an application form for a job that doesn't ask your D.O.B?

They are not allowed to legally select people based on age, so it's irrelevent and does not matter. Leave it off, just like you leave off nationality, religion, racial group, etc etc. It's all stuff which even if they know they cannot use in a decision to offer an interview or not.

JollyGreen · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:51

[TW]Fox said:
They are not allowed to legally select people based on age, so it's irrelevent and does not matter. Leave it off, just like you leave off nationality, religion, racial group, etc etc. It's all stuff which even if they know they cannot use in a decision to offer an interview or not.

Are you positive about the age one?
I thought that hadn't come into effect yet.

Brum Man · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:53

[TW]Fox said:
They are not allowed to legally select people based on age, so it's irrelevent and does not matter. Leave it off, just like you leave off nationality, religion, racial group, etc etc. It's all stuff which even if they know they cannot use in a decision to offer an interview or not.

No they're not, but it's something that they reasonably expect to know. Like I said, have you seen and application form that doesn't ask for your d.o.b? And any guide I have ever seen tells you to include it also.

Nix · 3 Mar 2006 at 17:12

I've put Curriculum Vitae at the top of the CV so far in a nice fancy font, I have a line running underneath it with my name above it, my contact details below it on the left and my address on the right.

The next bit should be a profile? A paragraph about me? - What should I include?

joffy · 3 Mar 2006 at 17:53

Nix said:
I've put Curriculum Vitae at the top of the CV so far in a nice fancy font, I have a line running underneath it with my name above it, my contact details below it on the left and my address on the right.

The next bit should be a profile? A paragraph about me? - What should I include?

No fancy fonts, Arial is ideal, needs be readable, and no need to put CV on it at all.

Name, address etc centred, then personel statement which details ya strengths and abilities.

Then work history,
Education/training
Interests.

No need put reference details, just state references available on request.
No more then 2 pages long.
I've been told all this by several employment advisors.

PeterNem · 3 Mar 2006 at 18:01

I'm going to go against what most people have said and say that as long as you don't go over the top and it's still clear there is nothing wrong with a little formatting and/or colour.

I applied for 3 jobs when I was looking for somewhere to work on my placement year, and got an interview with them all by using what is on my CV at my website (http://www.nemeiksas.com/?page_id=2). The paper version has exactly the same layout in terms of tables and headings, but has colour in all of the table headings.. for some reason the version on my website only has it for the info at the top.

Brum Man · 3 Mar 2006 at 18:07

Nix said:
I've put Curriculum Vitae at the top of the CV so far in a nice fancy font, I have a line running underneath it with my name above it, my contact details below it on the left and my address on the right.

Lol, nice to see you have read what has been written above about using a simple font and not needing to write CV at the top!

Lostkat · 3 Mar 2006 at 18:11

JollyGreen said:
Are you positive about the age one?
I thought that hadn't come into effect yet.

No, it hasn't come into force yet, but is imminent.

darreny · 3 Mar 2006 at 18:15

if you wanna send your details the chairman of my company does this for ppl in his spare time and he is very good