Putting family details on CVs

c68zapdsm5i1ru

I recently had to go through a load of CVs for shortlisting and was surprised by the number of people who gave the names of their spouse and children and the ages of their kids - 'Married to Sarah, 2 children - Holly (5) and Amy (3)'.

Do any of you do this, and why? I can't imagine any prospective employer being swayed one way or the other by this information.

Atlantic Dawn

I'd never do it, doesn't seem like any reason to unless the job was say a childs TV presenter or similar where experience of children would be an advantage.

nkav86

That's the strangest thing, I've never come across that! Were they from non irish? Could be a cultural thing from other nations? Why would anyone need that information

Speedwell

Were all the people who gave their spouse and kids' names men?

osarusan

Married with kids suggests maturity/stability maybe?

Being single might make the person more desirable for some unsociable hours or stuff like that?

I don't know how common it is to do that though, I don't think I've ever seen it.

The Backwards Man

Just filling space I'd say. Most people haven't a clue what to put on CVs, including the people that prepare them for others.

The only differences I've ever seen between a professionally written CV and one written by the applicant themselves was most of the twaddle was printed on better quality paper.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

nkav86 wrote: »

That's the strangest thing, I've never come across that! Were they from non irish? Could be a cultural thing from other nations? Why would anyone need that information

No, they were Irish.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Speedwell wrote: »

Were all the people who gave their spouse and kids' names men?

Yes, I think they were actually.

Winterlong

That is the strangest thing. Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

Sleepy

It'd be a fairly good means of indicating that you're a mature, settled candidate who's unlikely to jack the job in after a year or two to go travelling around Asia / Australia.

It might also be a means of suggesting that you won't be available for excessive travel either...

Alun

Winterlong wrote: »

Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

Very common on the continent, pretty much obligatory in Germany.

pickarooney

Bizarre. Do they think they're on Facebook?

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Sleepy wrote: »

It'd be a fairly good means of indicating that you're a mature, settled candidate who's unlikely to jack the job in after a year or two to go travelling around Asia / Australia.

It might also be a means of suggesting that you won't be available for excessive travel either...

Surely age, professional experience etc are a far more reliable indication of maturity than the names and ages of your kids. And I don't think Managers are allowed insist that single people do all of the travel, anti social hours and so on.

It certainly didn't occur to me to select a married candidate for short listing on the grounds they'd be more settled and reliable.

Mr. CooL ICE

I recall in an old job that was looking for Russian translators where some female candidates included odd photos with their CVs. Some would include a holiday shot, but most would be a selfie of some sorts. And not a LinkedIn-style professional image, but a camera up, looking down at a seductive look with cleavage in shot image.

And no, I didn't get to see them myself. For HR's eyes only :mad:

Speedwell

Avery White Megaphone wrote: »

Yes, I think they were actually.

Yeah, the reason I ask is that my dad used to put that on his CVs in the US for a while to prove he was a stable, motivated family man with responsibilities. My mother, however, said that companies often refused to hire women with children or who planned to have children, on the grounds that they had responsibilities, lol. Just curious.

Sapphire

I came across a CV that had the applicant's picture as an A4 watermark on all 6 pages.

Speedwell

Putting a photo of yourself on a CV is essential in certain lines of work... acting, modeling, sex work...

Hollister11

A lad i'm in college with puts his playschools, primary school and secondary school on his CV.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Hollister11 wrote: »

A lad i'm in college with puts his playschools, primary school and secondary school on his CV.

That was another thing that surprised me. People in their 30s and 40s giving details of holiday jobs they had when they were in school, medals they won when they were kids etc.

To be honest, when you have a load of CVs to wade through, you really really appreciate the candidates who keep them short and focussed.

The King of Moo

Avery White Megaphone wrote: »

That was another thing that surprised me. People in their 30s and 40s giving details of holiday jobs they had when they were in school, medals they won when they were kids etc.

To be honest, when you have a load of CVs to wade through, you really really appreciate the candidates who keep them short and focussed.

Agreed, but unfortunately there does seem to be a tendency to try to make CVs unconventional to stand out from the crowd.

But I've looked through a lot of the CVs in the last few years and all I've ever looked for are:
Are they qualified for the job?
Do they have good relevant experience?
Do they seem to have cop on by avoiding putting extraneous nonsense on their CV?

I can't imagine any employer looking for anything else, so why people pay a fortune for professionaly-made CVs is beyond me.

Badly Drunk Boy

Sleepy wrote: »

It'd be a fairly good means of indicating that you're a mature, settled candidate who's unlikely to jack the job in after a year or two to go travelling around Asia / Australia.

It might also be a means of suggesting that you won't be available for excessive travel either...

On the other hand, it could mean that the candidate will be getting calls to collect the snotty kid from school after they got into a fight or puked on the teacher, or that they'll be missing time for nativity plays and sports days.

Avery White Megaphone wrote: »

That was another thing that surprised me. People in their 30s and 40s giving details of holiday jobs they had when they were in school, medals they won when they were kids etc.

And to think that I've never told potential employers about my 2 gold medals for the discus!! :pac:

Badly Drunk Boy

Maybe these people are saying "Employ me and you'll be helping a young family grow, rather than a young singleton who will probably waste their wages on (hankies and cola) alcohol and drugs."

c68zapdsm5i1ru

To be honest a CV running to pages and pages, with all kinds of unnecessary detail about the candidate would make me worry that they'd take the same approach to writing reports, memos and submissions. Whereas a succinct CV, that still contains all the necessary information you need, would send out really good signals.

jam_mac_jam

Sleepy wrote: »

It'd be a fairly good means of indicating that you're a mature, settled candidate who's unlikely to jack the job in after a year or two to go travelling around Asia / Australia.

It might also be a means of suggesting that you won't be available for excessive travel either...

Or smug, it may just indicate that you are smug. Why would a person without kids not be stable or mature?

seamus

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Maybe these people are saying "Employ me and you'll be helping a young family grow, rather than a young singleton who will probably waste their wages on (hankies and cola) alcohol and drugs."

Nah, I'd say it's most likely either people who haven't a rashers what goes on a CV (you put hobbies on a CV when you're 16, not 36), or people trying to say, "I'm a married adult with kids. I go to bed at 11pm and get up at 6am, I won't ring in 'sick' on Mondays or turn around and tell you I'm going on a six-month adventure in a week's time".

Fsfop

Winterlong wrote: »

That is the strangest thing. Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

I worked in recruitment before and the reason we requested that people put their picture on the cv is so when that person is called for interview, they don't send their more experienced friend/relation/neighbour to sit the interview for them instead! We needed to be sure that the person who turned up to the job on day #1 was actually the person who we interviewed for the job!

Fsfop

Winterlong wrote: »

That is the strangest thing. Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

I worked in recruitment before and the reason we requested that people put their picture on the cv is so when that person is called for interview, they don't send their more experienced friend/relation/neighbour to sit the interview for them instead! We needed to be sure that the person who turned up to the job on day #1 was actually the person who we interviewed for the job!

Editing to add: the whole "married to Mary and two children" thing is ridiculous. If I got a CV in with that I'd be thinking this person is a waffler and has waffled way off the point of the actual CV...which is qualifications and experience to do WITH the job. What he does in his private family time is just that...private..and should have zero bearing on whether I'd give him the job or not.

gutenberg

I think that's bizarre. And I also agree with other posters that it would only really work if you were a man - a woman listing her marital status and children would probably be less likely to get the job, owing to the perception that she has family responsibilities and the idea that her children would come before any job.

In my line of work, women are told never to list their marital or family status on a CV. I've even heard of people taking off wedding rings before interviews too.

HensVassal

osarusan wrote: »

Married with kids suggests maturity/stability maybe?

Being single might make the person more desirable for some unsociable hours or stuff like that?

I don't know how common it is to do that though, I don't think I've ever seen it.

It could be a show-stopper if the job involves travel, weekend work etc.
A family man might have no problem with that but the person doing the shortlisting might pass him up anyway.

I don't see any reason to include this on a CV.

HensVassal

Hollister11 wrote: »

A lad i'm in college with puts his playschools, primary school and secondary school on his CV.

What an arsehole.

"Graduated with honours from Little Piggy's Creche, aged 2 and a half, and accepted into Betty Bunter's Playgroup"


:pac:

Samaris

I would avoid doing that as a woman anyway. I can't quite put myself into the position of being a man doing it, but I -think- I would avoid doing it there too. It seems supremely irrelevant and ..I dunno, it just seems a bit weird referring to other people on your CV. That I have two children isn't going to automatically make me better qualified. Using that you have two children as an example of...eh, how you can be organised, etcetera, is a bit of a different thing.

My CV used to be one page, nothing extraneous at all, and admittedly, a bit boring to look at. When I was job-hunting, the agency I went to told me that that structure was way out of date and to spread it out a bit, include what I learned by holding X-position, my main duties, etcetera, and a bit about who I am, my interests and the like. I'm late 20s, btw, so career-wise, I'm not that experienced, but well out of school.

I have learned from that experience that you no longer include your date of birth, though. On which note, I also need to take my year of birth out of my professional email too, but with a name as common as mine, dear god it's hard to get a sensible email address!

Boskowski

Alun wrote: »

Very common on the continent, pretty much obligatory in Germany.

Since when? Never heard of that before and I'm German.

Maireadio

Winterlong wrote: »

That is the strangest thing. Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

That's a cultural thing for sure, it's done in other countries. It's weird if an Irish person does it though.

Samaris

I photograph horrendously, so I'd prefer to keep that root for bias out of the way!

Actually, even the people who photograph like models can get screwed over that way. "Far too pretty, I bet s/he's a complete bimbo / and/or I bet there will be romantic chaos if they start here."

stimpson

Boskowski wrote: »

Since when? Never heard of that before and I'm German.

I remember hiring Spanish and German speaking testers before and all of the German CVs had photos. I assumed it was a German thing.

I was shown a man's cv where he stated he was married to 'Annie, a stay-at-home mom to our three beautiful children', and the person going through them told me that men will sometimes make a point of saying their wife stays home, so the employer would know he wasn't going to be leaving to pick up the kids, or late from leaving them to the creche.

HensVassal

Fsfop wrote: »

I worked in recruitment before and the reason we requested that people put their picture on the cv is so when that person is called for interview, they don't send their more experienced friend/relation/neighbour to sit the interview for them instead! We needed to be sure that the person who turned up to the job on day #1 was actually the person who we interviewed for the job!

What???

Who the hell would think they could get away with that? You send your 30-something, black haired, average build, Mediterranean looking neighbour with the slightly culchie accent to do the interview. He aces it and they offer him the job. You report for duty the following Monday, a 23 year old, obese, ginger with ears like the FA Cup and sounding like Nidge.

:pac:

Badly Drunk Boy

Mr.S wrote: »

Sure they are going to stalk on you on Linkedin anyway.

Imagine if they mixed up Pat Murphy, the lad doing all the marathons for the little fluffy kitten charities, with Paddy Murphy, whose main Facebook is the one he got with that stripper in Amsterdam!

PARlance

HensVassal wrote: »

What???

Who the hell would think they could get away with that? You send your 30-something, black haired, average build, Mediterranean looking neighbour with the slightly culchie accent to do the interview. He aces it and they offer him the job. You report for duty the following Monday, a 23 year old, obese, ginger with ears like the FA Cup and sounding like Nidge.

:pac:

The poster worked for a recruitment agency. They interview/ vet the candidate and then recommend them to employers.

Shenshen

stimpson wrote: »

I remember hiring Spanish and German speaking testers before and all of the German CVs had photos. I assumed it was a German thing.

It's not compulsory, but most German companies would expect it as standard.
When I left school some 20 years ago it was still unthinkable to send an application without a (professionally done!) photo.
I understand that's changing a bit now, but friends and family back home would still always include a photo when applying for a job anywhere.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Samaris wrote: »

I would avoid doing that as a woman anyway. I can't quite put myself into the position of being a man doing it, but I -think- I would avoid doing it there too. It seems supremely irrelevant and ..I dunno, it just seems a bit weird referring to other people on your CV. That I have two children isn't going to automatically make me better qualified. Using that you have two children as an example of...eh, how you can be organised, etcetera, is a bit of a different thing.

My CV used to be one page, nothing extraneous at all, and admittedly, a bit boring to look at. When I was job-hunting, the agency I went to told me that that structure was way out of date and to spread it out a bit, include what I learned by holding X-position, my main duties, etcetera, and a bit about who I am, my interests and the like. I'm late 20s, btw, so career-wise, I'm not that experienced, but well out of school.

I have learned from that experience that you no longer include your date of birth, though. On which note, I also need to take my year of birth out of my professional email too, but with a name as common as mine, dear god it's hard to get a sensible email address!

To be honest, unless your interests are directly connected to the job you're applying for, I doubt too many employers really care whether you spend your free time playing tennis, reading, or lolling in front of the tv.

I'm also not sure how you can really demonstrate what you learned from a particular position in a short paragraph in a CV. Surely the interview is the place to tease that out?

It just seems like bad advice to me. But I'm not an expert on recruitment in general, so maybe there are companies out there who like detailed CVs.

Bio Mech

Avery White Megaphone wrote: »

I recently had to go through a load of CVs for shortlisting and was surprised by the number of people who gave the names of their spouse and children and the ages of their kids - 'Married to Sarah, 2 children - Holly (5) and Amy (3)'.

Do any of you do this, and why? I can't imagine any prospective employer being swayed one way or the other by this information.

I sent that CV in confidence. Thanks a lot now everyone knows.

Sarah wont be pleased.

Sleepy

Avery White Megaphone wrote: »

To be honest, unless your interests are directly connected to the job you're applying for, I doubt too many employers really care whether you spend your free time playing tennis, reading, or lolling in front of the tv.

Hobbies and interests can be fairly useful in judging a person's likelihood to fit into a team structure. Having a common interest outside of work can be extremely useful for making conversation with other employees when stuck together in an airport departure lounge or simply for helping gel a team together.

Maireadio

Sleepy wrote: »

Hobbies and interests can be fairly useful in judging a person's likelihood to fit into a team structure. Having a common interest outside of work can be extremely useful for making conversation with other employees when stuck together in an airport departure lounge or simply for helping gel a team together.

Everybody has hobbies. Putting down "I like squash, singing in a choir and films" isn't going to tell them much in reality.

xzanti

I suppose if you're stuck for content you might add it.

Don't forget the obligatory 'horse riding and ice skating'.

keith16

Winterlong wrote: »

That is the strangest thing. Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

Sleepy wrote: »

It'd be a fairly good means of indicating that you're a mature, settled candidate who's unlikely to jack the job in after a year or two to go travelling around Asia / Australia.

It might also be a means of suggesting that you won't be available for excessive travel either...

Indeed. And I was reading recently somewhere that attractive ladies frequently have trouble securing even an interview. Mostly because HR screening functions are staffed by women and often deny prettier candidates the chance out of pure jealousy.

keith16

Maireadio wrote: »

Everybody has hobbies. Putting down "I like squash, singing in a choir and films" isn't going to tell them much in reality.

I think it can tell them plenty. A couple of lines at the end of your CV saying you play a team sport can say a lot actually.

Even a solo sport like running requires hard work and dedication. Good qualities to have and certainly lends you a degree of credibility. No bad thing.

I have gone through many CVs myself in the past and often look at this section. Some people put stuff like "playstation" as a hobby. IMO, that can look bad. Don't get me wrong, I am fond of games myself, but let's be honest, it's a bit of a lazy hobby.

benjamin d

Sapphire wrote: »

I came across a CV that had the applicant's picture as an A4 watermark on all 6 pages.

Did you come across all 6 pages?


Sorry

keith16

benjamin d wrote: »

Did you come across all 6 pages?


Sorry

It was a fold out :pac:

wakka12

Winterlong wrote: »

That is the strangest thing. Mind you, I still think it strange that people include their own picture on their CV.

Probably vain people who think how they look might sway an employer somehow

osarusan

In my spare time I like team-building and problem-solving.



To go back to to the OP, if we assume (and that might not be a solid assumption) that the CV writers are choosing to put their family info on there as part of whatever image they are trying to project of themselves as an employee, then what function does it serve?