Nows the time for me to start working. The cv/resume is looking like a background check, the grammar is rough and the experience is.. typical. Garrulous is some sections; if not all parts.
While I make revisions to the document can I be given pointers by anyone willing to endorse a strangers words with critique? e.g
Shorten the document. Why? The world moves at such an extraordinary pace these days that everything has to be extremely rudimentary.
Make it easier to digest. Why? To give people a good idea of what I can do.
Make the experience more relevant. How? Instead of writing a paragraph under each segment, write a few bullet points; one with tasks and another with achievements while I was there.
Welcome to the forums! I certainly don’t mind giving you some feedback, though I would stress there is no exact science to writing a CV, it’s something you only really get better with over time. Everyone starts out different degrees of crap and gradually get’s less terrible.
First of all don’t invest time and energy writing 2-3 CV’s, I’m not saying you shouldn’t tailor your CV to the job in question because most of the time you should, especially when you are young. But start with one CV, make it good, make it relatively comprehensive and then consider a reductionist approach when applying for a job. Eg. trim the fat your potential employer won’t care about and tweak the odd line or two.
I will also say I don’t subscribe to the ‘maximum two sides’ rule but two is a good target at your age. Probably about 50% skills, 50 % experience.
I hope you don’t take any of this the wrong way, if any of it comes across as insulting I asure you that was not the intention. This is all just my opinion, nothing more, nothing less.
Intro Scrap it, all of it. This is the weakest part of your CV and it’s the first thing someone will read. It tells me nothing usefull about you.
Skills
Change the layout. Your skills should be listed with bold subheadings, someone needs to see your skillset with a single glance. If they are interested they will read the details later and you better believe they will scim before deciding whether or not to bin it.
Back up what you say with evidence. It really doesn’t have to be detailed but you need to demonstrate you aren’t just talking out your ass. Give me a reason you are a strong public speaker? What makes you a good typist? How long have you been using listed software and what range of projects? When have you handled conflicting priorities, how did you resolve problems?
Avoid listing specific software packages. This can sometimes be risky, especially in creative industries where individuals may worry about specific programmes and ignore anyone who doesn’t list exactly everything they want. If you say ‘Photoshop’ they might assume you don’t know ‘Illustrator’ by omission or are wholly incapable of using other image manipulation tools. It’s stupid but it happens. Play it safe with Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite etc. Of course if a piece of software is unique and of standout value to an industry go ahead and list it. Remember you can communicate the same skill set in different terms. Non linear video editing, motion graphics etc. Ultimately Adobe Premiere is a proficiency not a skill!
Never waffle (like I am now!). Be succinct. I have nearly a decade of experience in media creation and have gained many skills but I only need three sentences to communicate this. Details are for interviews.
Include soft skills; communication, teamwork, time management, customer relations etc. Probably around half your listed skills should be soft skills, when you are fresh into the workforce these are very important.
Experience
Open with a one line summary of what the job/company was in plain English.
Use bullet points listing your responsibilities and any accomplishments. Each line should demonstrate a specific skill, experience, trait or challenge you overcame.
Education You don’t need to list all of your GCSE’s individualy. Just list how many A*-C you got and maybe mention ‘including English and Math’ if you want.
Interests
If someone gets to this point now is your chance to tell them a little about yourself and your values. In the past I have ommited such a section but it can add some bonus points.
Eg. You like reading wild, imaginative literature because it inspires your own creativity. You love sci-fi because it encourages the viewer to re-think what the future might hold. You’re interested in technology and love to follow the latest trends, recently you’ve taken to piloting Drones.
What are you going to do next? Plans for the future can give someone a strong (hopefully favourable) impression about who you are.
Final thoughts
Everything you write should be natural and honest. If you think what you are writing sounds like pandering it probably is.
Make sure the format is clear and concise. Imagine someone is going to give each page ten seconds of attention. Will they see what you want them to see?
You might end up with a three/four page CV. If it is all good material that’s nothing to worry about, just remove irrelevant skills/experience when applying for jobs.
Consider using simpler language. If the person reading doens’t understand a word or turn of phrase they may think of you as arrogant, cocky, aloof or just a serial bullshitter. Remember the person reading your CV could very well be a moron!
Don’t foget the covering letter, always send a covering letter!
After you’ve had an interview be sure to email the HR Manager, or whoever later that day. Thank them for taking the time to see you and re-iterate a couple of things that you like about the company.
Update your CV every year. It’s much easier that way!
I think in general "I" "I am" should be avoided in CV. Sentences should not indicate a person.
And now very generic one: the size. Every CV is both too long and too short at the same time. It simply depends on who will read it and at what time. I always assume that CV could be read by at least by three type of readers (might be the same person actually). This is probably also very dependable on the type of job and industry. From my experience (software developer in EU) :
First group of readers - will spend on CV 20sec to 2min max. If there are too many candidates primary focus would be on removing those that most probably do not meet criteria at all. For example for that person most important information would be: Java developer with N years of experience
Second group of readers - will spend a little more time on CV, in order to sort candidates from most prospecting ones to least - those would actually have time to read 1-2 pages. If that person will have interview with you expect questions like "what is your most interesting / hardest / recognized project" as she/he had no time to read more. For that person most important information would be where did you worked on on what position (name or category) and for how long (and maybe short description in two sentences - like "Agile development team member participating in international projects for banking industry. ").
Third group - will read every page (selectively ofc. - and with a reason) - In best scenario it will be the person that will have interview with you. Because this is a person that could actually ask you about some of your projects or specific experiences you had. Third group also include job/consultancy agencies that want know more about your experience because they will be selling it to other companies. Regardless of more detail being accepted by that group it is best to divide information. (e.g. some might be interested more - or only - in used technologies).
In my case organization of CV looks like: 1. contact information (not in the page header but as a page content). 2. three sentences followed by max 7 bullet points That ends what can be read by first group. 3. Experience ( list of jobs and positions). 4. Education 5. language skills (if more than native - although in case of international requirements even native language information should be included). Bullets points or table-like organization is a must in my opinion. (I sometimes change order between 3-5 to reflect their changing sizes - experience is growing) Here ends readability scope of second group. 6. Skill matrix - excluding soft skills (in my case those are methodologies, programming languages, databases, top level libraries) 7. Project list. (in my case there is very clear division into projects as I'm almost never in more than one). Bullet points or table-like organization allows the reader to quickly find information.
This corresponds to what was actually expected of me in the past - e.g. consultancy companies tend to send exactly that information their clients (two times I avoided need to copy that information into their company specific format - as HR person found it very easy to copy paste from my document).
BS. You're testing some automated CV generator, aren't you? Because I'm impressed, it may actually work on real HR drones. Unless they read it, that is. "logarithmically communicate"? "with an interest in mobile technologies, forgoing reserved ideas on the desks of others"? "understanding consistency within computers is essential"? "operational management implementation understanding of helping organizations make better use of"? "replaced a headset"?
I'm gonna do what employers do: not gonna read through all that. A CV should be like 1 page, with bullets pointing out what you've done and when, no need to explain in detail - that's something you do in an interview. People spend like 15-30 seconds reading through a CV.
