CV advice- what to write?

[KnittedBreast]

I am applying for a job as assistant to MD. On the phone she said she was very busy and basically wanted someone she could hand over all the work she didnt have time to do herself, also ake tea, clean office, emails, taking orders and what not.

all this is similar to what i do/did, it was a small company and customer services meant whatever managment wanted, as it was so small i literally sat with the MD all day keeping cutomers and problems away from him.

I dont have much space on my cv to impress her, what aspects would I be best to focus on to get an interview?

any ideas?

Thanks

Names Address

Career Objective / Personal Profile (a chance to sell your self. about a paragraph will do)

Qualifications

Career History (Most recent first) - this is where you put everything the MD wants here. use bullet points to keep it clear and simple

Interests

Referances

What ever you do, do not put your photo on.

Ability to work on own intitiative and see what needs doing
Flexibility
Time management

spring to mind immediately.

ok this probebly isnt a good sign but my bullet point has gone and when i try to select it goes in the wrong place, how do i move it?

can i just say. the M.D has already advised you what she needs.

Just make sure you put that in your C.V so that it is clear. (of course only do this if you have had experiance)

But she will be looking for strong organisational skills, I.T Cometancy and strong Coffee making abilities etc.

If you cannot put in in bullet points just make is clear and easily read.

Ive never made coffee and i dont drink tea. I made tea for my mother once, she made me promise not to ever again :(

What do you mean it's in the wrong place. Can you click next to it and then drag the tab on the bar to where you need it?

I use bullet points after the job/training course to bullet point what it entailed.

for example

QA Tester

• using Mantis and Test Track Pro QA tools.
• submitting daily updates to PD and task management/allocation within the team.

and so on

Thats the kind of thing I do and I change the CV to make it more centric on the kind of job I'm applying for, like if I was going for a position in the games industry I would put alot of details about games machines in the interests/hobbies bit and make the games testing points longer at the expense of other experience (no point pointing out you worked on a till at that shop and so on).

Coffee is easy to make

but knittedbeast I assume you have the ability and skills neccessary to pick up tea and coffee making quickly

I second what MrSpoc said in his first post but I would move qualifications down underneath career history. I think experience says more than pieces of paper. You want to wow them as early on on your cv as possible.

no morticia it wont move :(

il have to practise making coffee then

Bubblewrapped - you would be suprissed how many people put water in before the milk. do they not realise it burns the coffee?

knittedbreast - if you cannot use bullet points just use - like ryoko did

example

• i am great
• i make real coffee
• i love your name knittedbreast

mrspoc you are a very very clever man! i wouldnt have thought of using the dash!

big kisses to you!

i love my name too, im still knitting it!

apologies for my misspelling, although i think knittedbeast is quite good too!

knittedbeast lol! that can also describe me at times too

im sorry ive just realised that Ryoko was showing me the dashes, it only just clicked.

maybe i shouldnt be applying if i cant read

Job role, responsibilites then achievements - what did you do to mega-impress in that role.
Also obviously contact details and education summary

Knitted Get someone competent to proof-read your CV before you send it out.

I didnt do anything to impress in the role.

i think you are thinking i did a wowey job (is that a word?)

its too hard. im going to write any old thing and shel have to lump it.
i didnt do much there, i kept the complaints and customers away from the MD. took orders and answered the phone and the email.

very occasionally i made trend predictions for new stock based on what sold the best the previous year. i also filtered emails to the MD, ones he might want from media wanting free stuff for advertising through to viagra adverts that got through spam

KnittedBreast you are not selling yourself very well. If you really didn't do all that much then focus on your skills.

if you tell us what you did I'm sure we can rewrite it for you in a decent cv-worthy style?

'i kept the complaints and customers away from the MD.took orders and answered the phone and the email.'
really you could say 'I was the first point of contact in the office and handled all the correspondance, both written and verbal' This in turn will have helped to hone your communication skills and being quick thinking and reactive was an important for the position.

'very occasionally i made trend predictions for new stock based on what sold the best the previous year.

Just omit the very occasinally. you did it, doesn't matter how often.

i also filtered emails to the MD, ones he might want from media wanting free stuff for advertising through to viagra adverts that got through spam

' I also handled all the press requirements for the business'

etc etc. Any help?

I run my own recruitment company if you want send me you C.V when you are done and i will go over it, tweek it if needed then send it back to you. just let me know if you want my e-mail.

Why dont you have much space on your cv? A CV can be as long or short as you want it. Bollocks to the "two pages" shite you might have heard.

Southam - two pages is remomended as the norm any longer and the hireing manager will get bored reading it. Anything less and it will show you do not have much experiance.

Unless you have a highly skilled job example design engineer then it may be reasonable to put 3 - 4 pages.