CVs - am I being fussy?!

[Ponzischeme]

Recruiting at the moment and we just have a sea of terrible CVs

Example:

Name: Sarah Jones
DOB: 15/6/1980 (don't need to know that)
Gender: Female (don't need to know that)

• Convoluted work history including saturday job at M&S in 1996
• List of all awards and achievements ever up to an including ballet certificate

I don't feel like I am that fussy when it comes to CVs - I just want an overview of the person's relevant employment history, skills and qualifications.

Am I wrong? Am I, in fact, expecting too much?

You should not have any of the protected characteristics on your cv at all.

I can't believe the amount of people assuming DOB is important. Have you not heard of the 9 protected characteristics that you cannot be discriminated against? You should not include any of these 9 on your cv. If you do you're offering up information for consideration that shouldn't be considered in determining whether or not you should be offered an interview. All that should be included is name and contact details (phone and professional sounding email address) I wouldn't even include my address as you'd be surprised how managers will form a perception of candidates based on the area they live.

During my recent short out of work stint, I was sent by the DWP to a government run scheme to get help with updating my cv.
I went along to show willing.
The consultant went through my cv, which I was immensely proud of with his pen, scoring out details such as major cities I had worked in etc. The places I had worked in were incredibly important because where am based now would not have such places and it shows wealths of experience.
(Think a major player such as the BBC or Fleet Street but I am currently in Bubblefuck, miles away from anywhere).
I think he thought I was being pretentious.

Also, he insisted that all cv should be written in the 3rd person, which I have never heard of before.

I put my last 3 or 4 jobs, whatever is relevant and then say ‘further employment history available on request’ as they don’t really care about my Saturday job in a bingo hall when I was 17 or my part time job in Asda whilst at uni. I don’t include ‘hobbies and interests’ unless they are relevant to the role in some way. A job as finance manager interviewer doesn’t need to know what I do with my spare time.

My favourite cv of all time had this immortal gem ‘...since being made redundant I have taken a keen interest in cookery and can rustle up a mean stew.’ I spat coffee across my desk with that!

I don't ever put my birth date, but the fact that I graduated in 1992 is a bit of a giveaway so I might as well...

I didn't' go to uni until I was in my 30s.

I have O Levels, my mum left school with no qualifications, then took some GCSEs in her 50s.

@Doingtheboxerbeat my DH wrote his cv in the 3rd person. I didn’t like it and to be fair he did change it. It must be a ‘thing’ somewhere.

Dear Ponzi,

This is most informative. Thank you.
Any tips for an older would-be returner to the work force, having been made redundant from public service cuts 7yrs ago, then full-time unpaid carer. Still have a brain, sense of responsibility, highly literate, adaptable, people skills, wide ranging general knowledge (I know this dates one and may be seen as irrelevant now....).
What are the chances do you think, be honest, any niches I could try?

06alexdgr8

What did you do before? No chance of returning to the same sort of thing?

@Likethebattle, it looks so impersonal which is probably the point I suppose. But Fwiw I used to do admin and reception in recruitment and have never seen cv's written like this.

Unfortunately not as there have been such cuts in public service, also being out of the field for so long, and no contacts with it now. I wouls even be stuck for a reference, as being a carer was totally exhausting 24/7, emotionally and physically. When you are caring for someone who is v disabled nothing else seems important.
I could apply to do contract work in the same type of field, but again so many do that, why would they pick me when I have been out of it for so long, am older than most, and would be stuck for a reference.
I am trying to do some voluntary work, so I might be able to get some sort of reference from that eventually, at least as to bona fides, reliability, honesty, flexibility, can-do attitude etc.
I do not want to do paid carework, as I could not do intimate care for unknown people, and am not really domestic.
Not making a good case, am I. Why would any one want to employ me, when they can have their pick of eager-beaver young graduates.
Yet I feel I have much to offer. Perhaps that's magical thinking...

Not making a good case, am I. Why would any one want to employ me, when they can have their pick of eager-beaver young graduates.

I don't think that's true at all, we've employed loads of people with relevant experience after a career break. I think key to this is really looking at what your transferable skills are.

Had one recently in interview asked him about hobbies/interests outside of work, general chit chat really. “
“I like car racing”
“Oh like F1?”
“No I don’t watch it”
“Oh you mean proper racing at the local circuits”
“No, I cannot afford that it’s too expensive”
“Oh”

I really struggled to see his interesting in racing if he didn’t watch or participate 😂

Re 1st person / 3rd person, my CV is always written to say:
role XYZ
“A role heading up something, including ABC, and DEF. Key achievements include:

• delivery of Z
• implementation of B resulting in 10% improvement of whatever”

Not sure what person you’re speaking in in that example but seeing CVs that say “I was responsible for ABC and I carried out DEF” look worse. Or do you mean they suggest you structure it to say “Shirley was responsible for project delivery of X and she was actively involved in implementation of B”?

YANBU I'm also recruiting and today I received a CV which proudly stated that the applicant was always on time to work and had never taken a sick day!

I assumed third person meant this sort of thing:

"an experienced project manager with extensive experience in X industry managing XYZ."

Yanbu but it can sometimes help to decide which ones to... not take further.

Had some where a couple of job titles appeared to be relevant to the role, but the jobs the candidate had chosen to expand on were totally irrelevant e.g.detailing responsibilities as barman when the role was in a school, and with brief mention of other education roles with no further info.

Yes @Ponzischeme, like this. Is this normal now because this consultant insisted that all CVs should be written like this. It just looked so odd.

I think CVs read much better that way than the overly person “I” everywhere

I used to work in Recruitment and have seen some horrors. I’ll take your DOB and marital status and raise you the age, names, careers and Marital status of the candidates children.

Also, the thesis length CVs listing all but the candidates bowel movements in every role of their 40 year career.

It is worth bearing in mind that Indeed will doctor cvs to the candidates disadvantage so, if you get any Indeed applicants always follow up asking for their CV. My best ever candidate came via Indeed but here Indeed CV made her look like she was barely literate and hadn’t worked in 10 years.

Yes, that is pretty standard now but I can't say I feel strongly about it one way or the other.

I certainly wouldn't be put off someone who didn't use it.

I had a CV last week with links to their Facebook profile, links to fan pages they'd made on Facebook and links to YouTube fan videos they'd made for a certain programme they liked.

I'm a nursery manager looking for a nursery nurse.

Re putting dates of education, I put the year of my A-Levels and my year of graduation, but I went to uni in my 30s so I'm worried someone will think I've made a mistake with the dates, which I haven't.

Re receiving 95 crap CVs and 5 good ones, unfortunately that's pretty standard these days. I'm afraid you just have to sift through them to find the good ones.

I'd be happy with 5 good ones, I'm struggling to even get that!

So how far back do you go with work history then? If I have had admin roles in my early twenties but I am in my forties now for example ... Wouldnt there be a gap between graduating etc?

I have to confess to being the owner of a shit email. I keep meaning to set up a more normal sounding one and then I keep just not bothering. It's not as bad as some of those mentioned but I do regularly have to spell it.

In fact, I might just go and make up a new one now...