CV advise

Author
Discussion

Twig62

Original Poster:

746 posts

95 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
I have been placed at risk of redundancy today so am looking at updating my CV. I have been in my current job since 2006 and held the previous one was from 2000-2006. Do I need to go back any further than this ? I will only be applying for administrative roles not anything where there may be security issues !

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
It’s a misconception that you need to show your entire career history on what should be a short and pithy CV. Employers should be hiring you on the prospect you have the competencies to do the role advertised, not for doing something entirely unrelated 15 years ago.

Spend time in the early part of your CV evidencing why you can do the job advertised, or better still, why you’ll smash it, and that should be sufficient to get you shortlisted for interview (there’s much more to it obviously, but that’s the underlying principle).

Good luck!

Drl22

764 posts

64 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Yes, it will only invite questions as to what you have been doing before. I assume they are relatively irrelevant jobs and including them will allow you to focus at interview on the more relevant employment rather than explaining gaps in your CV.

The caveat is just keep it short and focus on your more relevant recent roles so as not to create a long CV as per above posters advice.

timbo999

1,287 posts

254 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
And rigorously check your spelling. Advise is what you do, advice is what you get...

Drl22

764 posts

64 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
timbo999 said:
And rigorously check your spelling. Advise is what you do, advice is what you get...
Always one who has to be “that guy”.

Most people type here on their phones so chill out.

Twig62

Original Poster:

746 posts

95 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
timbo999 said:
And rigorously check your spelling. Advise is what you do, advice is what you get...
It's been a bad day !

Edited by Twig62 on Friday 3rd July 21:38

agent006

12,029 posts

263 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Mine goes:

Current Job - Three, three sentence paragraphs

Previous Job - Two, two sentence paragraphs

List each job before that, just Company name and role, but only if they're relevant to the job you're up for. No Tesco shelf stacking age 16.


List your qualifications, but don't put which school you were at. It isn't relevant and leaves you open to too many assumptions that can put you on the back foot depending on who you're being shortlisted by. I went to a pretty decent private school, it's only an advantage if your CV is being read by someone who also went to one. Can be a distinct disadvantage if you're being read by a hardcore leftist. It also gives you a dead easy interview question to answer if they really want to know.
Same with Oxbridge degrees, valued far more by other Oxbridge graduates. Everyone in the real world will take an OU graduate instead for all the "just wanted a degree" subjects.

timbo999

1,287 posts

254 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Twig62 said:
timbo999 said:
And rigorously check your spelling. Advise is what you do, advice is what you get...
It's been a bad day !

Edited by Twig62 on Friday 3rd July 21:38
It wasn't intended to be snide... but it is a good example of how easy it is to miss a typo...

timbo999

1,287 posts

254 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Drl22 said:
Always one who has to be “that guy”.

Most people type here on their phones so chill out.
Perhaps you should take your own advice... see what I did there?

phil-sti

2,668 posts

178 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Having been made redundant in Feb and having to swim this ocean I suggest you find someone who knows the inner workings of the ATS system that recruiters use, otherwise you will struggle to even get call backs.

Good luck.

Drl22

764 posts

64 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
timbo999 said:
Perhaps you should take your own advice... see what I did there?
Yeah, I noticed you’re a .

timbo999

1,287 posts

254 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Drl22 said:
Yeah, I noticed you’re a .
rofl

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

242 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Drl22 said:
Yeah, I noticed you’re a .
No you're the here actually so fuc off somewhere else. You're one of those professionally offended types on behalf of someone who never wanted you in the first place.

Drl22

764 posts

64 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Evoluzione said:
No you're the here actually so fuc off somewhere else. You're one of those professionally offended types on behalf of someone who never wanted you in the first place.
A bit like you then?

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

242 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Drl22 said:
Evoluzione said:
No you're the here actually so fuc off somewhere else. You're one of those professionally offended types on behalf of someone who never wanted you in the first place.
A bit like you then?
Nope, i'm standing up for a lighthearted well meaning comment that the OP wasn't even bothered about, yet you were.

Drl22

764 posts

64 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Evoluzione said:
Nope, i'm standing up for a lighthearted well meaning comment that the OP wasn't even bothered about, yet you were.
I notice from your previous comments you love a bit of grammar correction. Let me tell you now, everyone finds you a fking bore.

Sorry op this thread has been derailed, allegedly it’s my fault so I apologise. This is the dilemma a simple typo can cause.....apparently.


Edited by Drl22 on Friday 3rd July 22:50

agent006

12,029 posts

263 months

Saturday 4th July 2020
quotequote all
Evoluzione said:
yet you were.
How about you can ALL be tts? Even things out a bit, nice and fair.

selym

9,539 posts

170 months

Saturday 4th July 2020
quotequote all
Drl22 said:
timbo999 said:
And rigorously check your spelling. Advise is what you do, advice is what you get...
Always one who has to be “that guy”.

Most people type here on their phones so chill out.
I think he is doing the OP a favour personally. I don't think this was classic PH spelling pedantry.

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Saturday 4th July 2020
quotequote all
selym said:
Drl22 said:
timbo999 said:
And rigorously check your spelling. Advise is what you do, advice is what you get...
Always one who has to be “that guy”.

Most people type here on their phones so chill out.
I think he is doing the OP a favour personally. I don't think this was classic PH spelling pedantry.
Agreed, it is the sort of thing that could end up with the CV being pushed to one side on the "not for us" pile.

When I was recruiting in a much earlier life, we would get many applications for an advertised role, and the first thing we did was to sift through looking for any reason to reduce the pile of possibilities to avoid wasting ours and their time, and poor spelling and grammar was up there as a reason to cast aside.

spikeyhead

17,222 posts

196 months

Saturday 4th July 2020
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Agreed, it is the sort of thing that could end up with the CV being pushed to one side on the "not for us" pile.

When I was recruiting in a much earlier life, we would get many applications for an advertised role, and the first thing we did was to sift through looking for any reason to reduce the pile of possibilities to avoid wasting ours and their time, and poor spelling and grammar was up there as a reason to cast aside.
I once put a CV on the "NO" pile as the word eclectic had been used incorrectly. When you've got a pile of CVs a foot high and only a couple of vacancies, it doesn't take much of an error for them to get tossed.