What about writing a funky or personal CV...?

[Andy888]

So the story is, I am gainfully employed as an Accountant at present but looking around to see what else might be out there for me and have come across a couple of things that interest me. The businesses I am going to apply to seem pretty forward thinking and are expanding at present.

However, I sat with my internal work CV and started to update and tailor it more to industry and while it is technically great lol it is pretty long winded and tbh I got bored reading it myself.

Now harbouring a creative side I thought, is it worth writing a trendy CV that breaks the mould somewhat?

You know sometimes you come across a website and you think "oh how cool!" It makes a lasting impression on you. That is what I am reckoning might be needed in my CV to make me memorable, rather than just all the usual corporate dross.

Anyone any thoughts....

[Lefty Guns]

For a graphic designer or Adman, yes.

For an accountant? Probably not.

IMHO of course.

A mate of mine is a graphic designer and his CV is printed off on stiff card and reads like a little book.

It's quite cool but if I saw a CV like that for somebody in my profession I'd bin it, assuming they had to glitz it up to make up for shortcomings elasewhere...

Edited by Lefty Guns on Friday 25th September 14:12

[Andy888]

Fair enough I suppose. So don't go overboard.

But at the same time I kinda feel that if it were me running a business and was looking to hire someone and had a big pile of vaguely similar CVs on my desk I might at least say "hey this guy is a bit different let's interview him..."

Or maybe everyone is happy with a stereotypical accountant lol

[Lefty Guns]

Andy888 said:

Fair enough I suppose. So don't go overboard.

But at the same time I kinda feel that if it were me running a business and was looking to hire someone and had a big pile of vaguely similar CVs on my desk I might at least say "hey this guy is a bit different let's interview him..."

Or maybe everyone is happy with a stereotypical accountant lol

Well, like I say, in a fairly serious profession like yours I would imagine that content (quals and experience) is far more important than style and too much focus on style will be off-putting.

You could always try to make it eye-catching by printing it on the best quality water-marked paper you can find?

[Gargamel]

Andy - are you applying for accounting roles ? or looking for a career change.


I read about 100+ cvs per week

No photos - unless you are a non uk resident
No urls of your personal blog or website
No handwritten with green ink on beige paper (or similar)
No Comic MS script
No subjective statements - I am really entrepreneurial ....great communicator - not so much a boss as more of an entertainer etc

If you want to stand out - keep it concise - professional - not too much detail - be numerical in your achievements. Saved £20m for the company etc

PM me if you are looking in finance - its my specialist subject !

[Andy888]

Hmmm, will probably be submitted electronically though.

I think I will try and go a bit different to the norm. I have all the qual's and hopefully the experience, but this is likely to be my first move to actually "work in industry". I have always worked in an accountancy practice, albeit for a raft of different private sector clients. I want to make sure I don't get tossed aside because of this.

Gargamel - I may well PM you but need to get a CV out the door this avo!!!

Edited by Andy888 on Friday 25th September 14:37

[Mr Will]

if you are applying in a few places and are not desperate for a new job, why not knock up two (one funky, one straight) and see which gets the best response?

[Andy888]

Yeah was thinking that Will. Have submitted the straight one this afternoon.

Will have a play about next week and see if I can come up with something different. Might be hard though given the subject matter though lol. Can accountancy be made interesting?!!

[escargot]

Gargamel said:

Andy - are you applying for accounting roles ? or looking for a career change.


I read about 100+ cvs per week

No photos - unless you are a non uk resident
No urls of your personal blog or website
No handwritten with green ink on beige paper (or similar)
No Comic MS script
No subjective statements - I am really entrepreneurial ....great communicator - not so much a boss as more of an entertainer etc

If you want to stand out - keep it concise - professional - not too much detail - be numerical in your achievements. Saved £20m for the company etc

PM me if you are looking in finance - its my specialist subject !

I agree with all of the above.

Keep it concise and professional.

[scirocco265]

And above all else, don't talk about yourself in the third person: "Steven is a professional..." - creepy!

[spikeyhead]

Didn't Monty Python finish off all possible jokes about accountants wanting to become lion tamers 40 years ago?

[GT03ROB]

escargot said:

Gargamel said:

Andy - are you applying for accounting roles ? or looking for a career change.


I read about 100+ cvs per week

No photos - unless you are a non uk resident
No urls of your personal blog or website
No handwritten with green ink on beige paper (or similar)
No Comic MS script
No subjective statements - I am really entrepreneurial ....great communicator - not so much a boss as more of an entertainer etc

If you want to stand out - keep it concise - professional - not too much detail - be numerical in your achievements. Saved £20m for the company etc

PM me if you are looking in finance - its my specialist subject !

I agree with all of the above.

Keep it concise and professional.

And if you can't spell...spellcheck it!!!

[Gedon]

Do the CV as a boring, factual, impersonal list of criteria.

Shine in the letter of application.

No-one likes a smart arse. CV's are usually a pretty anal exercise and anyone deviating from "the way to do it" gets binned. Pretty much.

[prand]

With your "I want to be individual" you sound a little like this gentleman:



If you want to get into this job - as above posters have said, don't try to hard to make your CV stick out. Let your achievements speak for themselves (i.e. delivered £XXXX of benefits or savings).

This is certainly where your personal hobbies and activities might come into play. For example, if you are an accountant working in IT, and want to get into the motorsport industry it's well worth mentioning on your CV that you do something more than watch F1 on the telly, such as restoring and racing classic minis or somesuch.

Edited by prand on Wednesday 30th September 12:31