Help with CV

[tkband3]

I'm trying to write my first CV after being a SAHM for 6 years and it's hard! I was hoping someone might be able to help with a couple of queries:

• how long is the optimum? At the moment it's on 3 sides of A4, which I'm thinking is a bit long, but the details on the job I'm applying for make it clear that I need to be quite expansive on how my experience fits their requirements.

• Is it enough to detail my responsibilities at my last job, without going into detail on every job I've had (in the interests of trying to keep it as brief as possible)?

• I've put details of my degree...will employers want to see details of my O and A level results as well, or will they assume that as I've got a degree I had to reach a certain level in order to get to university?

Thanks in advance for any help

Oh, and do you still include 'hobbies and interests'? It's hard to find any interests I have left that might be relevant to my application!

2 sides.

No you don't need detail of responsibilities on every job you've had, unless you've only had very few jobs and they were all extremely relevant to the job you are applying for, which is unlikely.

Don't bother with school stuff, especially if it was long enough ago to be O Levels rather than GCSEs!

As a rule everything on your cv should in some way help you get the job you are applying for. No one is going to shortlist you for interview because you got some random O levels 20 years ago. You will be shortlisted because of your relevant skills and experience.

I'm going to find my standard cv tips, hang on..

Here you go, as pasted on several previous threads:

'Put personal information at the top (name, address, contact number only, not 'married 3 kids age 37 favourite colour blue').

Put a personal profile-type statement after that, just a couple of lines summing up what experience/skills you have to offer and the type of position/company you are looking for. Obviously make sure these tie in with the job you are applying for.

For each job, put dates, job title and employer, in reverse date order. For most recent/relevant jobs put a list of bullet points of main responsibilites and/or achievements. Do this with the job description for the job you want in front of you so you can emphasise relevant stuff.

Then qualifications/training. List in most recent order, include relevant training courses and higher education if you have it. Don't put Home Ec O Level. Everything on your cv should help you get the job you are looking for, and school exams usually won't unless you are a school leaver or very early in your career.

Don't put photos or anything else annoying and irrelevant, don't put it in a folder or on pink paper, don't staple it. It needs to be easy to read and easy to copy. Put page numbers and your name in the footer of each page in case of mishaps with photocopying.

It should be no more than 2 sides if at all possible. Don't leave gaps but jobs that were ages ago and/or are not relevant can be just listed with dates and little or no information about them.'

That's fantastic, thanks so much.

Yes, had a feeling the O level thing might age me a little!

Don't have a specific job description for this particular role, but have a few details as to what they are looking for, so will ensure my bullet points are relevant.

One last thing...should I include details of referees, or say 'details of referees available on request'? I could probably get rid of a third of a page if I could cut out their details at this stage.

Oh don't bother with contact details of referees, no, available on request is absolutely fine - they probably won't be interested in contacting anyone til further down the line anyway.

Fab, thanks again.

If you're still working on it tkband3, here's my advice:

Length: it's generally said a CV should be 2 pages A4 max. Personally, I don't think you have to stick to this but if it's longer get someone to read it, if they start glazing over they can tell you the boring bits to cut down .

White space, bullet points: however many words you want to cram in, do use white space/bullet points where they're needed or the writing becomes unreadable. Too much dense text is a turn off.

O/A levels: I took mine off my CV (I'm 43 and have a PhD, who cares about my school results any more?) but one agent who called me did want to know them for a particular company, so you never know.

Hobbies: I don't bother, my CV is full of stuff far more relevant for employment. A CV advice agency told me I should put hobbies on, but they also asked why I'd listed my main skills on the front page (er, because that's my sales pitch, it's what a company would hire me for?!) so I take "professional" advice with a pinch of salt.

Worst CV I ever saw: candidate had one job for 10 years, she listed the company but no job title, no responsibilities, in fact no details at all. She did however give the full address of her primary school! I'd say do it in reverse order, also put more detail for the most recent stuff, less for the distant stuff.

For layout and presentation style (e.g. short paragraphs, punchy descriptions), I hunted around the web to find CV's that stood out - in a good way - and used these to help me.