What's the oddest thing you've seen listed on a CV?

[FelicityShagsWell]

What's the weirdest thing you've seen on a CV? I received one in application for a job and they had put a hobbies section in which they'd listed "smoking".

Green ink always used to mean poison pen letters in most people's minds, I think.

Accountants sometimes use a green pen to tick things off when conducting an audit. I have one.😁

😂😂

Are you American or religious?

Back in the 90s I was temping for some wine merchants. Someone sent in her (paper CV), had attached a Polaroid of her, listed her various travels and ended the CV with “To Be Continued…”

@Goldengamer I think this might be my favourite post on Mumsnet ever. Your DH sounds great. Well done him, and the lad he helped.
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I think wasting someone's time with irrelevant details because you've decided you're a better judge of what they need to know than they are, is pretty arrogant.

Someone bright enough to be competitive for a good postgrad degree ought to be able to read the supporting material and understand they're not being invited to proselytise. So, they did it because they thought 'hey, no one wants to read this, but I believe it's so important, I will overrule that'.

Can you imagine what teaching them would have been like?!

Along these lines .. a friend who would have been born in the 40’s was telling me about her sister’s job interview which would have taken place in the ‘60’s or ‘70’s.

Her sister was recently divorced. She was asked by the male interviewer “.. and is there a Mister NoseyParker? ..” to which she replied “I expect there are many, but none to whom I am attached”.
Apparently she didn’t get the job.

The way the story was told - in Maggie Smith at her most caustic mode - had me laughing for days.

CV was a bit dodgy, email was 'sweetcheeks69@...'

Bit off topic but about e mail addresses. I once received a very well written complaint from a parent about school transport. I was impressed with the language. However, they put their e mail at the bottom. [email protected]. 🤣

As a young adult I did some travelling on my own in Asia. This got a brief line in my CV. When I returned to the UK I did some temping jobs, and one of these was role-playing a job candidate to train interviewers. The interviewers were far more interested in asking me about my travels than in my professional experience, or whether I'd be a good fit for the imaginary job.

Weird photos in the left margin.

I know someone with that degree who has had a very successful career. She does work in the circus though, not in an office.

Promble = a problematic womble?

we had someone once who had put on an nhs application form that she studied manifesting which she believed could help the troubled nhs……

ok - needless to say she didn’t get an interview she met none of the criteria anyway but thwat was just bizarre!

Do I have to thrown my green fountain pens out?

If I am studying I use green, purple and blue for different parts of what I am writing.

This thread is actually restoring my faith in HR - people are actually reading CVs! I thought it was all done by AI now, so this thread has been refreshing.

Dick size in their email address.

An application form where there was only 1000 words available to provide supporting information about their suitability for the role, and the candidate used more than 300 of those words to describe how they have followed Rick Astley around the world attending hundreds of concerts.

And another where, for their reason for leaving a previous role, they explained that the company was closed down because the owner was murdered - and then went into considerable detail about exactly how they were murdered …

🫣🫣🫣

Immediately want to change my email address. Brilliant! 🤣🤣

The first page looked ok, she was looking to re-enter the workplace after a spell of not working whilst living in the middle east as a trailing spouse. But there was a paragraph at the end that said “I was quite happy not working till my husband left me for his secretary so I really need this job now”. She didn’t meet the criteria for the job, fortunately.

Is that not better than performing like the job is their souls true purpose and quest?

Her reason is a good reason to want a job. And tells you that she'll show up and get on with it because she needs the security now.

Some interviewers are so indoctrinated into corporate speak it's pathological. NEEDING not wanting a job is a good reason to apply and tells you why they will stick at it.

Why “fortunately “? She had a good reason to get the job imo.

Oh, she really didn’t, it was written in a highly unprofessional way (when I said paragraph it was about 2/3 of a page with a lot of personal detail, quite inappropriate) and we are looking for what the candidates bring to us, not how we can support their personal situation.

NEEDing the job is bringing something to you. It's a reason to commit

"I don't NEED the job I just LOVE it" wouldn't be better cause they could piss off as soon as they fall out of love

She told you her motivation to settle in and stick it out with your firm, in exchange for the security the job will offer her. That shows motivation to stay and put up with the bad days

Do you not see what NONSENSE it is to prefer a fake love letter to your corporation over a genuine reason to dig in and make the job work for them?