CV critique please

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would anyone mind looking at and commenting on my CV?

I am in a mix of 1st and 2nd line, and am looking for 2nd line with less or no 1st line stuff.
Ideally in a big company with a bit more complexity in their It infrastructure.

The formatting is not spot on yet, but I will get there eventually.

Thanks!

 

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No real need for GCSE (or equiv) results on a CV. Noticed you're from Stab City, you made it out alive then hehe!

Good CV though; concise, gets the job done (and hopefully gets the job).

 

My comments (for what they're worth !)

Profile - "desktop support experience in financial services" - I assume you mean support for IT but it's not clear so clarify. I wouldn't restrict to saying in your CV that you're after a role in a large financial services firm - save that for covering letter (email) to agencies and I'd say "ideally" as you never know what you might get offered outside of financial services - experience of other sectors is good for long-term career. I'd also try to expand a bit more in your profile, ok I'm not in quite the same boat but here's what my profile bit says - "A highly talented IT Management Professional/Technician with a wealth of technical expertise gained through working in both IT and Financial Services. Can operate in a purely managerial capacity or fully hands-on and now seeking a new position that will prove to be both a professional and personal challenge.

Possesses extensive experience of providing IT solutions and support for a variety of different clients in different sectors such as engineering, building, retail and food and recommending suitable strategy.

Experience is further enhanced by exceptional communication skills at both technical and non-technical levels and a dynamic self-starter approach. "

Try to give it a rounded feel for what you can do and what you're after.

Education - I'd move this section to after "Employment" and where you currently have it put something like “Professional Accreditation” and list the MS stuff (keep Degree in Education section later). You could also list any specific training courses you've been on.

Move "Experience" ahead of your employment history. Perhaps add a comment about soft skills such as dealing with non-IT staff for resolving problems. Bloomberg doesn't mean much to me (in IT terms) - are you talking software they provide, stock market systems etc ??? Either expand or leave it out.

Could add a section for "Personal Career Achievements" if you have any of note/significance that can be listed.

Education - as over 10 yrs old I wouldn't list subjects and grades, just state the school and number attained. Degree - what class obtained ? 1st, 2:i, 2:ii, third - should be noted. Could list key subject areas if relevant to a job you're applying for.

Hope all that helps

UKDS

 

Thanks for the critique guys.

Delorean, I did manage to get out of Stab city. Just to clarify, I'm not from Limerick, but did go to uni there.
It was a nice University, not a very nice city!

UKDarkstar - Thanka so much for the effort you put in, every point you make is a good one, especially the bit about the profile.

Hopefully I'll post an improved version in a few days.

 

Steve

Employers love to look for gaps and then question you.

Repair Technician - 7 months
1 month gap

Desktop Support - 11 months
23 month gap


How do you explain it to them? I have gaps also by the way and am always quizzed on them, some employers think it doesn't take time to find work and once you leave one job you can slide into another, or if you leave Uni you find a job the next week.

They may also want to know why you spent roughly 2 years in IT support, then spent nearly 7 years doing non-IT work and why so long outside IT and why back into it now? You've spent roughly 1 year in IT support again. But because employers love experience I think this:

"Graduate with desktop support experience in financial services, and industry certification.
Seeking a 2nd line IT support role in a large financial services firm"

Should be changed to something like:

IT Support Technician with 3 years experience working with so many servers, supporting so many users, using such and such server.

Not all employers read all of a CV, they need to be caught straight away, so you need to mention 3 years experience, and prepare for interview why you was not in IT support work for so long.

 

Great response NoCompanyIT.

The 23 year gap stands out alright. The reason is that the Desktop Support job was an 11 month contract that was part of my degree course in year 2 of 4. Hence the gap afterwards, I was still in uni.

Thanks for pointing it out, I need to specify that it was a fixed term part of my degree.

Being out of IT for 7 years is a bummer and hard to explain. This is the truth, and is what I am telling people in interviews:


"I moved to London in 2002, hoping to get a desktop support role. This proved more difficult than I expected, and I was a bit naive about recruitment at the start. I took a retail job to bring some money in, and was quickly promoted to supervisor, assistant manager, then manager of a chain store.

I was trying still to get back into IT, but being manager, time off for interviews (particularly 2nd and 3rd round interviews) proved very difficult. I was also trying to buy a house in London and organise my overseas wedding at this point in my life, so career had to take a back seat for a year or so.

I took an office job in a Financial services company as a step out of retail, and while in that job, self studied and got my MCDST. I used this to get back into It, and soon later got my MCSA"




Does that (true) story sound OK, or should I sugar coat it a bit more? People seem to react well to the honesty and triumph over adversity!

 

I'd chart your rise from retail assistant to manager in your CV, it looks like you jumped form 2 years on benefits straight into a mangers job at the moment, and even if they put 2 and 2 together on the degree it's still a bit fishy that someone would go straight from an IT degree to managing a retail outlet.
So, I'd add assistant manager and retail assistant and the timescales involved, and indicate the periods in your employment history when you were in full time education just to clear up any confusion.
I've always been told to clarify any points like that, it might be obvious to you but maybe not to someone reading 50 CV's in a day.

Also, I just noticed you didn't start the retail job until November, maybe a bit saying "Actively seeking employment in IT industry" to cover the gap between finishing Uni and getting the job, then they'll be able to see why you took a job in retail. Your explanation is good, but if you don't get an interview they'll never know.