Reply to: Age on CVs....

[Joe Bloggs]

Same, first two pages cover skills, work experience, last (3rd) page contains simply qualifications/education details and some additional skills/meta data for the agents...a 2.5 page CV I guess.

[ladymuck]

No, numb-nuts! The whole CV is 3 pages, with education taking up about half of the last page!

[milanbenes]

Jayzuz,

three pages of qualifications !

My whole cv is 2 pages

It must be a nightmare for recruiters and project managers getting cv's off you insecure lot who have towrite pages to cover up for your lack of knowledge and experience

Milan.

[ladymuck]

Two pages?! I'm hardly started by page 3, and mine's six pages

Surely it's not too much effort for an agent to skip past the education and experience summary to look at the latest contract - two "page down" keys FFS!

I put the education at the end of mine (it's 3 pages). I figure that by the time they've read my job history, what quals I have is just added extra.

[mcquiggd]

I prefer to use the name 'Sloane Winchester III' on my CV and wear a pair of bright red braces to the interview.

Had you considered 'Paris Hilton'?

[voron]

If you are going for more senior roles change your name to Minki Van Der Westhuizen

I prefer to use the name 'Sloane Winchester III' on my CV and wear a pair of bright red braces to the interview.

[mcquiggd]

When I had lunch with the nice lady agent last week she said that she does see CVs with photos attached... and she rolled her eyes and said 'it does tend to be the pretty young girls looking for an opening'. Of course, I bit my lip.

But, thats one idea... slip a pic of your ex-managers teenage (legal) daughter in with your CV and see if you get more calls from Dodgy....

If you are going for more senior roles change your name to Minki Van Der Westhuizen and remove the chap from the following photo:

[AlfredJPruffock]

My tip is to affix a twenty pound note, or is youre down on your luck , a fiver, to your CV, that really is a bit of an eye catcher.

Works wonders for me ...

[DodgyAgent]

contribution

Contribution ....

hmm....

You mean what rate you're on.

Spending all day surfing the net with the occasional trip to the little boys room to "contribute" a couple of ounces of seedless protein to the sewer system may be something to keep quiet about.

[The Lone Gunman]

Dodgy: I value your opinion on matters such as this, but I could not get my CV down that far and still explain my "contribution".
Some years ago I redesigned it.
Front page has a set of bullet points. 7 primary work skills, 5 programming languages and 5 most relevant tool sets.
Next 2 pages is relevant experience. Table of projects showing which of the stated bits on the first page I used how long for and what my contribution was.
Next 2 pages is work experience. Details which projects I did for who.
Then I list my quals and any other relevant stuff on a back page.

I reckon the first page says it all, the reader can learn more detail of what I have done by reading further or can stop, to be honest if the first 7 bullet points dont match me to what they are looking for then they may as well not read further anyway.
I dont seem to have problems getting interviews.

Could you publish an example 2 pager, in case I decide to remodel.

[BlasterBates]

Contribution ....

hmm....

You mean what rate you're on.

[DodgyAgent]

It is not the agent

Two pages?! I'm hardly started by page 3, and mine's six pages

Surely it's not too much effort for an agent to skip past the education and experience summary to look at the latest contract - two "page down" keys FFS!

Try thinking beyond the agent. Stuart Rose of M&S said this morning that any CV longer than 2 pages goes in the bin. The higher people are up the food chain the less time they will spend picking through a CV. The CV should contain achievements and examples of projects that you have worked on and most importantly what your contribution was.

[AlfredJPruffock]

sticking at contracting and being open to whatever happens - this may mean trying to get into an area of IT which is not ageist and in which in fact the older guys are even more respected for the wealth of their technical knowledge - these areas of IT do exist !

Thats why Im so glad I learned piano tuning and repair at the tender age of 22, think of it as my Plan B Milan.

I have a piano tuning here in Brussles tomorrow evening, not so much for the cash, which is rather good in fact , but just to keep the ear in really

PS Im 45 and loving it , and still contracting, oddly enough when I was 40 people thought I was 45 , now however people think Im 40.

Go figure.

Be seen carassing your mobile phone when waiting in reception

What exactly is a mobile phone,a phone with a very long extension perhaps ?

[voron]

Bloody hell, I haven't even hit 30 yet and I fall foul of this list

Ways to circumvent ageism:

Don't mention that Winston Churchill was Prime Minister when you first started in IT.

Wear clothes that are ten years younger than you are.

Never smile. False teeth are a giveaway and brown rotting teeth are a no, no.

Dye you hair or wear a Donald Trump hairpiece if you're bald.

Catch up on new english slang from your children and drop it into the conversation.

Check you text messages in the middle of the interview. If possible, send one.

Be seen carassing your mobile phone when waiting in reception. Don't been seen to be reading the broadsheets.

Tell the interviewer your hobbies are clubbing, music and so on. Don't mention DIY or gardening.

Know who all the latest pop music big names are. Watch top of the pops a few times before attending an interview.

Try to make out that you rent or houseshare. That means you're still too young to get on the property ladder.

Never mention that you're kids are at university. That's a dead giveaway. Nursery School is much better.

Try to leave your walking stick or zimmerframe at home.

Never mention that you belong to the Ramblers Association. The youngest member is usually around 66.

Remember your grandmother is still alive and you're staying with her at Christmas.

[OwlHoot]

Six pages???? Yeh gods!!!

Hmm, so presumably my note at the end "further details available on request" is slightly redundant.

(I must admit, no agent has ever asked to see the six _more_ pages )