Employment History section of CV

Gael23

How many previous occupations should be listed here? At the moment I only have my most recent two as thats all I have space for. Wondering is there a better or more appropriate way of doing this?

jimmycrackcorm

page 1 should cover 2, maybe 3 most recent jobs depending on length of service. Page 2 should hold minimum details of previous jobs. List all jobs to ensure no questionable gaps. Emphasize relevant experience for individual roles otherwise no need to go into a lot of detail for older roles.

Gael23

I'm only 3 years out of college so I don't have loads of jobs to put there. At the moment on my CV there's my college internship and a voluntary part time role which I did for a few months between my undergraduate degree and masters. I was going to take that off and replace it with my current role so then I have two proper jobs there but then that leaves a gap of a year.

stilllooking

I'm the last person to ask as I'm having little to no luck finding work, but I'd be inclined to leave it in, it can't hurt especially if work experience is minimal and it would leave a large gap, even a few lines would do just to account for the time anyway.

Sight808

I used to struggle with my CV for a while particularly when I hit patches of unemployment a few years ago. I went to see career and guidance counsellors both in college and my local employment service. Here is some good advice I was given that may help with yout situation, I know it's not exactly what you asked but it I will help.

Your CV is just a business document, it's entire purpose is to get an interview. Ideally you're trying to match your experience to the job description. Have it stuctured so at the top, details, presonal statement - keep this really brief, 6-7 short statements (think of it as a mini cover letter but reduced down, don't use senteces like I am experienced, just put - experienced) technical skills & personal skills (bullet points), ideally that should be page 1. Page 2 is job history, list relevant your jobs here with 2-3 bullet points explaining your role that matches with job spec. References available on request at the bottom. Also, seems obvious but format the document correctly, same font, spacing should be 1.5.

Since you're probably not going to be applying to senior roles your CV should be max 2 pages with cover letter 1 page. Honestly, HR and recruitment services spend seconds scanning your document, make it clear, easy to read and to the point.

There's always exceptions but the above is pretty standard. The guardian have a great careers section where you can download templates and read good advice, would be worth looking at since you're a recent graduate.

amtc

My best friend has a brilliant cv...director of one of ireland's largest companies...but was somewhat looking for a new challenge, so sent me cv to proof.

Yeah it was great. Except for one thing. No address. No email. No phone number. Even if you googled no social media...except for one person with same name who does work in the same area.

And it had never occurred to friend that the cosmos wouldn't just not find him!

On cvs in general I would mention two things

...more and more companies are using mining software, which can work. So use the language of an ad. This can work against you as well...I work in economic regulation but keep gettinģ ads for pharma which I have no experience!

...stick in a fun fact under the interests section. Something that gives a conversation topic at interview. My one is learning to use a drill...my cv is very academic and managerìal heavy and it gives me a standout.

I'm friendly with a recruitment consultant in an agency and she tells me there's a new thing of scanning in your picture onto cvs. Wouldn't have thought of it myself but then again I still put my date of birth on mine

Glenster

I'm friendly with a recruitment consultant in an agency and she tells me there's
a new thing of scanning in your picture onto cvs. Wouldn't have thought of it
myself but then again I still put my date of birth on mine

We were screening people for accountancy jobs two years ago in a big four firm and some lad had uploaded a CV with a picture on it and everyone broke themselves laughing at it. Its still a really weird thing to do.

stilllooking

I can see some areas where it may be required or an advantage, but accountancy is not one of them.

matrim

Glenster wrote: »

We were screening people for accountancy jobs two years ago in a big four firm and some lad had uploaded a CV with a picture on it and everyone broke themselves laughing at it. Its still a really weird thing to do.

It's fairly common in some countries to add a picture to a CV. On top of that I've had (and seen) recruiters modify a CV and add a picture so I wouldn't automatically dismiss a CV just because it had a picture

TrustedApple

Putting a photo on your CV in this day and age is a plus as long as its a very good headshot.

I work in IT and its the norm in IT to do it now anyway as we where having a chat about it the other day in the office.

Neon_Lights

TrustedApple wrote: »

Putting a photo on your CV in this day and age is a plus as long as its a very good headshot.

I work in IT and its the norm in IT to do it now anyway as we where having a chat about it the other day in the office.

Try and make the below pose

https://goo.gl/images/bQFkna

matrim

TrustedApple wrote: »

I work in IT and its the norm in IT to do it now anyway as we where having a chat about it the other day in the office.

If you're in Ireland then it is not the norm to put a photo on a CV. It happens occasionally but the vast majority won't have one. Although many people do have on on their Linkedin profile.

TrustedApple

matrim wrote: »

If you're in Ireland then it is not the norm to put a photo on a CV. It happens occasionally but the vast majority won't have one. Although many people do have on on their Linkedin profile.

And thats why you also put a link to your Linkedin page on your CV as well.