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Can we talk CVs, been in the same company 10yrs now - CV is out of date.. help, ideas, inspiration and advice needed

8 replies

MascaraOHara · 22/11/2007 11:04

I need to recreate my CV it is so so out of date now that it's a daunting task. Having not changed company for >10yrs and not attended an external interview for over 5 I'm feeling rather demotivated/mortified and cross that I haven't kept it up to date. Where to start?!?! help! please! I'm begging you!

OP posts:
flowerybeaker · 22/11/2007 12:04

Put essential information first, name, contact details. You don't have to put date of birth, how many kids you've got or anything else irrelevant.

Consider then doing some kind of personal statement with a couple of sentences about what you are looking for from your next post and the key skills/experience you are offering, tailored to the job you are applying for.

Put your employment stuff next, starting with most recent. As you've been in the same company for so long you can separate out different roles you've had in the same way you would different companies. For each job give job title, possibly brief sentence saying what the job actually was - eg job was HR Officer, sentence could be 'providing HR advisory support to 300 individuals in 2 departments'. This is because a job title means different things in different organisation. Then do bullets for main responsibilities for each job, and also consider adding significant achievements in that job, if relevant - major projects/changes achieved, that kind of thing.

Then after your jobs put education and any relevant training. Don't put your school exam results unless you have just left university and have no work experience, which obviously is not you. It's irrelevant and looks like you are filling space. No one is going to give you a job because you got a C in GCSE geography 20 years ago.

Similarly I'm not a fan of putting hobbies etc unless directly relevant to the job you are applying for - again it looks like you are filling space and most decent recruiters will not shortlist on the basis of mountain climbing or bungee jumping unless they are after some tribunal experience following a discrimination claim by a disabled applicant or a single mother with 5 kids who doesn't have time for mountain climbing but is the best person for the job.

Don't make it too long, otherwise they will be skim-reading by the end - 2 pages is ideal.

Do lots of bullets and space it so it is very easy to read, long paragraphs and close-together small type are not inviting to look at, and won't be read properly.

Look at the key criteria for the job you are applying for, and tailor your cv accordingly to make sure these criteria stand out on your cv as much as possible - when listing experiences or responsibilities you had at a job, order them and emphasise them to reflect what the new job want.

Don't undersell your involvement in things. If you say things like 'helped with', 'assisted in', etc, people will assume your involvement and level of responsibility was minimal. Now is not the time to be all modest and unassuming.

Don't put a photo on, put it in a folder, do it on funny coloured paper or anything like that, it should be v easy to photocopy. And pages will become detached so number pages 1 of 2 or whatever, and put your name in the header or footer of each page.

hth and good luck with the search

Dinosaur · 22/11/2007 12:43

mascara, I went through this exercise recently, and got some brilliant advice from mumsnetters although I did it off-board so I can't point you to a thread

if you can either CAT me or let me have an email address, I could send you what I ended up with - it seemed to do the trick as I start a new job in January

MascaraOHara · 22/11/2007 12:50

Thank you both of you!

I think Flowery that everything you said I already knew it's just the thought of doing it I think.

Dino, thanks, you can email me on mascaraohara (at) hotmail (dot) co (dot) uk

Flowery, is it good to put your age on if it's prime? to be specific I guess.. I am 29 I have worked my way to a fairly senior role in my organisation so I am young compared to my peers. I also think that I'm not too old for the industry I work in and not too young as to be considered nieve or flighty. Do you think better to put age on? I don't intend to add that I am a single mother but am worried that if I leave my age off they may think that I'm much older and trying to hide it (so to speak) and that as I only have 12 years work experience they might think I dossed around for years before working??

OP posts:
mumemma · 22/11/2007 12:54

Agree with all of the above - be strict about keeping it to 2 pages and as you've been in your company for a while, try and avoid any terms, jargon, abbreviations or acronyms that people outside the company might not recognise - sorry it this sounds obvious but each company and industry has its own language and it's easy to forget that not everyone knows what it means.

Again, as you've been in your company a while, try and demonstrate that you were promoted regularly or at least given more responsibility progressively.

I think it's been said above but bear in mind that you might need to tailor your CV slightly each time you apply for a job - always try and make it match the job you are applying for my highlighting the skills and experience they are looking for.

Make sure it looks as good on screen as in print and if possible create a pdf version as well as a word doc so you can email and retain the formatting.

Think carefully about mentioning age and dcs - I had this info on my cv and I'm sure it stopped me even getting an interview recently even though people aren't supposed to discriminate.

Good luck!

flowerybeaker · 22/11/2007 13:02

Ah well if it's the thought of doing it I can't help you there . You need the fear!

I just don't think age is relevant tbh. Any decent recruiter will be looking at the skills and experience and qualities a candidate will bring and then will make other judgements when meeting them. Anyway if they are so desperate to know how old you are your education will enable them to approximately work it out anyway. Assuming you put dates for your education and work experience they will see that there was not loads of dossing about and will see from your breakdown of your roles within your current organisation how quickly you progressed and took on more responsibility successfully. And if they are going to assume naive and flighty if you were to put 25 or old and past it if you put 35 rather than looking at what you've done and thinking ooh this person's fab just what we are looking for that says more about them really.

Rant over! Put it if you really want to, and if you really think they will make judgements when shortlisting on the basis of age (which of course is illegal now anyway). I just think it's an unnecessary waste of space and immediately disregard it on cvs myself. I wouldn't see it as negative necessarily putting it, more irrelevant and would rather see the space used for some more relevant pertinent information about the candidate.
But then I am a wonderful fair and open minded person who is only interested in getting the best person for jobs and am perfectly well aware that sadly not everyone is like me

Dinosaur · 22/11/2007 15:18

Have emailed you .

MascaraOHara · 23/11/2007 09:17

Thank you all. I'm sure I'll be posting more once I actually start

OP posts:
fakeblonde · 27/11/2007 11:13

Bit of a cheat but i googled cv examples and printed off 10 example cvs in nursing and midwifery.
I then chose the style i liked and pinched all the " in " wording ect to put my own together .

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