Doing a CV that has NO relevance to the job you're applying for....

[specialmagiclady]

Anyone else retrained?

I have just sent a CV off filled from top to bottom with previous career ghastliness which seems irrelevant (Very Bad Telly stuff) and one line about the new exciting qualification I've got (swimming teacher).

Feels so WEIRD!

In the end, I wrote it all in the cover note. But should I have put it in personal statement (these are a Newfangled Device designed to confuse those who Actually Posted The Last CV they sent out... so much has Changed!)

lol

As someone who reads lots of applications and CVs I would say that the covering letter is first thing I look at and if someone makes a good job of that a multitude of sins can be forgiven... I am less interestesd in someone's history (unless they've had 38 jobs in six years which might suggest an inability to settle) and more interested in why they want the particular job in question. Oh, being old fashioned, I also like the applicant to have the ability to write in full sentences, correctly punctuated, but I'm probably being unreasonable.

Personal statements? Not as prevalent as you might suppose and very often they sound as if they have all been written by same person...