Terrible CVs

[PymChurchBeach]

Disclaimer: I know times are hard and shitty right now and a lot of people are desperate for work so probably chucking out CVs left right and centre at anything and everything.

BUT. I have worked in HR for nearly a decade now and it has always been the same. The general standard of CVs is bloody awful. I'm recruiting for a mid level role at the moment and I have seen the following:

• people using little hearts and stars instead of bullet points
• massive glamour model style photographs taking up the whole first page of a CV
• people's dates of birth and marital statuses written up at the top. Just no!!!
• wacky, colourful borders and fonts. Comic sans. Enough said.

Also - this last one is possibly controversial but when women have had a break to look after DC, there really is no need to list all the skills gained as a SAHM - e.g. "excellent time management skills etc". You can just say you had time out to raise children. That's all you need to say. I'm not going to think any the worse of you for it.

I am desperate to implement application forms rather than have CVs and cover letters but my CEO is old fashioned and will not have it.

One thing suggested to me by a job centre advisor was to insert the key words they were looking for verbatim in white text on your CV, so they were invisible to the eye but would be picked up and sorted in by any automated CV sift software.

I never did it, and got a job anyway, but was at the suggestion. Sounded like it could backfire spectacularly.

One thing suggested to me by a job centre advisor was to insert the key words they were looking for verbatim in white text on your CV, so they were invisible to the eye but would be picked up and sorted in by any automated CV sift software.

These can be included (within reason) in a Skills or Core Competencies section.

That's why I was baffled, EssentialHummus.

Surely, if you had the skills, you would find a way to include them? And if you didn't have the skills, inserting the keywords in invisible white text felt perilously close to fraud.

@Cadfaelfan

That's why I was baffled, EssentialHummus.

Surely, if you had the skills, you would find a way to include them? And if you didn't have the skills, inserting the keywords in invisible white text felt perilously close to fraud.

Exactly Cadfaelfan.

To 'hide' wording in white font is incredibly bad advice because if you meet the requirement why hide it? If you don't then it will soon be pretty clear that you've smuggled the wording onto your CV (because computers read white) and you are behaving in a not strictly honest way.

If you want to get certain wording (such as qualifications you don't yet have) on to the CV you can do it honestly. e.g.
Currently working towards AAT level 2 - due to complete August 2020
or
Experienced using Prince2 methodology to plan and deliver the project
NVQ Level 3 in Hairdressing part completed including modules on cutting and colouring

It can get wording through the first computer sift without telling any lies.

@StrictlyAFemaleFemale

A good trick to see if you have tailored your CV and application is to print off the job application, your CV and cover letter. Underline what they want - each point in a different colour. Then go over to your CV and application and underline in the corresponding colour where you have explicitly addressed the criteria. You should get the whole rainbow.

Save your CV and cover letter as a PDF. It looks more professional, all the lines disappear, the formatting stays the same.

Use a template. There are hundreds online for free. www.canva.com have some beautiful ones. Even office have some fairly unoffensive ones. Better to be boring and neat than 'creative' and a nightmare. But it is worth making it look good. Try not to have sentences break over a page. Make the font the same size all the way through. Make the headings the same. Make sure your spell check is set to English UK. Use the same template for CV and cover letter. It gives a good impression - like you've thought it through.

The point about the different colours for each point required is useful.

I've also got my DC to create a boringly normal email address to help with applications, and explained why. I also said their friends might find that advice useful (as I know the email addresses for a couple of them, and they really shouldn't be using those emails on a CV).

One query: if I'm putting voluntary stuff onto a CV, I assume I just list responsibilities and skills used in the same way as for paid employment?

I reckon I'll be looking for new jobs soon, as I want to go to uni as a mature student, but will need to change employment to fit around campus hours. I'm intending to apply for 2021, as I'll be doing an access course to boost my credits for the application, so I'll be looking at the links and advice here to update my CV.

@Puzzledandpissedoff - one of the most satisfying moments of my career involved someone like that!

If my boss wasn't available his phone would default to mine. One of our regular product suppliers would not speak to anyone but him and if I answered it he'd hang up immediately without even the courtesy of saying a word.

Unfortunately for him, my boss left and I was promoted! It was my turn to refuse to speak to him and I dropped him from our lists. He lost potential sales running into 7 figures for being so rude ( we didn't miss him - other and better products were available).

Is it worth having your CV professionally done for you?

Love it, WitchQueen

@MulticolourMophead
One query: if I'm putting voluntary stuff onto a CV, I assume I just list responsibilities and skills used in the same way as for paid employment?

Yes - absolutely if it is relevant for the role for which youre applying.

Another good tip is to make sure your social media is locked down and that any photo is respectable. My boss commented that when they searched for me they found the photo of me in a Guide uniform which helped my cause

@Thelnebriati I don't really understand what you mean by an employer putting up a CV template, nor what that would really achieve?
If you just mean a list of fields the employer wants to be filled in, such as:
most recent role
previous role
education
etc. then that isn;t anything unexpected that people wouldn't put on their CVs anyway. The only minor advantage is that this might eliminate the people who put their DoB/marital status/hobbies/photos/specific GCSEs etc. but as many of the experienced recruiters on this thread have repeatedly said, for an otherwise excellent candidate none of those are 'make or break' issues anyway.

Anything more complex than a list of headings isn't a 'template CV' it's an application form. Plus even then this won't assist with the most significant issues with bad candidates which are irrelevant information and bad spelling/grammar and lack of attention to the job spec.

To be honest as other posters have said, although I keep my CV up to date I don't think I've ever had to use it in the last fifteen years and five jobs (some part time when in uni), as they have all, from private to public sector, part time to full time, straightforward retail assistant to "professional", used application forms (as have all the jobs I have applied for and didn't get). I would be interested in seeing what sectors do still routinely use CVs.

@TeddyGizmo

I left school in 1985 with CSE equivalent O levels. Every job wants GCSE grades so I have to say I have GCSE's. Otherwise I'm sure I would be dismissed as being too old!

Also I have completely dropped from my CV the jobs I had back then.
I'm sure nobody wants to know I worked in a clothing factory for 2 years straight from school.

Hiring managers say they don't discriminate based on age but in my experience, they do.

I must be about your age because I left school in 1984. I can identify with everything you say.

I have now just landed back in the job market due to redundancy and I hate it. It is very ageist and I have even seen occasional adverts for young and dynamic individual for some roles. I am almost 54, so I straight away wouldn’t fit that profile.

Even when that isn’t explicit, if you do get an interview you can usually tell immediately that they are disappointed because you are an older person. Nine times out of ten it goes no further.

I updated my CV over the last week but will go over it again with some of the advice from this thread. For instance, I didn’t know that date of birth should be left off, so thanks for that.

At the moment I am finding it very hard. I feel cast out and very much at the mercy of a rather ageist job market. I’m hoping I can actually hack it at the moment to be honest. I’ve been made redundant at the same time as my elderly parents both became seriously ill at different intervals so I’m feeling a bit emotionally battered and bruised right now.

54 here too. I'm wondering how the hell we oldies will make it to retirement at 67. If my company keeps going, and I keep my job, then fine. Otherwise I'll be on the scrapheap.

for *topseyt]. Best of luck!

Just to reassure you "oldies" (what a horrible term!!) - the last person I hired was 55 and was head and shoulders above everyone else I interviewed.

If you can write me a clear application that shows you meet the person spec, and you are tech savvy (I don't mean a whizz, I just mean you are intuitive about technology and don't need training to use microsoft word or similar), I would bite your hand off to hire you.

Some brilliant advice on here, thank you.

Should I note the classification of my (arts subject) degree if it's not directly related to the job I'm applying for?

I take the point about not having to list qualifications under my degree but what about Maths? I have an O level which immediately outs me as an older candidate but I feel I need to show I am numerate. How can I do this or will it be assumed as I have a degree?

With GCSEs (or O levels) I would just say you have X number of GCSEs including Maths and English.

I would definitely include your degree classification.

[quote StrictlyAFemaleFemale]@MulticolourMophead
One query: if I'm putting voluntary stuff onto a CV, I assume I just list responsibilities and skills used in the same way as for paid employment?

Yes - absolutely if it is relevant for the role for which youre applying.

Another good tip is to make sure your social media is locked down and that any photo is respectable. My boss commented that when they searched for me they found the photo of me in a Guide uniform which helped my cause [/quote]
Thank you.

And my SM is pretty tight anyway, I'm naturally a private person. I do leave my LinkedIn open, but very careful what I put there. And I'll get it updated before applying for any jobs.

@PymChurchBeach

Saying that I have O Level Maths gives my age away. This is what I am trying to avoid.

Thank you all. Times are not easy at the moment but I am trying to keep my pecker up.

PymChurch, if you were local to me then I would bite your hand off to be considered for something.

For those posters worried about ageism, I've just employed a 56 year old excellent candidate and can't wait for her to join the company!

'Please consider me for any PA positions. I have never worked but my husband feels I would be very good at this'.

'Some people find me cocky or arogont but they missunderstand i have confidence in my skillz. i wont to be a somebody not a nobody'

Not forgetting the person who thought running the school disco qualified as transferable skills for managing a callcentre when the ad and salary made clear lots of experience was required.

@Puzzledandpissedoff I actually got a job because of this. I only entered the interview process quite late and round about when I came in for my 1st interview, they had a guy in for his 2nd or 3rd. On paper, they liked him a lot more than me. One of the team who would ultimately be reporting into the new hire was sent down to collect him for interview (on the basis it gave that person an opportunity to meet potential boss etc). Apparently he was rude and dismissive and ignored her completely in the lift to the 19th floor. So she gave him terrible feedback. The next day I turned up, same person sent down to collect me. I made polite small talk, was interested etc (because frankly, that's just who I am).

My future report's positive feedback tipped it over the edge for me as my future boss had liked both of us equally....!

Just received a CV where the font was all pink and impossible to read.

@PymChurchBeach, good, you got it. When's my interview?

@Ifailed,