CV for 40 year old

[40isthenew20]

Hi, I know this isn't the relevant board, but there seems to be more traffic!

I'm 40 years old and considering going back into employed work after 20 years of being self-employed.

I worked in an office from age 16-20. I have transferable skills, but no qualifications other than my GCSEs.

I've been looking at how to do a CV, but there is so much conflicting advice.

A few questions.

1. Do I add my age?
2. 1 page or 2?
3. I can't remember my GCSE results. How important is this at my age?
4. What makes me stand out and be considered for admin/office based work with no recent experience? Will I even be considered with no A levels to my name?
5. Any other relevant info to add or leave out?

Lastly, how reliable are agency apps such as Indeed, Reed?

Thank you in advance!

Definitely do not add your age or GCSE results! People just want to see what you can do. No one cares about A levels when you're 40.

Name and contact details at the top - I never put my street address just Donut Bed, email address, phone number.

Then a nice little summary of experience:
Key skills and experience: skilled donut eater with 20 years experience in eating donuts in the hospitality industry. Skilled in tasting, swallowing and unpacking donuts....

I'd then list the 'roles' you've had while being self employed and all of the responsibilities, achievements, knowledge, skills etc.

Ending on any relevant qualifications or training if you have any?
Qualifications and training: Certificate from Krispy Kreme in making donuts and has competed xxx training or whatever.

Tweak your CV for the role you're applying for, highlighting relevant knowledge and skills.

One page is good unless it needs to go over to two pages.

Chatgpt will have loads of templates!
And is also helpful to start covering notes.

Thank you so much.

So would i put my secondary school at all?

This is the best CV I have ever read .

i went from Self employed to employed ..

include in skills things that would be useful in new role you did .

Did you do book keeping , answering calls , producing quotes , invoices …

As self employed …you do have so many transferable skills .

Something along the lines of "3/5/10 GCSEs A-C including Maths and English" might be necessary for some roles, but I wouldn't include more than that level of detail.

What would make you stand out is role specific. You need to tailor your CV to each job spec before applying.

Match your skills and experience to the job spec.

I'd be cautious of using ChatGPT. People can tell (especially if you don't ask it to use British English) and it might lead to your CV being rejected if it sounds like it was written by a chat bot.

Yes, this! I just waded through over 100 applications for one job and they all used the same wording to answer the questions. It was obvious they had used ChatGPT or similar. Don’t do it.

I also wouldn’t put jobs you held in your teens. No matter if you’re currently applying for office jobs and it’s your only office experience, most hiring managers will raise an eyebrow at 20 year old jobs which must have been fairly low level if you were 16 at the time.

Thank you for all the advice.

Just to use myself as an example (I'm mid/late 40s) - I have my last 20 years of work experience only on my CV, nothing before that, I have no dates against my education, and my CV goes to 3 pages but that's because the last page has quite a few relevant courses and volunteer positions on it. Good luck!

I was self employed and went into an employed role at nearly 39. I listed relevant skills used when self employed and linked them to the job spec. My self employed role was a completely different industry to my employed role.
Like yourself I only have my GCSEs.