CV appraisal

pauliebdub

Hi all,

I dont know if this is the correct place to post this but I have been applying for quite a few jobs lately with very little success, in fact im not even getting called for interviews, im wondering if my CV layout or content has anything to do with it.

My experience to date has mostly been in finance in large multinationals, but id like to move into a different area such as Software testing or business analysis. There are some aspects of my job that can translate across but my experience is limited. Im currently studying IT and have completed some relevant courses.

Attached is my Cv with personal information blanked out. If anyone can offer me any tips or advise on how i should proceed I would really appreciate it. Jobs on jobsites such as irishjobs.ie are looking for people with a lot more experience.

Many Thanks!

Eircom_Sucks

pauliebdub wrote: »

Hi all,

I dont know if this is the correct place to post this but I have been applying for quite a few jobs lately with very little success, in fact im not even getting called for interviews, im wondering if my CV layout or content has anything to do with it.

My experience to date has mostly been in finance in large multinationals, but id like to move into a different area such as Software testing or business analysis. There are some aspects of my job that can translate across but my experience is limited. Im currently studying IT and have completed some relevant courses.

Attached is my Cv with personal information blanked out. If anyone can offer me any tips or advise on how i should proceed I would really appreciate it. Jobs on jobsites such as irishjobs.ie are looking for people with a lot more experience.

Many Thanks!

Just an observation but maybe its too much for the employer to look at

While i think its good to show you're expierences and qualifications , maybe some companies want to see less and find out relevant information at interview

My cv is page and a half thats it , ive got a few interviews but turned down due to european workers working for far less than i can

( 2 previous offers i had friends working there ) i was told that the successful applicant is on alot less than amount offered

srsly78

The formatting is all over the place in that, clean it up. You can see on page 2 if has been printed and scanned...

mazdaroy

After your name and contact details at the top, the 1st thing that the employer should see is a paragraph that descibes you, but in 3rd person. This is so when they read it, they are reading about you.

For example. "A coaching and delvelopment Officer with 10 years experience in Contact Centres, where he has met and exceeded all targets.............."

pauliebdub

srsly78 wrote: »

The formatting is all over the place in that, clean it up. You can see on page 2 if has been printed and scanned...

I printed the second part as I couldnt scan the document double sided. I wouldnt send out a Cv printed like that.

pauliebdub

mazdaroy wrote: »

After your name and contact details at the top, the 1st thing that the employer should see is a paragraph that descibes you, but in 3rd person. This is so when they read it, they are reading about you.

For example. "A coaching and delvelopment Officer with 10 years experience in Contact Centres, where he has met and exceeded all targets.............."

Thanks, I had a personal statement in but took it out, firstly i didnt want to over emphasise that most of my experience is in finance and secondly because I thought I was repeating myself in my cover letter.

Toto Wolfcastle

There's a typo in Blanch Institute of Technology. You have 'institure' rather than 'institute'.

Martin567

mazdaroy wrote: »

After your name and contact details at the top, the 1st thing that the employer should see is a paragraph that descibes you, but in 3rd person. This is so when they read it, they are reading about you.

For example. "A coaching and delvelopment Officer with 10 years experience in Contact Centres, where he has met and exceeded all targets.............."

I'd be interested to hear what other people think but I find the 3rd person bit bizarre. I agree with the other points you make but surely it has to be written in the first person. It's your CV, about you and written by you. Why would you write it in the 3rd person? If I saw a CV written like that, I would find it very odd!

Ray Palmer

Definitely move your education and courses to the bottom. Remove hobbies/interests unless you are a member of a club or organisation.

You have made text bold at random is the way it looks to me. Terms in the CV are little too loose "I was heavily involved" should be more like " A major contributor/instigator"

Talk in the third person and use bullet points. I could easily be the type of person who would review your CV for such a position. Being honest I would not bother reading your cv in full as it is too difficult and I wouldn't have the time. I pick the ones that are easy to read first and if I have enough people from those the others get tossed. I have about 2 minutes to read a CV first. If I can't gleam the information quickly you are wasting my time

pauliebdub

Ray Palmer wrote: »

You have made text bold at random is the way it looks to me.

Many Thanks for the advice, its given me a lot to reflect on.

Ive highlighted parts in bold to emphasise some of the relevant experience i have in relation to the type pf jobs im looking for,as my carrer to date has been in finance.

Jesus Wept

This third person talk sounds mental

Martin567

Our Year wrote: »

This third person talk sounds mental

It is!

ongarboy

OP - I agree that the structure of your CV is working against you. If I'm a recruiter sifting through dozens of CVs every day, I want to know in the first 15 seconds that you are worth considering. I won't know that if I have to start reading your educational qualifications first.

I went on a career development course last year after leaving my previous job of 12 years and CV building was one of the modules. I followed the template below and was called for interview for nearly every job application I submitted. I'm fairly confident the structure of the CV below was a very strong factor in why I was called for those interviews. I recommend following this structure. Do not go over 2 pages and ensure you have font size of 11 or 12 in black. Some posters here think talking in the 3rd person is odd, and yes it is down in the pub or chatting to friends or relatives but this is the language that will resonate better with recruiters, HR personnel and career guidance professionals and allows you to better articulate your strengths, skills and talents and why you would be the best for the job.

NAME
Address XX, Road, Town, City

Telephone: Nationality:
Mobile: Email:

SUMMARY PROFILE:

Insert in here a potted version of your 60 sec intro. Remember the 3 D’s – Description (how you describe yourself workwise and your work experience in a nutshell) and Differentiators (what sets you apart from others who may be applying). Shouldn’t be longer than around 5 lines. Both D’s should be written in the passive third person, i.e. without reference to I, He or She – see example.

Direction (where you’re headed workwise, what you’re looking for) can be separate, and can change to fit with role you’re applying for.

CAREER HISTORY:

Job Title Organisation X, Location Dates - Mth, Yr
Overview the role you held, which products/industry who did you report to, who reported to you, how many, what budget did you manage what were your key responsibilities and objectives? Shouldn’t be more than 3/4 lines – 4 lines if you insert a bit on what the company did/does, if it’s a less well-known one.
Achievements include:-

• A bullet pt listing of your key achievements in this role – include what you did, and the key outcome – clear measurable outputs look good
• Think of the things you did that you were most proud of within the role – maybe the things that were most challenging to achieve
• You can order your achievements in line with the priorities of the role for which you’re applying – i.e. if sales focused, put a sales item top of list
• More bullet pts for the more recent roles

Job Title Organisation X, Location Dates - Mth, Yr
Overview the role you held, which products/industry who did you report to, who reported to you, how many, what budget did you manage what were your key responsibilities and objectives? Shouldn’t be more than 3 lines.
Achievements included:-

• A bullet pt listing of your key achievements in this role – include what you did, and the key outcome – clear measurable outputs look good
• Think of the things you did that you were most proud of within the role – maybe the things that were most challenging to achieve
• You can order your achievements in line with the priorities of the role for which you’re applying – i.e. if sales focused, put a sales item top of list

Try not to split a job across a page break

Job Title Organisation X, Location Dates - Mth, Yr
Overview the role you held, which products/industry who did you report to, who reported to you, how many, what budget did you manage what were your key responsibilities and objectives? Shouldn’t be more than 3/4 lines.
Achievements included:-

• Make the bullet pts shorter, and less of them for older roles
• Think of the things you did that you were most proud of within the role – maybe the things that were most challenging to achieve
• You can order your achievements in line with the priorities of the role for which you’re applying – i.e. if sales focused, put a sales item top of list

Job Title Organisation X, Location Dates - Mth, Shorter overviews of role, and less bullet pts for older jobs. Shouldn’t be more than 1/2 lines. List responsibilities for more junior roles if seems to fit better.
Responsibilities included (you can take these headers out if you need the room):-

• Make the bullet pts shorter, and less of them for older roles
• Think of the things you did that you were most proud of within the role – maybe the things that were most challenging to achieve

Job Title Organisation X, Location Dates - Mth, Single line of description OK for initial job roles

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING:

MA in ..... Trinity College, Dublin Year
(currently completing)

Qualification Title Awarding Body? Year

Higher Diploma in Education Trinity College, Dublin Year

Leaving Certificate School Year

Proficient in full MS Office Suite (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc)

Put most recent qualifications at top of listing, and oldest to bottom. Only cite qualifications that will apply and add value to your target job roles. Also mention any systems familiarities you have in, especially for IT roles.

Education can be placed up at the top of the CV prior to Career History if it is a key requirement for the roles you’re applying for, and you have what they need.

REFERENCES:

Excellent Corporate and Personal References can be provided upon request

blindsider

OP - Ongarboy's post above is very, very useful. I would follow this format to the letter. Use Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana, all at 12-point - don't use any other font - too hard to read.

Once completed, proof-read your CV. Then get 2 other people to proof it. Make sure they're good at proofing docs. If you're stuck, get an old teacher/lecturer do look for you. Actually, you're in college - go to your Careers office and ask them.

It sounds harsh, but 1 typo = bin. It's an employer's market.

Best of luck!

Ann Landers

Our Year wrote: »

This third person talk sounds mental

Yep, don't agree with that at all, it's cringeworthy.

endacl

Cover letter reads as a little OTT. Conversely, don't tell an employer that you're quite proficient in an area. Your competition will be claiming to be fully proficient, whether they are or not. Also, watch formatting things here too. I may be a little OCD on this topic, but things like two spaces between words drive me nuts.

Ray Palmer

Ann Landers wrote: »

Yep, don't agree with that at all, it's cringeworthy.

I think people misunderstand what is meant by talking in the third person is. You CV is a synopsis of your work life. It is a sales description, you don't constantly refer back to you name "Johnny managed a installation..." You certainly don't write it in the first person as you constantly end up saying "I did this". It leaves you in a constant situation trying to figure out different was to say "I" This reads as very childish because it is how a child would write.

In third person it comes across as descriptive rather than a statement made by somebody about them self that sound egotistical.

There is debate between people about which is better. Having seen many CVs I can tell you most people cannot handle first person narrative with out massively repeating themselves with similar statements and sounding like an ego maniac. Third person is easier and CV is mostly a set of lists and quite impersonal.

Third person makes it easier to keep on point which many CVs don't manage. Again it is not referencing back to yourself so not true third person.

Ann Landers

Third person is FAR more likely to make someone sound like an egomaniac. I cringe when I witness it on LinkedIn. It doesn't have to be "I did this" and "I did that"

Martin567

Ray Palmer - in fairness, I think you've misunderstood the original point being made or else you simply haven't read the entire thread. Perhaps it didn't grab your attention from the start and so you didn't bother (or were too busy!) to read it in full!

Post No 6 referred to the personal statement at the beginning of a CV. A personal statement is exactly that and would be quite odd if it didn't include the word 'I' at least a couple of times. It certainly shouldn't have any 'he/she' words or a reader would wonder who exactly had written it.

As you say, most of the rest of the CV will consist of bullet point lists with statements like "Achieved abc" or "Had responsibility for xyz" so there is no need to repeat the word 'I' again.

LuckyLloyd

Irrespective of the formatting, I don't see why that CV wouldn't get you an interview for a QA or Test Analyst role (on the junior end of the scale). What roles have you been applying for?

pauliebdub

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Irrespective of the formatting, I don't see why that CV wouldn't get you an interview for a QA or Test Analyst role (on the junior end of the scale). What roles have you been applying for?

QA and software tester roles, ive applied for about 30 roles since january. I assumed my lack of relevant experience was putting employers off. Also most available roles seem to want people with 2 years plus relevant experience. Ive only recently got the certification so that might help me.

Ray Palmer

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Irrespective of the formatting, I don't see why that CV wouldn't get you an interview for a QA or Test Analyst role (on the junior end of the scale). What roles have you been applying for?

Well I pretty much said why. I would be precisely the person review such CVs and I wouldn't bother reading it in full. Formatting is a major deal.

I can't tell you how much testing experience they have from the CV. No real idea of what they have being doing. That is after reading it several times. I don't read a cv several times to see if they are suitable as I don't have the time.

@Martin567 As for third person debate I read the thread and I simply have a different view. All I can tell you is from my experience and as a person who looks at CVs. People get 1st person wrong all the time on CV. I think 3rd person is safer for most and is my preference to read. I am accessing the profile and experience. A CV is not personally addressed. I would expect the letter to be the part where you talk about yourself and CV as descriptive . My view, I wouldn't through a CV away because of it but the person will likely make a mistake in the tense along the CV which will make it end up in the bin. You can believe me or not

sopretty

Definitely put your qualifications at the bottom. Furthermore, I spent way too much time trying to figure out that you were only in the third year of your degree, which you claim to be a qualification.

Your English is confusing. There is no stream in the language, making it difficult to read or decipher.

As someone else mentioned above, you're either proficient or you're not. You're not quite proficient.

If you wanted to post the text of the CV and cover letter, I could edit to make it read a little better!

Basically, I was struggling to get information out of the CV, which I was doing out of a matter of interest on an internet forum. If I was an employer, I would have binned it after my confusion over your qualifications.

sopretty

Also, your swing from business to science needs to be explained in your cover letter. Sorry to harp on about your qualifications, but a massive swing like that, suggests that you don't know what you're at lol. Sorry to be so blunt. Explain that in your cover letter.

Martin567

Ray Palmer wrote: »

@Martin567 As for third person debate I read the thread and I simply have a different view. All I can tell you is from my experience and as a person who looks at CVs. People get 1st person wrong all the time on CV. I think 3rd person is safer for most and is my preference to read. I am accessing the profile and experience. A CV is not personally addressed. I would expect the letter to be the part where you talk about yourself and CV as descriptive . My view, I wouldn't through a CV away because of it but the person will likely make a mistake in the tense along the CV which will make it end up in the bin. You can believe me or not

I never said I didn't believe you. Whether I approve of your attitude or methods towards CVs is a different matter but is also irrelevant. How you do things is how you do things!

What you've described in earlier posts is not really 3rd person anyway. Using he/she or your own name while talking about yourself is proper 3rd person. If a section called 'Personal Statement' is included on a CV, it should be what it says. Incidentally, I can see at least one glaring typo in your post above. Should I completely disregard everything you've just said because of it?

Ray Palmer

Martin567 wrote: »

I never said I didn't believe you. Whether I approve of your attitude or methods towards CVs is a different matter but is also irrelevant. How you do things is how you do things!

What you've described in earlier posts is not really 3rd person anyway. Using he/she or your own name while talking about yourself is proper 3rd person. If a section called 'Personal Statement' is included on a CV, it should be what it says. Incidentally, I can see at least one glaring typo in your post above. Should I completely disregard everything you've just said because of it?

It isn't meant to be a "personal statement" it should be "Profile"

A post on a forum is no where near as set as a CV. It is something you should have spent time over and eliminated mistakes on. If somebody can't get their CV right it says a lot about their presentation skills and attention to detail.

It isn't just how I do it, this is common practice in the industry specifically the OP wants to go for. It is how somebody reviewing CVs will be advised how to do it. Don't make the interviewer/reviewer have to work harder to read your CV is what it comes down to. Going for QA role you certainly want to show attention to detail and be clear and concise. If you can't do that on your CV you can't do it in the job. Would you trust somebody to proof read letters if they can't do it for themselves while looking for a job?

Ray Palmer

Martin567 wrote: »

I never said I didn't believe you. Whether I approve of your attitude or methods towards CVs is a different matter but is also irrelevant. How you do things is how you do things!

What you've described in earlier posts is not really 3rd person anyway. Using he/she or your own name while talking about yourself is proper 3rd person. If a section called 'Personal Statement' is included on a CV, it should be what it says. Incidentally, I can see at least one glaring typo in your post above. Should I completely disregard everything you've just said because of it?

It isn't meant to be a "personal statement" it should be "Profile"

A post on a forum is no where near as set as a CV. It is something you should have spent time over and eliminated mistakes on. If somebody can't get their CV right it says a lot about their presentation skills and attention to detail.

It isn't just how I do it, this is common practice in the industry specifically the OP wants to go for. It is how somebody reviewing CVs will be advised how to do it. Don't make the interviewer/reviewer have to work harder to read your CV is what it comes down to. Going for QA role you certainly want to show attention to detail and be clear and concise. If you can't do that on your CV you can't do it in the job. Would you trust somebody to proof read letters if they can't do it for themselves while looking for a job?

LuckyLloyd

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Well I pretty much said why. I would be precisely the person review such CVs and I wouldn't bother reading it in full. Formatting is a major deal.

I can't tell you how much testing experience they have from the CV. No real idea of what they have being doing. That is after reading it several times. I don't read a cv several times to see if they are suitable as I don't have the time.

Fair enough, some people are missing out. Would be delighted to get a junior Test Analyst with that background tbh.

Martin567

Ray Palmer wrote: »

It isn't meant to be a "personal statement" it should be "Profile"

A post on a forum is no where near as set as a CV. It is something you should have spent time over and eliminated mistakes on. If somebody can't get their CV right it says a lot about their presentation skills and attention to detail.

It isn't just how I do it, this is common practice in the industry specifically the OP wants to go for. It is how somebody reviewing CVs will be advised how to do it. Don't make the interviewer/reviewer have to work harder to read your CV is what it comes down to. Going for QA role you certainly want to show attention to detail and be clear and concise. If you can't do that on your CV you can't do it in the job. Would you trust somebody to proof read letters if they can't do it for themselves while looking for a job?

Regarding 'Personal Statement' or 'Profile', that's your view but is far from standard advice. I've seen the opposite advice given. I don't think it's a big deal either way.

I wouldn't disagree with anything else you've said above. From personal experience, I don't have a very high opinion of a lot of people in the recruitment industry. In particular, I would question the knowledge, attitude and basic manners of quite a lot of them. They also seem to be uniquely busy, more so than any other industry! Unfortunately, the last paragraph of your first post in this thread fed right into this stereotype which may be very unfair.

sopretty

The OP needs to have his key skills, at the beginning of this CV. That's not some blurb about apparent attributes he claims to have, it should be a coherent list of the technologies he is proficient in, beginning with the ones he is highly competent with using, ending with the ones he has less experience with.

Then....

Work experience.

Then, qualifications

Eoin

sopretty wrote: »

Also, your swing from business to science needs to be explained in your cover letter.

I totally agree with this, and this is where a profile part at the top of the CV might actually be genuinely useful.

I also hate the 3rd person idea though - it's obviously not a quote about the candidate from Time magazine's person of the year, so I don't see the point.

Ray Palmer wrote:

this is common practice in the industry specifically the OP wants to go for

You mean IT? It's not really, and it's normally pretty useless when someone's job titles, experience and education matches up with role they're applying for.

But as I said, it does make more sense in this case as there's a disconnect between their experience and the job they want.

Edit: I am not the type to be pedantic, but as you're asking for feedback on your CV - apostrophes aren't used for plurals. Change ERP's to "ERP Systems" or something similar.

Ray Palmer

Eoin wrote: »

You mean IT? It's not really, and it's normally pretty useless when someone's job titles, experience and education matches up with role they're applying for.

But as I said, it does make more sense in this case as there's a disconnect between their experience and the job they want.

.

You do get I was talking about making a CV clear and concise? You think that is unique to IT??? The third person is up to yourself. I made it very clear that from reading CVs people get mixed up with the first person narrative. I doubt any of them thought they weren't able to do it.
Job title is generally a meaningless statement as it means so many different things depending you work. I have met "senior" people from some companies that wouldn't be a junior in another.
I am not a recruitment agent I pick people to be interviewed. From what I said people have said I would be missing out on a good employee. I don't know if I would and nether do you. What I do know if somebody can't get a decent CV together that is accurate and concise they are not likely to be accurate and concise when under pressure. Important in QA and IT in general.

pow wow

I'm going to disagree a little and say you should leave your qualifications on the front page (hopefully in shorter format though). The fact is that you're a finance assistant who wants to be a software tester. In this market that is a huge leap, and one which can't be explained/supported without seeing your qualifications. Burying the qualifications somewhere in the second page might be easier on the eye, but you'd be lucky if a recruiter made it to the second page whilst wondering why a finance bod who dabbles in IT thinks they could make it as a software tester.

Your cover letter is very 'nice' but it needs to be more than that and show you've read and comprehended what they're looking for, and how you meet it. You need to make it very easy for a recruiter to see, from your cover letter, that you meet the specification. Crystal clear.

Jim2007

Martin567 wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear what other people think but I find the 3rd person bit bizarre. I agree with the other points you make but surely it has to be written in the first person. It's your CV, about you and written by you. Why would you write it in the 3rd person? If I saw a CV written like that, I would find it very odd!

I would agree, the third person is for an agency. You are writing your resume, so market about you!