Have a section on CV - 'Why you should hire me' - does this look conceited?

red_red_wine

I don't have a huge amount of work experience, which obviously makes my CV less attractive to potential employers. I've never gotten an interview with my current CV (only looking for part-time/summer/christmas jobs etc.)

I've been drafting up a new version of my CV, however this time I've replaced the 'achievements' section with a '7 reasons you should hire me' section. My reasoning is that I need something to help my CV stand out amidst a pile of other possibly more experienced, talented candidates. My boyfriend believes that this would look conceited.

I'm unsure. There is clearly a fine line between being confident and being conceited. My reasons are things like computer skills, numerical competency, experience with customer service, etc. After each, I've written a few lines demonstrating how it is that I have acquired these skills and where in my life I have proved that I possess said skills. For example, for numerical competency, I have pointed out that I'm a 3rd level Maths student and am proficient at mental arithmetic.

Opinions please? I really want and need a job and have had no success thus far; would this idea work to my advantage or would it give employers the impressions that I'm egocentric?

Irish_Elect_Eng

It is an interesting approach and would attract attention....but the attention would be varied, both good and bad.

Perhaps you could go with something slightly less commanding than "why you should hire me" how about "7 benefits that I will bring to your organisation" or "7 reasons why you would not regret hiring me"

Or perhaps "7 reasons why nobody ever got fired for hiring red_red_wine" a play on the old phrase "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM"

But as you said, your cv is not working, by all means change your game, the only silly thing to do would be to do nothing.

Kensington

Keep the CV to cold hard facts IMO.
The selling yourself and "why you should hire me" stuff go in your covering letter (have you been submitting covering letters alongside your CV up to now?)

manutd4life

I have no experience either so I don't have any work experience listed on my CV. Instead I have a 'Skills' section, where I list the skills that I bring to the company

l0220

I cringed when I read the title... using this phrase will definitely bring out very strong negative thoughts in people (but maybe others will think it's great...) especially if the points you're raising aren't actually things that make you stand out from other CVs.

E.g. numerical competency - saying that you've studied maths at 3rd level (which doesn't really give you much numerical competency anyway... but that's a seperate point!) and are proficient at mental arithmetic are two phrases which you get on a huge amount of CVs. The fact that you've placed this under a heading which suggests you think this makes you stand out from other candidates would just add to the negative feelings people have (if they even bother to read past the heading).

Mr. Loverman

Kensington wrote: »

Keep the CV to cold hard facts IMO.
The selling yourself and "why you should hire me" stuff go in your covering letter (have you been submitting covering letters alongside your CV up to now?)

I agree with this.

dvpower

The main purpose of a CV is to get an interview (and as a discussion document in an interview). The 'reasons you should hire me' should be left to the interview itself.

Consider instead putting a Summary paragraph towards the top of the CV that briefly outline your various strenghts.

jhegarty

Kensington wrote: »

Keep the CV to cold hard facts IMO.
The selling yourself and "why you should hire me" stuff go in your covering letter (have you been submitting covering letters alongside your CV up to now?)

+1

Angelandie

dvpower wrote: »

Consider instead putting a Summary paragraph towards the top of the CV that briefly outline your various strenghts.

+1 on the summary or personal statement

Techno_Toaster

I believe a personal statement is an excellent idea. I have one on mine and its 3-4 lines of what I deem to be my strongest attributes and skills.

Robdude

This is just my opinion but....your entire CV should cover 'Why you should hire me'; so I don't think you'd need a separate section for it.

What do you list as the reasons they should hire you?

If it's fluff like, 'I'm a fast learner' or 'I get stuff done' or 'I work really hard' - I'd take it out. Those are subjective qualities that anyone can write down without any supporting evidence.

If it's actual achievements or accomplishments, like 'Graduated 1st in my class' or something, I'd merge them into another section.

LimeFruitGum

I'm not crazy about putting in a specific "why you should hire me" part for a couple of reasons. Namely, is it not completely out of proportion for the jobs you are going for?
I think you could nearly get away with it for certain types of sales & marketing job, but I can't see where else it would work.
Anyway, perhaps you could line up some examples of where you showed reliability, initiative etc in the workplace/in college. You can use those examples in interviews too.

LimeFruitGum

Timely link: http://www.askamanager.org/2011/11/stop-telling-me-youre-the-best-candidate-for-the-job.html