Help with CV - over 50

[Fallenangelofthenorth]

I'm in the process of rewriting my CV as my current one is spectacularly falling flat. In my 40s I found I was invited for interview for pretty much everything I applied for. Now at the age of 50 something I'm getting rejection after rejection after rejection. I appreciate the market has probably changed somewhat but even when there are under 10 applicants I'm still rarely being invited for interview.

I've spoken to recruiters and been advised to update my cv and take off my date of birth, dates of my qualifications and summarise my work history beyond the last 3 jobs, which is everything before 2007. I'm struggling with how to show this. If I delete it altogether then recruiters might think I'm only 33 and they'll be in for a right shock when I rock up for interview! Plus I'm an accountant and qualified at KPMG which is a plus point so I'd want to get that included in my cv.

What's the best way to include my work history from 1989 to 2007 without adding an extra 3 pages to my cv? Really struggling with this, so I'd appreciate any help I can get.

I never understand the idea of hiding things on a CV! Companies should think your decades of experience are a positive thing - they might just be thinking that your years of experience will make you too expensive for them.

I hire people, and unless it’s a really junior role, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid at someone being over 50. Actually, I hired a 53 year old a couple of years ago - she looks a lot younger and it was only when we were discussing pensions and she commented on how little time before she could start drawing on it without penalty that I looked surprised and she laughed and asked if I’d actually read her CV properly at all.

Also, if they’re the sorts of companies that won’t interview you because of your age, then how well are they going to treat you once you’re working for them?

It sounds like you are writing your CV as a list of each of the things you were responsible for at each job. If this is true, it will read like a job description, and not a list of the things you actually accomplished.

Try starting with a paragraph about your key skills and capabilities. Think about it as if you were writing about you, but were not you. E.g. Bob is a qualified accountant with x years experience within major global organisations.

In the job experience, you want the company name, a two line summary of what they do, then two or three bullets of what your key achievements were there. Things that you did that nobody else could have done. Don't be shy here, you need to be your own best advocate as nobody else will do it for you. Of course, everyone knows that work is a collective effort, but it was the part you played that is important on your cv. It could even be coaching other team members.

What you are doing here is giving a flavour of how you approach work, problems, communication etc. If you are applying for a specific job, try matching some of your achievements to the skills the new job is looking for. That way you are demonstrating that you have a skill set and know how to apply it in different scenarios.

Keep in mind that you have not done the job that is advertised, so you are trying to convince the future employer that you would be capable and a good fit for the rest of the team.

Hope that helps?

I have no advice OP but as a woman in my very early 50s your post really worries me.
Have you thought about eliminating the early detail, as the recruiters suggest, but adding in your introduction that you are KPMG qualified with over Xx years of experience? (So the xx doesn’t have to be exact)

are there any specialist recruitment agencies in your area of expertise?

I'm another woman 50+ who is struggling to find work. I have removed all dates from my CV except for the year I started my current position.

Anything I did for more than 10 years has become 10+ years experience in. (Rather than 18 years experience for example)

Not made much difference mind you.

@HappiestSleeping I've already changed it to just show key achievements, and then I've got a section on the right called "skills" where I've listed all the things I've got experience in. I'm fairly happy with these sections as I've managed to summarise it all into just over one page with my last 3 jobs. My problem is that even if I just list company, dates and job title for all the other jobs it will take up too much space plus it will age me as my first job was in 1988 as I went straight from school onto a YTS scheme. In fact they might think I'm even older as I didn't stay on for my a-levels!

@SleepQuest33 thanks - that's a great idea! I do have an introduction paragraph so I can add that there.

@Definitelylivedin so did you remove all your older jobs completely? I could maybe put something like "1989-1996 worked in public practice, 1996-2007 worked in various industry roles, mainly manufacturing". But then they will still know I'm 51 plus. Which I guess they'll find out at some stage anyway, but at least it's not as obvious as me putting my date of birth on there.

I'm just staring at my laptop to be honest and got myself into a bit of a mindblock with this.

Anything before this century has been removed. The skills stay but that's all.

You need it to run just as text, no boxes or side columns. Word doc, not PDF.

Summary paragraph, section for skills, brief career history and brief bit about what you do as hobbies if you have room.

Adjust it for each job application to get key words in that relate to the job you are applying for.

You don’t need to go back so far. Definitely you don’t need date of birth, just your email and phone! I would only go back the last 10-15 years.

Bollocks. I used a template and I have several boxes and a side column.

I thought this would only take half an hour to quickly update, but I've already spent 3 hours faffing with it and now seems like I'll have to start again. What's wrong with boxes and side columns by the way? Is it to do with running the text through software?

I would only have the last few jobs. Anything you did more than 10 years ago is irrelevant, so you can summarise in one line. Something like "various covering x, y and z"

Another one in the same boat. I'm finding the application portals like Workday difficult as they require the dates of degrees and qualifications. It's impossible to conceal your age and the cynic in me sees it as easy screening info. I'm not sure if it's even legal, but who is going to challenge it?

Like a pp I'm finding the difference between jobhunting at 50 so different for my 40s, it's incredibly depressing. And this following those news items last week saying that many 18-35s are struggling with mental health issues and finding holding down a job hard. Employers should be snapping us up!

Not sure I agree about a word document rather than pdf. The only way be sure that what I see and what the recruter sees is the same is by putting it on a pdf. What is your reasoning for only using word?

Following. I'm in the same boat and I'm 40.
Trying to return to work after a 4 year break (having 2 children) and haven't had a single call back. Will be following some of these tips!

I updated my about 10 years ago in mid 40s. My sister's helped and even then she was saying how important it is to lead with a skills based description.

Also, what does your Linkedin profile look like? Is that also selling your skills and competence?

Remove all the older stuff entirely. It doesn't matter if they think you're 33 - so much the better.

Qualified at KPMG just put that in your skills section.

I used an app called Teal when I was job hunting it makes tracking applications so much easier.

Beat AI at its own game. Paste a job description into Chatgpt and also your CV and ask it to formulate your cv according to the JD. You will still have to put in a lot of work but it often starts you off.

When you do get interviews again ask chatgpt to derive competency based questions from the JD so that you can prepare in advance.

I'm older than you and just been through all this. Starting my new job in a few weeks.

I used to deliver CV workshops in companies making people redundant.
What you need is a skills based CV, not a chronological one. You can start by using the actual job requirements for the job you are applying for to show how you meet the criteria. If you don't have an actual job description, find one online for a similar role. Looking at job ads in the US, for example, might highlight strengths/skills you didn't realise you have that might also be useful in the job you want.

The first bit is a Personal Statement - short background summary quickly matching quals and experience. eg Chartered Accountant with specific/10 years experience in XYZ and knowledge of latest IR35 rules. Including knowledge of current financial legislation/knowledge relevant to the post shows that you've kept uptodate.

Next bit is where you show how your skills/experience match the requirements. You break it up under headings relevant to the job. eg:
Budgeting forecasts; auditing; tax payments; IT software you've used etc

You are not telling, but showing, so will be using words like X experience gained while working for...years with ... departments/colleagues to ensure timely submission of xyz. Achieved xyz. (Edited to correct MN's formatting issues!)

You then have an Other Relevant Experience. A short section where you lump in the rest.

Then Education and Qualifications.

Use a pdf. Boxes and columns might end up with formatting problems if receiver is using different software. KISS.
Finally, there is a difference between a CV for a recruiting company and one for direct application to company.

This might help. Good luck OP.

Also, thinking about the STAR approach to interviews will help when composing your cv.
STAR

Not the best to advise as a Dr as our cvs have to be about 11-14 pages in length (my dad recruited for the council as management and said would have thrown it in the bin just based on length lol)

... but we were told to delete gcses/alevels as everyone has those as baseline, and unless "career changing" type qualifications then only to document courses within the last 5yrs

Never written my dob on cv but can backtrack it from year of qualification etc

Grids for employment and then turn the grid lines see-through always make them look nicely aligned

To add a point of reassurance to all those worried about not getting interviews because they're over 30/40.

In our last round of recruitment for graduate level trainees, 5 were over 50, one around 40 and only two were under 30 so there is hope. This is in the civil service in a specialist role and a the career changers came from a variety of other jobs but with some really good transferrable skills.

@Definitelylivedin , its due to the fact that the computer algorithms cannot process everything on a pdf so miss things. So much recruitment is filtered by a computer first.

On CVs, we don't ask for a CV, but a personal statement explaining how the applicant meets the essential criteria for the role.

I am a recruitment manager and agree with what the recruiter told you. I can get over 100 CVS for each job and need to see in less than a minute, if you are suitable for the role. Remove any qualifications that are not relevant to the role (GCSE woodwork etc) and the dates. Only list the jobs you have had in the past 10 years. I actively try and encourage more older candidates as they are less likely to job hop. Also get yourself on linkedin and ensure it's up to date.

I was in the same boat recently. In the end, after 5 months of battling through, I got a CV writing company to do me a CV, LinkedIn profile and a cover letter. It really made a difference and I got much more positive outcomes as a result. Good luck!

I would advise changing the format to a functional cv. Choose 3 of the jobs that you want to highlight and talk more about them. This can be grouped together experience if you have done each role multiple times. Then provide a career history list where you put the dates of everywhere you've worked and the role/ company, no further details

Yep exactly if the firm/recruiter uses an applicant tracking system it can struggle to read boxes, side columns etc. There are tools online that you can run your cv through to check this (I used a paid one my company provided as a "redundancy perk") but there might be free ones. Look for cv ATS checkers. Pdfs hit similar issues.

CVs are a really personal thing. I have had loads of conflicting advice, from some people saying do a skills based one to a career coach telling me that recruiters hate them. I have had success with skills based (career change for me though).

I'd definitely leave off DOB and put a personal summary up top. Then if you are looking for a similar job I'd do a job history one, you could summarise older jobs as "early career" but I've found most applications have a form as well as CV that asks for dates for qualifications so it's bloody obvious I'm not a fresh young thing anyway