CV Check on isle 10 please

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Right, I've been putting this off for months as I hate doing my CV - for some reason I find it a really hard thing to do The problem is, my old CV was done about 12 years ago and really is pretty crap, especially when I read the feedback given to others in this forum.

I therefore present my new and improved CV for your perusal and invite your earnest and insightful comments on my endeavors - please be gentle.

 

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looks good to me, id run with it. its a little sparse i suppose, but that might come as a welcome refreshment to employers.

Edit: better now that its there though.

 

ok. heres my comments:

Profile: you start in third person and then switch to first. make it one or the other. Personally, commenting that you are:

is just pretentious in my view, though. I wouldnt include it.

Employment History. I would indent the details of your role a little - one tab ought to suffice. I would also use bullet points to detail your responsibilities.

Overall though, i certainly wouldnt say its terrible. just needs some tweaking.

 

Thanx for that Ferg, will look at the indenting and bulleting in the Employment History.

The pretentious part I added to try and make my CV stand out a little and is also a very good reflection of who I am in whatever role I undertake - I'm just a nice guy If I remove it, the Profile Section becomes 2 lines of standard words found on most CVs - is it really that bad?

 

I certainly think so. others may have a different opinion. But to me, that would say that you are big-headed, and think you are the bees knees. You are essentially putting words into other peoples mouths.

The problem solver part isnt necessarily an issue though.

 

Someone once told me 'elitism isn't a bad thing if your actually elite'
out of context that's hard to justify, but think of it this way
some of the best products of the last century fail because they are crap at marketing themselves whilst some of the worst are pushed down enough throats to get leverage

If you can back it up, put it down, what sounds pretentious to one sounds confident to another, and as long as your references and peer reviews can back up your claim, go for it!

Don't hide behind the facade that we should all be humble and not toot our own horn, there's a time and a place for everything and a CV is a personal brand marketing tool, nothing more, so use it as such

 

There's always someone who will do your cv differently.

I haven't yet looked at your CV.

I did a experiment in 2003 (if i remember correctly) I took my CV around to several CV specialists, job centre, learning direct and a local government run retraining/advice centre which i wont name because i think its only in my local town.

I had my CV done by one and then passed it on to the next etc. They all disagreed with each others layouts etc and recommended it was done differently from the others.

I think what you have to do us ask yourself what would you want to see when employing someone and what would you look for if you had to look through 100's or even 1000's of endless CV's. (which can be tiresome, i know i had to do it once)

regards

Andi

 

seems good to me

 

Thanks for the responses guys - at least there's only one bit that seems to upset one person only - maybe theres hope for it yet

Ferg, how about if I re-worded it to something like: -

Does that sound better?

Still looking for any feed back on this, good or bad.

 

that does sound a bit better. Personally I would leave out the well respected part altogether but thats just me. The latter half though is a lot better I think, you are stating a fact - you are asked to resolve a range of issues. You can back that up, whereas being 'seen as the go-to guy' is more a matter of opinion.

 

OK.

You're the same age as me and I haven't listed my GCSE's - mine just says something like "8 GCSE's studied including..".
If an Employer asks then I tell them, but this is rare.

Probably the most valid experience in your favour is right at the end of the CV. An employer may not have the patience/time to read through everything, so you need to bring this to the front. Go in to more detail. Highlight your customer service skills, being able to deal with the general public, your good communication skills etc. You can communicate and explain to people on all levels, can't you? Just like you would in a 1st/2nd line IT support position. As well as your fault diagnostics skills. I'm sure that you can sell yourself a lot more with your voluntary work.

As it's an IT CV, you need to cut down on the any irrelevant details, and highlight any IT skills/responsibilities, bring them to the front, giving examples where possible.

i.e. most of this you can cut down on,

Duties include responsibility for Magistrates Court billing, the reporting of claims to the Legal Services Commission and the completion of various claims to the Courts and clients, ensuring that the bills are accurate and within the Regulations. Corresponding with the Courts, the Legal Services Commission and other Solicitor Firms in order to resolve any queries that may arise. Establishment, completion and maintenance of electronic register and forms using Microsoft Excel as well as setting up and maintaining suitable office procedures. General office administration duties including filling and photocopying

..as it's not IT related. Still include it, but there isn't any need for such detail - it's valuable seconds lost reading. Make every word count. Like you do in comedy. Maximum impact.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanx all for the input guys - it's very much valued.

Ok, as regards the voluntary work, yeah, been having the same thought on its position and have moved it to the top of page two, before Employment History.

It seems nobody likes the "well respected" bit, even my wife and daughter turned their noses up at that part, so I've decided to change it again. Comments appreciated on :-

As the inimitable No.5 would say "more input, more input"

 

that seems better to me.

 

I would include it in your professional profile.

I would also consider an objective so that employers know what specific job you're looking for.