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CV Opinions
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04-05-2004 6:14pm#1
Comments
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dont ilke it
looks padded.
whats with the huge first page, and then one line at top of second page for personal details?
is this trying to be a resumé or a cv or an advertisment?
you have given then a target job box and no target job?
by the way if you give someone a target job, they may look at their own job and decide on that matter alone that the job is not the right one for you, or you for it.
what did you do on your courses?
under your experience and skills, expand a bit. tell them what you can do, what you have done. tell them your accomplishments.
with regards your skills, give them some idea of the level you are at. anyone who can spell redhat can put them down as a linux expert these days
under unix, what unix OS? big mistake, someone who uses unix reads that, they will think your taking the urine! do you use solaris (what versions?) or hpux or whatever.
not a big fan of putting references on your cv.
if people see you have lecturers or people of social standing (i know someone who used their local parish priest) they are not going to think go getter.
they are going to think you have a relationship with this person and will be biased.
take out the target location shíte. if you dont want a job outside of cork, dont apply.
whats with the PTO crap at the bottom of page 2? you are assuming they are going to double side pages 2 and 3? never assume.
always presume that the interviewer is stupid and you need to spell out your sellable qualities
by the way, 'War Genre' doesnt deseve capitals.
dont put in online gaming as your main interest. god, it makes you sound geeky
im not too sure if a prospective employer is going to be interested too much in your swimming with your clothes on to save a drowning brick badge, but i doubt it.
youre really grasping at straws trying to make youself seem useful here
by the way, its not a skill, its a cert
so is your drivers licence by the way
your experience.............
this si where you sell yourself.
looking at your experince, you have managed to sell nothing there.
you can only manage to come up with 8 things of note or interest or accomplished over a number of years of work?
come on, think harder.
tell them everything
in fact, write out all the things you did. everything. did you reboot servers, look after anti virus, upload frontpage documents?
put down everything you did. in fact, write out a diary of a common day you had in all three jobs and then when you have a bunch of stuff, you can start putting it together. keep it all in just shorten the list by saying you had responsiblities of this and this and this.
you accomplished this and that and the other and you fúcking rocked while you did it.
you have got to be a 'have to have' not a 'nice to have'
like being a boyfriend, nice to have doesnt cut the mustard.
you gotta be a have to have.
your interviewer has to have you working for them, the same way the women have to have you
as always, this is my opinion.
as always, most people will disagree for the sake of being disagreeable, but hopefully you will take something from it.
remember, you dont have to do anything that anyone tells you, but as long as you start to think about it, then everyones a winner baby
let us see it when you have got your advice and re-written it (please re-write it) 0 -
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<disclaimer> I'm writing this without looking at whitewashman's detailed response, so apologies for the inevitably-duplicated items</disclaimer>
- get rid of the first page altogether; you're not doing a book report for school
- header on page 2; if you're going to put a separating line there, then you've basically created the width of the page. Having your tables end almost a full inch in, and especially "may 5, 2004" should be right-aligned with the edge of the separator line.
- for that matter, what is "may 5, 2004" doing there at all? you could put that on a cover letter, perhaps
- "core competencies" .. a decent idea, although I'm not convinced that you should start with that, nor that the points you've listed would really come into play. To be perfectly honest, if I saw "Interpersonal Communications" on a resume, I'd just skip that entire section. "Management Theory" falls under the same category. For the other more technical aspects, you have listed such broad topics as "Distributed Systems" and "Security/Cryptography" that anyone would find it hard to believe that your _core_ competency could be in both those fields (not to mention the others you've listed).
- "target job" section seems an odd thing to begin with and could almost be covered just as well in a cover letter.
- "target location" section I'd get rid of altogether. If you don't want to leave Cork, then don't submit your resume for jobs outside Cork
- I'd put experience before education
- For both education and experience I'd reverse the order you have for date / location. Location is more important than date imho and makes more sense reading left-to-right.
- Skills
...UNIX? Be more specific .. is it Solaris, HP-UX, etc?
...MS Office, works, etc.. that sounds like something a secretary would put down. you're a computer graduate, man
...Same deal with Photoshop/PSP unless you're going for some web developer job that involves design
- I'd also put related projects close to experience (and earlier on as well)
- Personal interests .. I can't comment on this (I've been told a CV is supposed to have stuff like that; resumes at home we've dropped anything personal completely). Although from a purely grammatical point of view
..."Online Team Based Computer Games" -- whaa? What's with all the capitals?
..."These games emphasize teamwork with other online players, working together to complete an objective." -- Bit stilted there, might want to reword it. Although, tbh, you could just get rid of that alltogether. If you're trying to demonstrate that you are a "team player" to your manager, online gaming isn't going to cut it
..."I go to the Cinema on a regular basis" -- again, no need for a proper noun here.
..."particularly novels of the War Genre" -- you are a capital letter maniac
...The last paragraph about your website work is probably the most important out of everything. Move it to the top and perhaps elaborate on that section moreso than your online gaming activities.
- References .. I'd redesign it a little bit. You have the reference's name in bold, and then the headings for the other data like Phone Number etc, is also in bold. Gets a bit confusing.0 -
Originally posted by casper-
<disclaimer> I'm writing this without looking at whitewashman's detailed response, so apologies for the inevitably-duplicated items</disclaimer>
As it happens your post was very similiar. But thats good as it shows that its not just one man that had those concerns....Originally posted by casper-
..."particularly novels of the War Genre" -- you are a capital letter maniac
CAP LETTERS ARE TEH WIN YO!Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- whats with the huge first page, and then one line at top of second page for personal details?
is this trying to be a resumé or a cv or an advertisment?
The idea was to make my contact information unmissable, and as you mention below, it was to be taken for granted that pages 2 and 3 were to be printed on the back of eachother. As you correctly point out though, this cant be gaurenteed. Im trying that hit that "2 Page guideline".Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- you have given then a target job box and no target job?
by the way if you give someone a target job, they may look at their own job and decide on that matter alone that the job is not the right one for you, or you for it.
Spot on - but I think its more of a "title" problem for that particular table, so I took the title out. And you mention Target Location - I had originally designed the CV for use in recruitment agencies so I wouldnt be getting calls for Dublin and so on. Ill just use two versions I suppose.
Day dreamed mostly, but Ive added more information on that front now. Hopefully its not TOO much information there.Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- what did you do on your courses?
I always fell into the bull**** trap when doing that bit, so I left it out. Its back in now though....Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- under your experience and skills, expand a bit. tell them what you can do, what you have done. tell them your accomplishments.Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- with regards your skills, give them some idea of the level you are at. anyone who can spell redhat can put them down as a linux expert these days
under unix, what unix OS? big mistake, someone who uses unix reads that, they will think your taking the urine! do you use solaris (what versions?) or hpux or whatever.
Ye - I wanted to let them know that I knew how to use it, but please god dont give me a job in it where its a requirement. Ill use your skill level ideas to sort that.
Nor I - it always seemed a tad pointless. But its been drummed into us since we attempted our first CV's way back in secondary school. Ill take em out and see how it goes. I dont think any of the references have ever been "referenced".Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- not a big fan of putting references on your cv.
On the personal information - Ive taken it all out. Ill work that ****e in during the interview. "Oh BTW Mr Interviewer, I hold the record of longest distance ejaculation into a moving object*". Its always a conversation piece.
* May be a complete fabrication
And its very much appreciated. You gave some really helpful opinions above, thanks !Originally posted by WhiteWashMan- as always, this is my opinion.
I hope this new version is better. It better be, cos im sick of hearing "Tough **** n00b. No job for j00 !!"
Anyway ! - www.michaelrea.com/Michael_Rea_CV.doc - check it out...0 -
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OK, have just re-read your new CV. Some criticisms which I hope will help....
1) No need for the large name. they know who you are, nor are they blind :)Also do something about the personal section of your CV. if you want it more prominant, then you should give it more room, don't use huge lettering. Give themsome more info. Put your drivers licence details there or something. Make it an eighth of a page or something. not a lot, but it gives youa break between persona details and the rest of the CV.
2) Competencies.
Nope. I don't like that. These are the things youa re good at.
All you have done is put down a list of things. What you need to do is merge these into your experience. Show that you know how these thigns work by experience. You know about 'Object Orientated Analysis & Design' because you did this stuff wile gaining world domination or something! Always ensure that they think you are an experct becasue you have used these process and applications live. Not just tinkered around with Paint Shop Pro in the darkness of your bedroom to put your mother's head on a icture of Jordon (you sick b*stard!)
Management Theory· Motivation & Leadership· Project Planning & Management· Communications & Organizational Structures
That is all bullsh*t if you cant prove you have put it into experience. Hey, I've read a book on management. Doesnt make me a manager. You could get asked some nasty questions if you claim to have these as your experience. I mean, how would you motivate a team that is not performing?
3) Are you afraid of the edges of the page?
Use the width that God gave you! widen your tables so that you can get more info in. Makes your CV a lot neater too and thats good.
4) What is a computer graduate?
You pass the exam to be a computer graduate? Lose that entire table as well. It serves no purpose except to catagorise you, and when youa re looking for a job, you should be able to keep as many preferences open as possible. You will be surprised the amount of jobs in your life that you will see and think 'wow, I could do that', but if you have put on your CV that you will only do X,Y and Z, then thats all you will get. Prospective employers will not touch you if you say you are not willing to look at other things, and thats what this box is saying. OK, its verybroad, but you know what i am saying! Right?
5) Take out the date.
Your CV should always be up to date. If you send that out in a year, you will look silly if you forget to change that date
6) Novice knowledge of Linux?
No man, that is not selling yourself! Perhaps you might have a 'working knowledge' of Linux?
7) King of Grammar.
Take out all the capitals as suggested. It looks like you are illiterate
Capitals are used for pronouns and start of a sentence.
This is a CV, not boards.ie
8) Quess of grammarCurrently I am working on a personal venture to produce an information website for my local town of Mitchelstown.
Please note the syntax of this sentence and tell me you wouldn't send that out?
Be careful to keep the same tense throughout your CV as well. You tend to jump backwards and forwards. Now, I am a far cry from an english expert, so I couldnt tell you the exact phrases, but it just feels wrong to me. Perhaps someone with 'the knowledge' can help out
9) Leaving results
Put your honours subjects first. Be proud man!
10) College education
OK, I suspect you have put all the things you are good at, or liked fron college into your competencies. The education part is where you should put things like projects, subjects etc. Again, youa re selling you, so that doesn't mean you can't put under college that you were brilliant. It's all about the way you word it!
That's it for the moment. I have work to do to you know
Hope it helps more than it hinders.0 -
Ok..took a look at the new version, I'd say it's improving
- I still say the width of all your text needs to match your separator line at the top of the page. While you're at it, it might not hurt to full-justify the text.
- I notice you still have "May 5, 2004"
- As a side note, I don't really mind the large font for your name and "position" .. others may vary
- Can you find a smaller diamond to use for your bullets?
- Competencies ...
a) I know you're trying to lay out everything you did in most of your classes in school, but I still think this section needs work.
b) The new bullets are not nice .. sorry. It looks like a little film icon next to each of your sub-points.
c) Even with the information there, my eyes just have to glaze over that section due to the layout. It's too much text with nothing to really help separate any of the thoughts
d) Personally, I would try and tailor this section to match a specific job you were applying for. Perhaps even elaborate on the key points -- for instance, for any Java job, give three of four points of your Java experience. If you really have to, maybe specifically how well you did in a major Java project for class
Experience...
a) I wouldn't repeat the section heading
b) I still think where you worked is more important than when (and hence should come first on the line).. just my two cents though
c) Your DB Alliance job, which has got to be your main focus in this, still runs together in a similar manner to the competencies section. Try letting this section take up more room, use some whitespace, etc. and maybe cut back on the 'competencies' part
I've refrained from commenting on the grammer or anything of the actual CV so far .. just going for layout/design at the moment 0 -
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It's not easy trying to put a c.v. together coming out of college:) What you have going for you however is that you seem to have one or two decent jobs previously which a lot of the people you'll be up against may not have. For this reason I'd be inclined to put your work experience nearer to the top of the CV - it's what the employers want to see so you should try give it to them.Originally posted by GoneShootin
Jasiz this is tough work
Ill take what you guys have said and have another go tonight......blast ye
thanks though, it all helps to making it that little bit better...
Another point I noticed is the language - it should be in the third person (correct me if I'm wrong?). For example where you have:¿ Website Design using Coldfusion with MySQL Database
I was involved in many website design projects, meeting customer requirements to strict deadlines. One of my projects is currently used as DB Alliance’s United Kingdom sales website.
I'd consider writing it as:¿ Website Design using Coldfusion with MySQL Database
- Involved in many website design projects, meeting customer requirements to strict deadlines.
- One of the projects is currently used as DB Alliance’s United Kingdom sales website.0 -
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OK guys heres the latest version. Ive taken all of your points on board. The most important change here is that I got rid of the course information. I feel that if they want to know anything about that ill work in during the interview.
I changed the font too, and the size of the font. AND sorted out those 1inch margins
Hopefully its a step forward rather than two back. It looks better printed out rather than viewed in Word btw
www.michaelrea.com/Michael_Rea_CV.doc0 -
Originally posted by casper-
...MS Office, works, etc.. that sounds like something a secretary would put down. you're a computer graduate, man
I'd say leave it in. When I went looking at job specifications for graduates in Cork I was amazed at how many employers equated a computer science degree with a knowledge of how to use simple MS applications, use of a computer, Windows, etc. Not to mention, a guy who knows his MS Access and all it's extensions can get a fantastic paying job.
What about programming skill? I can't see anything in there to indicate that you know a programming language. Did you do Java or C++ in college?0 -
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skipn_easy:
Ill have to get someone to read it for me and see the grammer problems - english was never my forté.
The reason I have no non-IT related jobs down is that THE ONLY OTHER job ive had was working as Customer Support in RCI (Timeshare sales). I reckoned this fell under my other jobs and I would have been repeating myself. Its something I can bring up in the interview if they are so inclined
RicardoSmith
I was using Verdana, but I didnt like the way it printed. I might have two version. One for e-view (tm and copyright GoneShootin), and one for the post. Changing font wont exactly tax me too much
Raskolnikov
Youd think that wouldnyt you ! After 2 years of Java in college I should be selling myself on it. But I'm a tad nervous about going too much into detail and leaving myself open for questions that I cant answer. Ill add some more topics though, such as JDBC. Well spotted.
Again thanks to everyong for helping out. The feedback is something you would pay a company for ! If ever I meet someone with similar problems I'll send them this way.0 -
Originally posted by GoneShootin
....
RicardoSmith
I was using Verdana, but I didnt like the way it printed. I might have two version. One for e-view (tm and copyright GoneShootin), and one for the post. Changing font wont exactly tax me too much
.....
It shows up as bookman or something similar on my system. Not sure if thats what you intended.0 -
Yes indeed bookman was the font....but after much deliberation with me, myself, and I - ARIAL is gonna be used. It looks good both onscreen and printed. Good man Ricardo.
I have been getting helpful emails from WWM on the matter aswell, so here is the very latest version as of 2PM today.
www.michaelrea.com/Michael_Rea_CV.doc
Now I guess I best go study, or I wont have a degree to put on that CV 0 -
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I must say the invaluable advise ive seen so readily dished out on this board astonishes me! Which in my opinion makes this one of the most valuable boards
Michael, I have only one thing to say.
I dont like your email address. I think it would be much better if it was michael@*** instead of recruit@***
Good luck.:)0 -
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