To ask for the worst CV's you've ever seen?!

[Isitgiroday]

About to pimp my CV prior to a career change after almost a decade in the same industry - looking for tips and hints of what to avoid!

If you're putting a language on your CV it is beneficial is you can provide evidence of CEFR proficiency (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). This does require s formal assessment, but if you anticipate using that language professionally it is worth it to have that independent evidence of your abilities. B1 or B2 would generally be required for professional fluency.

I once had an applicant who wrote a lovely personal statement about wanting to be a Social Worker.

I was advertising for a fundraiser.

NEXT!

@DogInATent

If you're putting a language on your CV it is beneficial is you can provide evidence of CEFR proficiency (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). This does require s formal assessment, but if you anticipate using that language professionally it is worth it to have that independent evidence of your abilities. B1 or B2 would generally be required for professional fluency.

I agree with b1 being the minimum. That's a communicative level(also required for naturalisation btw). I remember hearing somewhere that even native speakers have issues to pass C2 exams, but I don't know whether it's truth or not.

I remember hearing somewhere that even native speakers have issues to pass C2 exams, but I don't know whether it's truth or not.

I wouldn't see it being unusual for UK English native speakers to fail at the written element of B2, if you asked everyone to take it.

@Schrodinger thank you so much

While I'm at it - an interviewee sending a note after an interview to thank the interviewers for their time and to express how much they enjoyed learning about the role blah blah blah - will always make you stand out in a good way.

No it will not. It wastes my time and makes them look like a bit of a creep. You'll get the job, or not, based upon your skills and experience shown during your interview. An email following up an interview is completely unnecessary.

No it will not. It wastes my time and makes them look like a bit of a creep. You'll get the job, or not, based upon your skills and experience shown during your interview. An email following up an interview is completely unnecessary.

Not in my experience drawn from 30 years plus recruiting with a number of companies large and small. This can often move someone from the maybe pile to the yes pile.

Recruitment is always very subjective. I was running a CEO recruitment campaign and the business owner wanted to see someone on the basis of their 17 page CV and attached powerpoint presentation. The CV was drivel and the powerpoint was obviously downloaded from some "leadership for idiots" website but it got that person an interview. There was another business owner who told me she never hired Scorpios - international advisory firm.

No it will not. It wastes my time and makes them look like a bit of a creep. You'll get the job, or not, based upon your skills and experience shown during your interview. An email following up an interview is completely unnecessary.

Not in my experience drawn from 30 years plus recruiting with a number of companies large and small. This can often move someone from the maybe pile to the yes pile

I'm in the waste of time camp. Anyone sending me an email like that would get an eye roll and nothing else. Wouldn't make me decide against them but definitely wouldn't be a positive either.

Check anything incriminating or embarrassing on your Social Media. I will be

If your profile picture is of you, with what looks like, a large, fatter at one end, rolled up cigarette hanging out of your mouth, you won't be getting to interview stage.

Not in my experience drawn from 30 years plus recruiting with a number of companies large and small. This can often move someone from the maybe pile to the yes pile.

Why on earth would you change your mind about someone just because they sent you a 'nice to meet you email'? Granted I only did 13 years in HR but we had scoring criteria for interviews and nowhere was there a way to change the outcome due to an email.

One recently who put her husbands name on her CV instead of her own name.

All this thread goes to show is that there are no hard and fast rules and it is very sector dependent.

@KatherineJaneway

While I'm at it - an interviewee sending a note after an interview to thank the interviewers for their time and to express how much they enjoyed learning about the role blah blah blah - will always make you stand out in a good way.

No it will not. It wastes my time and makes them look like a bit of a creep. You'll get the job, or not, based upon your skills and experience shown during your interview. An email following up an interview is completely unnecessary.

Well maybe it's a waste of time for you but in our business relationship skills are important - and an enormous number of people do not have them or don't seem to value them. Thanking someone for their time is polite - it is something you'd be expected to do in the job - if we have someone who's doing that naturally before they get the job, it's a good starter for 10. It's something that people who value building relationships do all the time.

@DappledThings

No it will not. It wastes my time and makes them look like a bit of a creep. You'll get the job, or not, based upon your skills and experience shown during your interview. An email following up an interview is completely unnecessary.

Not in my experience drawn from 30 years plus recruiting with a number of companies large and small. This can often move someone from the maybe pile to the yes pile

I'm in the waste of time camp. Anyone sending me an email like that would get an eye roll and nothing else. Wouldn't make me decide against them but definitely wouldn't be a positive either.

I only have 18 years experience in recruitment, but firmly in the waste of time camp.

Plus by definition candidates go via me. Clients are specifically paying us to avoid wasting as much time on recruiting as they possibly can and would not be impressed with someone contacting them directly.

If I am recruit for my own agency, I'd expect you to show interest and enthusiasm during the interview, not to wake up later. I don't need your email.

You can always trust a recruiter not to want you to contact a client directly - wouldn't want to miss out on that sale would you!

I'm not a recruitment consultant- I recruit for my own business and others where I have non-exec roles.

I wouldn't take time to thank a recruitment consultant. I would take time to thank a potential employer. Just as I'll always thank a client for their time.

@Snoringmutt

You can always trust a recruiter not to want you to contact a client directly - wouldn't want to miss out on that sale would you!

Once the client has signed a contract and agreed on a fee with us, it's THEIR clear choice not to be contacted by candidates 🤷

Anyone can post an add and access any jobsite database, you just pay accordingly. It's not like rightmove or zoopla who are only accessible by estate agents.

If they prefer employing someone like me, there's a reason. Professional businesses don't try to sneakily recruit someone behind an agency's back. It doesn't work like that.

It won't do the candidate any good to contact them directly. People moan enough about how much time they have to find in order to recruit someone, extra phone calls or emails are not helpful.

Professional businesses don't try to sneakily recruit someone behind an agency's back. It doesn't work like that. I think they would try, especially when you see the fees that recruiters charge - and the client might not contact them immediately - but the candidate who interviewed as second best can always be contacted sometime later, just as you can recycle/encourage the successful candidate to move to the next client a year later generating more fees!

Snoringmutt
of course a small shoddy business might try

but that's not really the type of clients I would personally deal with.
And I wouldn't recommend them as an employer either.

You have a vision of very short-terms moves. If you intend to work in the industry for more than 6 months, it's not really something I'd recommend. It doesn't pay off in the long term, and there's a reason some of us have been successfully working for years with long term clients, and why some of us can impose fairly high fees.

I am more head-hunting nowadays as it happens. It's not really about "recycling" a successful candidate.

It's a competitive market. You don't win it easily and certainly not with short-term ideas.

You are free to dislike recruitment agencies, but you can stop for 2 seconds and think of the reasons why someone is ready to pay us so much for something they could do themselves.

Make sure the application is tailored for the role you’re applying for. The amount of times I’ve seen a cut and paste job where the candidate has said they want to develop their career in a completely different area to the job they’re applying for:

Well maybe it's a waste of time for you but in our business relationship skills are important - and an enormous number of people do not have them or don't seem to value them. Thanking someone for their time is polite - it is something you'd be expected to do in the job - if we have someone who's doing that naturally before they get the job, it's a good starter for 10. It's something that people who value building relationships do all the time.

If relationship skills are that important, then that should be part of the job description and assessed during the recruitment process. Giving an unfair advantage to a candidate because they emailed you to thank you would not be tolerated at my HR place of work.

I always thank the interviewers at the end of the interview or as they were seeing me out as a matter of course, so sending an email as well would be a bit overkill IMO?

Make sure the application is tailored for the role you’re applying for.

*even if you are applying via a recruitment agency btw....

"If you're putting a language on your CV it is beneficial is you can provide evidence of CEFR proficiency (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). This does require s formal assessment"

I don't think it does require a formal assessment any more than any other description of your level. With the Europass CV all languages have to be listed like that and you don't have to provide proof of it, you can give your own assessment of your level.

You have a vision of very short-terms moves. If you intend to work in the industry for more than 6 months, it's not really something I'd recommend. It doesn't pay off in the long term, and there's a reason some of us have been successfully working for years with long term I recruit inhouse - using a recruiter is our last resort! Our employees tell us too many horror stories about recruiters.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07638HGNH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o09?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8 - this is a funny though!