CV Critique

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Like most of you here, I wish to start a fulfilling career in IT. While I don't have much in direct IT work experience, what I do have is a passion for technology, an "can do" attitude and willingness to learn. Many factors are involved in whether you get a callback for an interview or nothing in return. One of which is your CV and I want the forum members here to give me as much honest advice as you can. Any positive or negative feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

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Nicely laid out and tidy.
I like the way you've handled your work experience - most people mess that up by just giving their job discription.

I think the first few sections could do with some attention.
Personally, I'd combine your personal skills with your personal statement and fire it up a bit. At the moment they are just a list of generic and cliche terms.

You might want to flesh out your technical skills a bit too. What does 'Microsoft Windows' mean? That you can use it, deploy it over a network or helped develop it?

All in all, a good start though. I just hope that IT employers aren't put off by your 'E' in A-Level ICT though...

 

Thanks a lot for the handy advice. Reading what you said about the 1st section, I do agree that it needs the work you've described and will be making the changes shortly.

The reason I got the "E" on my A-level was because in 6th Form I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do as a career and lacked the enthusiasm & commitment to get a better grade. I've now grown up a little and improved myself immensely in regards to this. Would it be better if I just omitted the grade and just leave the qualification on its own?

 

After taking everyone's advice, I've amended and improved my CV. I'll give you all the new version to look through before I send it out. Hope you like the changes as will my potential employers.

 

Only thing I'd say is give software and versions wherever possible, I found my CV started getting picked up more when I dumped in the versions of office and windows I had experience with.

 

Firstly, if you are going to say

Then you need to qualify that. Is it 2? 6? 20?

I wouldn't recommend using personal pronouns anywhere in the CV apart from your profile, and even then I'd be inclined to find another way to phrase it.

Your employment section should specify start and end dates for all jobs. At a pinch, if you really must show only a start date, do so consistently. Same with only showing years only. Pick one method, and use it consistently throughout.

Personally, I disagree with adding a blurb of text about your job (although I used to do the same). Employers dont want to read a story, they want to see, quickly and easily what your responsibilities are.

I'd also lose the "References" section. Its pointless - everyone is aware that if they ask you will supply references. Its expected.

 

Once again I appreciate the feedback that is being given to me and has implemented them into my CV. Here's the 3rd version with all the changes. Also I wish for someone to look at my cover letter template as this is the 1st thing employers read before they get to my CV (that's if they WANT to read it) and is clearly an important part of the job application process. If you want my help/advice in return, you have only to ask.

 

That looks a lot better.

Notice you kept the blurb in the employment, good. Whilst I disagree with the practice, never forget that no-one on here is a total CV expert, and can only give you advice and suggestions. If you disagree with the opinion, dont be afraid to ignore it (although if everyone is saying the same thing its perhaps for a reason).

Ultimately the CV is yours, so you have to be happy with what you are presenting.

 

Couple of things after a discussion with the other half (She works in an agency).

Firstly, if you are claiming 10 years experience (I would list this as "non-commercial" rather than "personal"), then you should back it up. Give examples of doing so. If you have had any IT responsibilities in your previous jobs (however minor), list them. Since you dont have a lot of experience, you are going to need to add a section that lists some of the non-commercial experience you have, giving examples. Place this before your work experience - you want them to see it before they realise you havent got IT experience.

Also add any self-study that is in progress, or something you have studied but havent done exams in. The key is to play up everything you know/can do as a new entrant to the sector.

Work history looks good, but you may want to change "Key Achievements" to "Responsibilities", as by and large they fall more into the latter than the former.

The (now) third person stuff doesn't parse well, particularly the second paragraph of your profile. It just needs a couple of tweaks. Perhaps

Obviously, you should tweak this as you see fit.

You can possibly drop some of the work experience you possess from school in order to make some space if need be. Especially if they are not related to IT. In addition, bulk out with some details the modules, etc you studied at college. Add graduation dates to your education, and capitalise on being relatively fresh out of education.

 

Not harsh at all Sparky, you're clearly speaking from experience and agree with you're saying. Got it down to 2 pages now; had to play around with the margins to fit more text in and dropped some of my irrelevant work history. I also "borrowed" Fergal1982's personal statement (very good as you wrote it so no changes there) and added a paragraph highlighting my certs and what kind of job I'm looking for. I hope that my changes were enough to "spark" interest from someone like yourself.

 

Hey Danny.

Having seen your post the other day, I've decided I need to get my CV sorted too. I hope you don't mind if I model the style on yours Mine's a bit outdated!

 

Again, thanks for all your help with getting my CV up to scratch but having looked at my cover letter, it desperately needs a lot of work. I'm pretty sure that potential employers are getting turned off by it before they even get to my CV as I feel that its weak in comparison and lacks any impact. Any tips/advice would be great.