Can someone help me out with my CV?

So here's the low down. Up till now I've not needed a CV because I finished my GCSE's and got a job which was meant for 6 months or so. 4 years on and I'm still there, the downside of the job is that you get treated like the scum of the earth. My brothers just got a new job which I really like the sound of so I'm going to email over my CV in the vain hope that I might get a 'foot in the door'.

The problem is I'm not that good at this whole CV malarkey especially when I know it will be the first impression they will get. I've got it written out I just need some formatting tips and ideas. Since there's nothing that impressive on it I need to at least make it look good.

So if I can email it over to someone for them to pass their judgement it would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Don't use a standard template off of the internet, or the Microsoft ones. Just make it clear and concise and don't go over the top with colours and formatting.

Don't simply list past work history. Give a little detail on what the challenges were, how you overcame them and detail anything which you did to improve the procedures etc.

[the_lone_wolf]

The first paragraph will make the difference between your CV getting chucked in the bin or actually considered for the job, make it count

[punyXpress]

And it WILL be opened by the chick on reception before she bins it. You know who you have to impress.
Good Luck!

People have different rules and even in different industries. For instance, I was taught to never make it longer than 1 page. I was also encouraged to remove anything that wasn't relevant - like having a clean driving licence! If you don't need to drive as part of the job, a potential employer won't care!

Problem with templates is they encourage you to put in all this stuff. Keep it brief but relevant.

One other thing which I have always done is use very schmick paper. From studying graphic design, I love paper. I'm not talking anything crazy, but there are some really nice papers out there, that have a good feel and ooze quality. So many employers have notice (and commented) that it caught their attention as soon as they picked it up.

To blow all my secrets - you can get free paper sample from paper manufacturers! In the end I ordered a large quantity of my preferred choice, but get samples is a great way of testing the water (for free ) Have a look in the back of a Creative Review magazine for companies

PM GruntyGiggles, she is immense at this sort of thing. She will guide you.

Depends what sort of job you are applying for, I think. We've been reviewing CVs for about 6 months for roles in our team (my company has put some quite strict rules on hiring at the mo hence the time!).
To be honest (and this is in the job spec) we are after 2 main technologies (oh, these are programmer roles btw) - Java and C#. There are other useful to have skills like Perl or Unix knowledge, but those are the main ones.

So the reason I mention that is because I have had to go through many CVs, and I am so sick of it that all I really want is a piece of paper that says Java, C# or both, and a break down of the experience that simply has company & time there, so I can see the total number of years experience, and at what type of company. It's very few words, I honestly don't care about all the other waffle as I'll find that out in the first interview if it's relevant.

So my advice would be to find out what you can about what this company is after and keep it so utterly utterly simple that they could look at it and go "Ah! Shelf stacking! Perfect!" or similar... (not implying you are a shelf stacker, just an example )

Originally Posted by muffles

Depends what sort of job you are applying for, I think. We've been reviewing CVs for about 6 months for roles in our team (my company has put some quite strict rules on hiring at the mo hence the time!).
To be honest (and this is in the job spec) we are after 2 main technologies (oh, these are programmer roles btw) - Java and C#. There are other useful to have skills like Perl or Unix knowledge, but those are the main ones.

So the reason I mention that is because I have had to go through many CVs, and I am so sick of it that all I really want is a piece of paper that says Java, C# or both, and a break down of the experience that simply has company & time there, so I can see the total number of years experience, and at what type of company. It's very few words, I honestly don't care about all the other waffle as I'll find that out in the first interview if it's relevant.

So my advice would be to find out what you can about what this company is after and keep it so utterly utterly simple that they could look at it and go "Ah! Shelf stacking! Perfect!" or similar... (not implying you are a shelf stacker, just an example )

So if you have no previous experience you'se shafted then! D'oh! ATM I could go for shelf stacking. It pays, and doesn't require you to fry your own brain for the sake of someone else's income.

Thanks everyone for your advice so far.

try here
http://www.scottishjobs.com/Pages/Career-Centre