CV writing help

Good afternoon org people. I need to produce a CV for a job that I’ve been hoping to apply for for ages, it’s about to come up and I want to be prepared and have a CV ready.
I’ve seen some very good advice and tips on here for all sorts of diverse subjects and I was hoping to tap into this for my CV!

So any tips or advice or even any examples would be massively appreciated!

[Luckypants]

What is the job? What industry is it in? CV's seem to fall into different types for different industries / job types. My CV has been reasonably successful for me in Technical computer roles, but would not be suitable as a format for 'non-technical' jobs.

It’s for a position as an apprentice manager. The role would entail, coordinating the apprentices, assessing them, applying for funding etc. It would be within a technical engineering environment, covering mechanical, electrical, software engineering etc

Keep the cv concise (more than 3 or 4 pages is too much), make sure there are no gramatical or spelling mistakes (you'd be surprised how many I see where people just couldn't be bothered).

Start with most recent role and work backwards, highlighting bits of the role which are relevant for the new position.

Don't bother with hobbies, people don't read it really unlees it has something outlandish or particularly boring on it.

Don't say anything that you cannot substantiate or expand on should you be quizzed about it.

Originally Posted by krhall

Keep the cv concise (more than 3 or 4 pages is too much), make sure there are no gramatical or spelling mistakes (you'd be surprised how many I see where people just couldn't be bothered).

Start with most recent role and work backwards, highlighting bits of the role which are relevant for the new position.

Don't bother with hobbies, people don't read it really unlees it has something outlandish or particularly boring on it.

Don't say anything that you cannot substantiate or expand on should you be quizzed about it.

I've been doing a lot of interviewing recently and have had to read through a lot of CVs. The above advice is all well worth heeding. With hobbies, only mention them if they're in some way relevant to the job. Don't mention skills that you know very little about. If you list too many skills on your CV it may make the interviewer suspicious and he might then start questioning you about a few of them. He'll know if you're giving him BS, so don't.

If you're applying directly for a role (rather than going though an agency), then tailor your CV to the particular role that you're applying for. That will definitely help to get you an interview. A short covering letter isn't a bad idea either, but only if you can use it to make points in your favour that you can't do on the CV.

If you have a degree and several years experience, then your grade B in GCSE woodwork is unlikely to be of interest, so leave it off. However, should you have 5 grade A's at A-level, then definitely mention that.

Don't make the mistake of making your CV too short either. Often the advice is to make them only 2 pages long, which may well not be sufficient if you have a lot of experience. Don't go to the other extreme though. I've seen some extremely long CVs of around 10 page, which is far too much for a prospective employer to want to wade though.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by wyrdness

If you have a degree and several years experience, then your grade B in GCSE woodwork is unlikely to be of interest, so leave it off.

Same as that for jobs and experience, if it is not relevant don't mention it.

For example: I did an apprenticeship and several years as a bricklayer, however I now work in IT. Although it is relevant to me, the fact that I used to be a bricklayer is not relevant to any potential IT employer. So it doesn't appear on my CV.

Read your CV too before sending it, if it bores you it will bore the reader.

+1 for a covering letter or e-mail. This is infact the very most important part of the whole process, this preceeds the CV so if you get it wrong here it won't matter what the CV is like. Tailor the letter so it picks out the core skills which are most applicable to the new job. Also keep this on one page.

NEVER SLATE YOUR OLD FIRM!

Thanks for that, some very good points! I plan to make a good start on it this eve so I will print off the posts and put them in with my other notes for then.
Cheers.

Can't really give much advice that hasn't been given.

Originally Posted by krhall

Keep the cv concise (more than 3 or 4 pages is too much)

I tend to stick to the 2-page rule. This means that even only listing things I deem are extremely relevant for the position, I generally only manage 1-2 sentences at best for each job. Usually half of that is a list of seemingly random words/letters seperated by commas.

But then, I work in a rather technical area of IT and have done for years. If my employer doesn't know the terms I'm using, then chances are I've misread the job ad and I'm not interested. If they want me to expand on what I've got on the CV, that's easily done at interview.

So far, that approach hasn't let me down.

Originally Posted by krhall

NEVER SLATE YOUR OLD FIRM!

Unless you're in the same situation that I was during my last interview. One of the people interviewing me knew my previous employer directly, and wasn't afraid to slate them herself. That lead to questions of "Why did you bother starting work for them?" ... "What made you come to your senses?" etc etc.

Oh one more thing, make sure at least one of your references is from you current job, it looks very iffy if this is not the case.

As Baph says 2 pages really is the best, but as long as it is concise you will get away with more.

Nice clear font, something like tahoma/Verdana 10pt or Times New Roman 11pt , nothing flash.

If you want someone to cast an eye over it I am happy to if it helps, although I am not in the correct field, from a general perspective.

Key aspects of any CV are among the following:

Embelishment of any previous positions,duties,skills performed and salary.

Inflation of qualifications.

Largely summarising yourself as the person you imagine they would want to interview rather than the person you actually are.

HTH.