Hey all,
If any of you could take a look at my CV and provide some constructive criticism I would be very grateful.
Link: Leon CV Leon Allen CV.rtf - YouShare.com
Thanks to anyone who can help!
Leon
Hey all,
If any of you could take a look at my CV and provide some constructive criticism I would be very grateful.
Link: Leon CV Leon Allen CV.rtf - YouShare.com
Thanks to anyone who can help!
Leon
Looks good to me, although the bullet points in the skills section aren't consistent when viewing in word pad. Looks normal in open office though.
LWA (20-12-2007)
Ty dude; I was editing it in Open Office but saved it as .rtf to be multi platform
Spoken to Rai about it as well and we both agree there's something missing but not sure what!
I personally would stick all qualifications on the first page, then put the achievements on the second, though that is mainly because the balance of my CV favours that, not sure where it would lie for yourself. Otherwise it looks good, very impressive.
LWA (20-12-2007)
On the whole, I like it. There are one or two negatives in the Achievements that might be reworded to present them more positively but that's nit-picking.![]()
Last edited by santa claus; 20-12-2007 at 12:27 AM.
LWA (20-12-2007)
I'm afraid I'm going to be a little harsher than most other people. I tend to prefer more traditional CVs, and although this doesn't make you stand out, it doesn't upset either.
First of all, the summary is a big wodge of text. It's a vital section, but bullet points (ideally specific to the post being applied for) would be best. Don't state your current role with whom, state simply what the CV proves you are able to do - this part is to just catch their interest. You want the buzzwords here that appear in the job/person descriptions, with perhaps something to create interest in yourself as well. I'd recommend no more than six points - about the maximum number of things most people can remember
Avoid calling yourself competent. Remember, CVs are generally considered to paint the author in an honest and strongly positive light, so competent implies less than that. Words like 'proven', 'skilled', 'successful' will have the same meaning you desire.
If any part of the skills section is important, it should be in the bulleted summary. If the skill comes from a particular job or activity, it goes under that as well. Since the summary contains the important parts, and the details can be found elsewhere, skip this section. The exact same reasoning applies to the achievements section.
I generally prefer "Employment history" to "work experience". This is more a matter of taste, and the formal language generally used is as you have done. However, I note that you are only including IT experience, or at least that is what is implied. If you have any other notable employments, even if from outside of IT, they could well provide useful additional proof of skills.
You really should only be mentioning each position once, rather than initially in a timeline and again to provide more information. One job (or course), one entry, one set of bullet points. Keep the bullet points closely to what this job means you can offer to a new employer, unless some aspect of the work was highly notable.
You really do not need to talk about your GCSEs in depth. You have a degree, and at that level, GCSEs are more counted and tallied. The space given to details of your computing GCSE would be better used to expand the details on your current or previous jobs.
The personal information section seems to be a bit packed with light information. The most striking thing I notice is "taking care of animals", which is something I'd want to question you about at an interview - but because it's unclear what this means, not because it interests me. If you do voluntary work for this, then say as much, and even looking after your mother's dog would sound more impressive, in my opinion.
Try to add colour to your personal information, rather than just listing things. If you have a favourite cycle route, for example (or did you go on a cycling holiday?). A few points expanded upon to sound interesting and exciting are better than a smattering of things that don't really matter.
And finally, driver's licence. That goes at the very top of the CV, to be honest. So many jobs want to give you a car or get you to travel the country that they will be looking for this. Never make them dig.
LWA (20-12-2007)
Thank you kindly sir.
Santa, thanks for the feedback. If you could expand on the slightly negative achievements, that would be appreciated. I will then look at rewording them.
P.S If any of the formatting is slightly messed up it's probably due to the conversion to RTF.
I should mention, however, that the formatting is superb
Something I really approve of in CVs - avoiding the Word 'resume' template...
(I've seen that used far too often ¬.¬![]()
LWA (20-12-2007)
LWA (20-12-2007)
Agreed with Rosaline 100% actually... Just didn't have the time or inclination to say all of that last night tho!!
It's a good start, but needs tidying up and expanding on in places.
LWA (20-12-2007)
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