Reply to: CV. Help with updating.

[Diver]

My last CV was 11 pages long, included written references and news clippings. pdf'd it and sent it to potential employer.

Got the job over the telephone 2 days later, and then changed my mind and turned it down 3 times before eventually accepted it and am still working there.

Sometimes a long winded CV can be the way to go. but generally no more than 3 pages (two is better).

HTH

[LostInBrussels]

Europass CV

Has anyone bothered to redo their CV in the European Standardised Format? The Europass CV?

I'm not sure how widespread it is yet. I'm not keen on the layout, but if that's what they expect, I guess I should follow suit.

[daviejones]

Nope - just sick and tired of the childishness here

Then I suggest that this board is not for you.....

[RSoles]

I work in three distinct yet subtly related areas.
I have three cvs with customised font size / highlighting.

Pain in the RS when it comes to updating / going for a contract which lies 'in between'.

RS

[OwlHoot]

I sometimes even highlight the areas in the CV that relate to the job ad - just to make it really easy for them!!

T0ssers!

Me too - Sometimes mine ends up looking like a ransom note.

And sometimes I end up sending a version for one contract highlighted up for another that requires completely different skills. Must really puzzle the agent.

As another tip though, on that note, if you "tailor" your CV for each application, it's obviously helpful to keep a copy in a folder for each one, so you can print a copy and remember what it emphasises if it elicits an interview.

[Joe Bloque]

I got my CV down to 2 paged by decreasing font size and removing "Job Description"s in the last two contracts.

[nomadd]

It's difficult to do, but I agree 4 pages is too long and 3 is pushing it in some cases. I've managed to get mine to 2.5 pages and that's with putting the contact details and education on the last half page, my name is in the title.

One thing I do is to trim contacts that're over 5 years old down to 4-5 bullets as that cuts down on the space required and people really aren't interested in details that long ago.

I try to put all the really critical info that will make hirers read on in the 1st half page.

Once again, thanks to all for the continued feedback.

I've kept the formatting simple, and it uses an older version of Word - so literally anything should be able to read it. Opened it up once saved as an RTF in Wordpad and it still looks fine.

I removed my address details to free up more space on page 1.

I updated the first bullet on page 1 to include a list of the major names I've consulted for over the years (Banks, IBM, FTSE100 companies.) Hopefully makes me look like a professional!

Managed to trim it down to 2.75 pages. Any less would mean dropping of some of the older IB work I did; and I don't want to lose that in the current market as they seem to be the only employment prospects I have.

I've trimmed each "job description" to be one opening sentence, followed by a 5 bullet list of the major areas covered.

I've tried to leave a decent amount of "white space" so the pages don't look to "thick" and hard to read.

I've created 3 copies of the CV. 1 is aimed at development roles, the other architect roles, and the last at infrastructure roles. I've done a lot of all three over the last 25 years, but I've found listing them all on the cv makes it hard to read - and gets me rejected for all these roles as being "over qualified" according to the feedback I'm getting from agents!

I've uploaded to new copies to Jobserve, so I'm I'm expecting a flood of auto-generated nonsense over the next few days; some of that has already started arriving today.

All-in-all, it's kept me busy for the weekend, and it's now the best I can make it. Here's hoping "CV v 2.0" works over the next 2-3 months, as if it doesn't then it looks like I'll be stuffed until at least next Spring.

Cheers,

Nomadd

[TinTrump]

As a guideline, I reckon you should be able to save your "Word" format CV in Rich Text Format (RTF) with no significant loss of formatting - just make judicious use of tabs.
The reason is that agents run CVs through automatic formatters to reduce them to a standard format and pick out buzzwords, and won't bother if yours doesn't work.

Interesting point. Not considered that. Just tried that on my CV and it looks pretty much the same. I've been lucky twice in my CV workout through this thread.

I'm off before I push my luck too far.

[OwlHoot]

Also, give some thought to keeping the document type standard (.doc or .rtf) and keep the formatting bog simple.

As a guideline, I reckon you should be able to save your "Word" format CV in Rich Text Format (RTF) with no significant loss of formatting - just make judicious use of tabs.

The reason is that agents run CVs through automatic formatters to reduce them to a standard format and pick out buzzwords, and won't bother if yours doesn't work.

For the same reason, for God's sake don't use something like LaTeX, even though that would make for a neater PostScript or PDF output.

[Tingles]

I sometimes even highlight the areas in the CV that relate to the job ad - just to make it really easy for them!!

T0ssers!

[TykeMerc]

Cheers for the feedback, everybody. Much appreciated.

Looks like I'll be spending the afternoon "trimming" again! 4 pages down to 2 might be a bit of a stretch. I'll aim for 3 and see how it goes.

Cheers,

Nomadd

It's difficult to do, but I agree 4 pages is too long and 3 is pushing it in some cases. I've managed to get mine to 2.5 pages and that's with putting the contact details and education on the last half page, my name is in the title.

One thing I do is to trim contacts that're over 5 years old down to 4-5 bullets as that cuts down on the space required and people really aren't interested in details that long ago.

I try to put all the really critical info that will make hirers read on in the 1st half page.

[Zippy]

It is the nature of this board that we all help and take the piss out of each other in equal measure. Even Sasguru has comedy value ..

[PM-Junkie]

PM-Junkie - I think you might be over-reacting

Nope - just sick and tired of the childishness here (the "HR & PMs - 'bout right!" comment was clearly intended to insult). Clearly it isn't just sasguru who gets his jollies out of being insulting just for the fun of it. Pathetic.

My post had NOTHING to do with being a PM but was a genuine attempt to offer advice. But that doesn't stop dickwad having his little dig, so hey - I thought I would join in and behave like I'm in a playground too.

Yip yip.

[HairyArsedBloke]

Hey moron - ...

You rate me too highly, Sir.



I'm only an imbecile.

[RichardCranium]

But hey, you silly little children just carry on playing your pathetic little playground games.

I think we can conclude HAB's Daddy is better than your Daddy.