CV Tailoring help requested

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I am currently on my summer break from uni and looking for a job.

I am hoping to use the time to try and gain IT experience rather than work in a typical student summer job such as a shop.

There are some IT recruitment agencies where I live and I intend to apply to them and see if my A+ and N+ can go some way towards gaining a 1st line/helpdesk role. Although I am well aware of how difficult it is to get even the most basic job in IT these days let alone a part time or casual contract one.

But how can I tailor my cv to appeal to them with no previous employment in IT?

I have attached an extract from my cv (the meat on the bones as it were) and as can be seen have tried my best to turn my previous work experience into positive attributes that could apply to a helpdesk role. So please feel free to critique it and point me in the right direction!

Also, the profile needs changing- how do I approach the fact that I am a student so not after a typical full-time role? Or is it practically impossible to get part-time or casual contract helpdesk work so I shouldnt even bother?

Any help and advice is gratefully received!

 

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I'm assuming that this extract doesnt contain an employment history because you chose not to include it for this site. If not, then you really really need to put a proper employment history in. If this is your cv, minus personal details only, then its highly likely to end up in the round filing cabinet.

The same applies for education.

Personally, I hate the use of I, my, etc in anything outside the personal profile. Others disagree, so theres a bit of discussion there. I just think it looks unprofessional.

I wouldnt use "distro's" either. Again, it looks unprofessional to my mind. Use versions, or distributions. I would also try to reword several parts in general - I think you've used 'having' too many times.

If this is just a basic extract, and not the whole minus personal details, then I would suggest actually posting your cv (in its current format). just xxx out your personal details, rename employers/schools to school1, company1, etc. It gives us a much better idea of the overall presentation.

 

Yeah apologies for that, heres the whole thing, with some bits edited/removed.

 

No problems. Some of the comments above still apply, but I have some additional comments below:

I would remove the company address from the employment history. Its not neccessary, and may cause grief for your previous employers if you hand it to an agency (there are some that will harvest the contact details). The same applies to your references. I would remove them for the same reasons, and also because potential employers have no reason to have it until they offer you a job. You can say that references are available on request.

I would add a brief sentence or two at the start of each employment period, summarising your role, then use bullet points to list your responsibilities. If any of them have more relevance to the job you are applying for, expand on those, whilst reducing irrelevant sections to just a sentence or so. Again I would counsel removing references to yourself in the first person.

In your education, Dont just say university, tell them what the degree you are studying for. I would also personally remove the courses studied. Keep them in if you need filler though, as it does show what you have covered so far in your first year. But the degree subject is something they are going to want to know.

Personally, I would remove hobbies. This has been contended in the past by others, but I am firmly of the opinion that my hobbies are irrelevant to my ability to do the job. I will happily detail it in interview if requested, but I have better use for that space on my cv. If you do keep it in, take out the socialising. Everyone does that, so you dont really need to tell the employer. Only keep hobbies of note in the list.

Overall, the layout looks good.