CV Help please

Hey peeps,

I have recently quit my job at primark so am updating my cv before i hand them out.

I've made some changes and added some stuff but still not happy with it.

1. Personal statement is short - Anything i can add to it?
2. Interests and hobbies - Not sure but not happy
3. Education and qualification - Make sense?
4. Work experiance & employments - Make sense?
5. Refrences - Put them down or upon request?

I want suggestions on how i can improve it, thanks :)

http://www.oc-arena.co.uk/cv/cv.doc

It might be wrong, but i'm a fan of bulet points, especially when it comes to hobies and interests.

Quote:

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 Photography
 Video Production
 Music
 Cooking
 Hill Walking
 Technology

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I hate having to write "my interests are...." it just doesn't come naturally to speak about myself in the first person.

Thanks funkstar.

Anyone else?

haven't read the whole thing, but your qualifications should be listed from most present to most past :)

I am no CV king but 'References: Available upon Request' no! fill this in. Ask Argos and Primark if they will give you a reference, if both will then put them down, if one will put it down and get a character reference my teacher from school. REFRENCES is spelt wrong.

I would re-write these:
'When it comes to interest, I’m interested in '...
'Socialising a lot e.g. Spending time with my '...

if you have a head of 'HOBBIES AND INTERESTS' just list them and expand on anything that may be help full

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS:

Football, Badminton, basketball and socialising. I also have a lot of experience building computers and troubleshooting Hardware and Software issue - can you give an example?

Give the dates of your work experience and be more detailed about Primark even if you remove the details about Argos.

Don't try and pad it out keep it to one page.

The layout: 'EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS' is ok but you might want to set the Tab in word so the details all line up on the right handside. The other sections just use the full width of the page.

i'd also remove the references to your different grades at high school, and just give a more general statement, like Achieved 6 GCSE's (or whatever they are, im not familiar with the english system) at grades blah.

This'll give you more room to expand on the critical aspects of the CV, the work experience and how its benefitted you.

Hmm, i'm not really good when it comes to writing CV's but thanks for the suggestions anyway. Would anyone be willing to correct all the mistakes for me and writing it up for me? Please

Steve b, added you to msn if thats ok

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve B

i'd also remove the references to your different grades at high school, and just give a more general statement, like Achieved 6 GCSE's (or whatever they are, im not familiar with the english system) at grades blah.

This'll give you more room to expand on the critical aspects of the CV, the work experience and how its benefitted you.

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If you do include the grades in list them in order of highest first. If you cannot fill one page put the grades in.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve B

i'd also remove the references to your different grades at high school, and just give a more general statement, like Achieved 6 GCSE's (or whatever they are, im not familiar with the english system) at grades blah.

This'll give you more room to expand on the critical aspects of the CV, the work experience and how its benefitted you.

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Agreed. I went to a CV workshop run by the careers service at university on Friday, here are some key points:

-Should start with most recent stuff and work back (as said)
-Allocate space according to importance (ie less room for GCSE's and more for A-levels)
-Don't use lots of space on contact details
-Don't split sections over 2 pages, start a new page.
-Should be around 2 pages
-Put in references

A CV is generally marked against the following criteria:

-Qualifications
-Experience
-Knowledge
-Skills
-Personal Qualities
-Physical Capabilities
-Practical Issues (can you drive if needed etc)

Skills they may want:

-Ability to learn new skills
-Teamwork
-Planning & Organisation (ie if you play footy for a local team and help arrange the bus or something, say so)
-Meet deadlines
-Customer service
-Documenting
-Flexibility
-Dependability
-Initiative
-Self Management
-Energy & Drive
-Enthusiasm to succeed
-Problem Solving

Try and put any examples of these in your personal statement.

That's all I got...sorry for the uber long post!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by htid

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That's all I got...sorry for the uber long post!

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It is 8 years since I update my cv, I'll try and remember that lot when I update it!

This is not a slur on you OV3RCLOCK3R due to the number of qualifications and limited work experience you have, which is not unexpected or unreasonable for your age, I would make it a page. I assume htid is near the end of a degree and has more qualifications and work experience to list?

... But who was at a CV workshop on Friday, listen to htid

I typicaly lay it out (technicaly)

introduction / contact details.
skills/experience overview
professional history (and skills gained whence)
academic history
linguistics and other mallarky (horse riding and croquette ? etc)
tada.

this a really good example of a cv
http://www.evergreen.org.uk/images/G...ion%20pack.pdf

Thanks for the help everyone.

I've made some changes to my cv, can people please check it out and tell me if anything still needs doing?

Thanks

Purely stylistically, I'd make the following amendment:

"At my time at Primark I worked closely with customers, dealing with requests, customer care, this is where I learnt a lot about pre-sales activities and how to deal with customers with different problems, this experience I feel I will bring to my future jobs."

"During my time at Primark I worked closely with customers, dealing with requests and customer care. Here I learnt a lot about pre-sales activities, and how best to satisfy the needs of customers with a diverse range of problems; I aim to make use of such experience moving forward in my career."

You also need to change REFRENCES to REFERENCES, and it tends to be standard practice to include the names and contact details of two referees.

You need to clarify the following, for grammatical reasons:

"I also enjoy spending time with my friends socialising and music."

Perhaps "I also enjoy spending time with my friends, typically socialising and listening to music"?

However, I'd also note that most people tend to do this sort of thing, so that one might not be a particularly notable point to make on a CV.

Hope that helps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SteveC

Purely stylistically, I'd make the following amendment:

"At my time at Primark I worked closely with customers, dealing with requests, customer care, this is where I learnt a lot about pre-sales activities and how to deal with customers with different problems, this experience I feel I will bring to my future jobs."

"During my time at Primark I worked closely with customers, dealing with requests and customer care. Here I learnt a lot about pre-sales activities, and how best to satisfy the needs of customers with a diverse range of problems; I aim to make use of such experience moving forward in my career."

You also need to change REFRENCES to REFERENCES, and it tends to be standard practice to include the names and contact details of two referees.

You need to clarify the following, for grammatical reasons:

"I also enjoy spending time with my friends socialising and music."

Perhaps "I also enjoy spending time with my friends, typically socialising and listening to music"?

However, I'd also note that most people tend to do this sort of thing, so that one might not be a particularly notable point to make on a CV.

Hope that helps.

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Some very good advice there steveC, Thanks for that.

Let me sort these out and i'll upload the amended cv :)

Your address:
..
Lancashire
Manchester

Should it be:
..
Manchester
Lancashire

You have no qualifications listed
You have used two fonts use one font - the Primark section is different to the rest

Quote:

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Originally Posted by manwithnoname

I am no CV king but 'References: Available upon Request' no! fill this in.

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Actually I disagree. I don't think any employer will mind asking you for the details of your references, and that way you get some warning so that you phone up your old boss, and ask them to write something nice.

Also, if you are in a Job, and your boss does not know your are looking for something else, the last thing you want is for someone to phone up looking for a reference, especially if they got your CV from a website, and you don't know they are looking at it.

The other thing I would say, is that if you are planning to post your CV online, or email it to anyone, then I would send a PDF version, as it grantees the layout, cannot be edited, and won't transmit viruses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chrestomanci

Actually I disagree. I don't think any employer will mind asking you for the details of your references, and that way you get some warning so that you phone up your old boss, and ask them to write something nice.

Also, if you are in a Job, and your boss does not know your are looking for something else, the last thing you want is for someone to phone up looking for a reference, especially if they got your CV from a website, and you don't know they are looking at it.

...

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I would approach any person who would potentially be a referee before I sent my C.V. to anyone, only to avoid a panic if I then need referees. If they were O.K with it I would include their details. But I take the point about your current boss been referee.

Made the changes that SteveC suggested.

Anything else i should do? :)

A bit more changed :)