How to 'sort' an overly impressive CV for a job
Discussion
At the moment I am struggling to find a job and have the option of just applying for something low paid to keep me from going insane. However I am concerned my CV (senior marketing level) will put employers off. It looks odd if I want a job at, for example Halfords, working as a customer service person when I my last role was a national marketing manager. Do I need to 'simplify' my CV or not?
You tailor your CV for the role you're applying for. Most miss this point and continue to share what it is they have done in the past regardless of its relevance to the role being applied for.
More than happy to review your CV and provide some feedback if you pass it across.
Good luck!
More than happy to review your CV and provide some feedback if you pass it across.
Good luck!
rog007 said:
You tailor your CV for the role you're applying for. Most miss this point and continue to share what it is they have done in the past regardless of its relevance to the role being applied for.
More than happy to review your CV and provide some feedback if you pass it across.
Good luck!
Exactly this.More than happy to review your CV and provide some feedback if you pass it across.
Good luck!
I have numerous CV's aimed at various markets, each gets tweaked to the advertised role. Anything irrelevant is removed with a couple of interesting possibly relevant bits left in.
Not failed me yet.
21TonyK said:
Exactly this.
I have numerous CV's aimed at various markets, each gets tweaked to the advertised role. Anything irrelevant is removed with a couple of interesting possibly relevant bits left in.
Not failed me yet.
I do something similar. My base CV covers four pages and I just trim out the detail that is irrelevant to the role. It's just not possible, or even necessary to put all thirty years of experience into the CV.I have numerous CV's aimed at various markets, each gets tweaked to the advertised role. Anything irrelevant is removed with a couple of interesting possibly relevant bits left in.
Not failed me yet.
spikeyhead said:
21TonyK said:
Exactly this.
I have numerous CV's aimed at various markets, each gets tweaked to the advertised role. Anything irrelevant is removed with a couple of interesting possibly relevant bits left in.
Not failed me yet.
I do something similar. My base CV covers four pages and I just trim out the detail that is irrelevant to the role. It's just not possible, or even necessary to put all thirty years of experience into the CV.I have numerous CV's aimed at various markets, each gets tweaked to the advertised role. Anything irrelevant is removed with a couple of interesting possibly relevant bits left in.
Not failed me yet.
cat with a hat said:
Four pages? Are you an academic?
Quite common for anyone doing consultancy type work I'd have thought, mine's just spilled on to a 5th page because it covers stuff on jobs that might have only lasted a few months. No prospective employer ever sees that though, it's for my own reference. I've just use the info from it to write a 2 page CV that's tailored to a specific job, so only really refers to relevant experience.ETA: Just checked our CV's folder, one of my colleagues is on 8 pages
I think you've set yourself up in the 'I'm going to fail at this' category before you've ever really got out of bed if I'm honest. And I know why, because when you dont have a job and you cant see much on the horizon, you start to doubt yourself.
I've worked in companies where they've taken in people who've been way overqualified for the job they're doing, but they're happy to bring value and experience to the company. They maybe used 20% of the experience they possess.
But dont most people do that anyway? You learn new things and you dont always use that thing you learned the day after you learned it, or the day after that. It could come in useful 10 years down the line
I think, and you can either agree or disagree, that you're set into a rut you cant get out of. And the best way to get out of it is to go do something completely different.
Your CV isnt overly impressive. You're not 'too' experienced. You've got good skills and experience that might come in useful for your next job, they might not. Trying to leverage all your skills and experiences as tools you can bring in wont work, because no-one needs them day in day out. They might need them for 2 minutes in a meeting next Tuesday when you pop something relevant into discussion.
Slim your CV, talk around how you helped companies do what they want to do, and I think you'll start having more interesting conversations with people.
There's nowt wrong with direct approaches to companies in your area that look interesting. Gotta be better than continually beating yourself up every day and looking at JSA
I've worked in companies where they've taken in people who've been way overqualified for the job they're doing, but they're happy to bring value and experience to the company. They maybe used 20% of the experience they possess.
But dont most people do that anyway? You learn new things and you dont always use that thing you learned the day after you learned it, or the day after that. It could come in useful 10 years down the line
I think, and you can either agree or disagree, that you're set into a rut you cant get out of. And the best way to get out of it is to go do something completely different.
Your CV isnt overly impressive. You're not 'too' experienced. You've got good skills and experience that might come in useful for your next job, they might not. Trying to leverage all your skills and experiences as tools you can bring in wont work, because no-one needs them day in day out. They might need them for 2 minutes in a meeting next Tuesday when you pop something relevant into discussion.
Slim your CV, talk around how you helped companies do what they want to do, and I think you'll start having more interesting conversations with people.
There's nowt wrong with direct approaches to companies in your area that look interesting. Gotta be better than continually beating yourself up every day and looking at JSA
RizzoTheRat said:
cat with a hat said:
Four pages? Are you an academic?
Quite common for anyone doing consultancy type work I'd have thought, mine's just spilled on to a 5th page because it covers stuff on jobs that might have only lasted a few months. No prospective employer ever sees that though, it's for my own reference. I've just use the info from it to write a 2 page CV that's tailored to a specific job, so only really refers to relevant experience.ETA: Just checked our CV's folder, one of my colleagues is on 8 pages
Many a year doing contracting and consulting. Assorted short term contracts, and the longer ones often end up with me doing several different parts of the job. As an example of how complex things can get, on one product design I worked for four different companies.
One thing I have done when speculatively making contact with specialist headhunters is to produce a profile rather than submit a CV. A number have given great feedback on this approach. In reality it's just a hybrid between a covering letter and CV and closer to what you might have on your LinkedIn profile. In certain sectors the jobs for which I am qualified and interested in have very similar requirements ie financial & operational management, working closely with an elected board, overseeing change programs etc etc. So I produced a one page summary evidencing my experience and competence against each common requirement. The second page is just a record of my work history and qualifications but with only the bare essentials. I have found that it serves a more effective way of starting the first conversation. Subsequently they may still want a CV but it saves them having to trawl through content that may, in the first instance, be irrelevant. Also I avoid the cheesy opening summary that some people still use and just stick to the facts.
Yes definitely amend to suit the job. I didn't get a job once because I'd put my degree on the application form this was all the interviewer focused on - but you have a degree! Why would you want this job you have a degree etc... if I had put 3 GCSE's I may have been more successful who knows.
ChasW said:
So I produced a one page summary evidencing my experience and competence against each common requirement. The second page is just a record of my work history and qualifications but with only the bare essentials.
For the the kind of work we do there's usually a list of essential and desired skills. We usually do a 1 page or less table of experience against their required/desired skills, and then a 2 page (although I'm trying to do a 1 pager at the moment which is proving hard work) CV which is very much focused on those requirements but gives more detail. Message me with your current CV. I have done this for loads of PH'ers. The key is to have a good quality CV that is in a format that you can tweak to fit different jobs to put what they want to hear near the top. My CV style also translates well to a LinkedIn page so you can get that going. I normally charge but for PH'ers that are in a bit of a bind I am happy just to get a LinkedIn feedback.
It's easy to get into a position where you second guess what the company may want. The best and most experienced person isn't necessarily the best fit.
Whilst this information is difficult to get pre-interview you may want to find out about why they are recruiting for a role, where it sits in the team/structure. It could be that the team is inexperienced and young and they need a mentor, perhaps they are succession planning based on some more experienced team members moving on, perhaps there is only a small team and they cannot carry an inexperienced person who can only do a small part of the requirement. This type of information you never really see on a job advert. But, if you can get an understanding of the context of the role before the interview it will help you to position yourself appropriately.
Whilst this information is difficult to get pre-interview you may want to find out about why they are recruiting for a role, where it sits in the team/structure. It could be that the team is inexperienced and young and they need a mentor, perhaps they are succession planning based on some more experienced team members moving on, perhaps there is only a small team and they cannot carry an inexperienced person who can only do a small part of the requirement. This type of information you never really see on a job advert. But, if you can get an understanding of the context of the role before the interview it will help you to position yourself appropriately.
andy-xr said:
I think you've set yourself up in the 'I'm going to fail at this' category before you've ever really got out of bed if I'm honest. And I know why, because when you dont have a job and you cant see much on the horizon, you start to doubt yourself.
I've worked in companies where they've taken in people who've been way overqualified for the job they're doing, but they're happy to bring value and experience to the company. They maybe used 20% of the experience they possess.
But dont most people do that anyway? You learn new things and you dont always use that thing you learned the day after you learned it, or the day after that. It could come in useful 10 years down the line
I think, and you can either agree or disagree, that you're set into a rut you cant get out of. And the best way to get out of it is to go do something completely different.
Your CV isnt overly impressive. You're not 'too' experienced. You've got good skills and experience that might come in useful for your next job, they might not. Trying to leverage all your skills and experiences as tools you can bring in wont work, because no-one needs them day in day out. They might need them for 2 minutes in a meeting next Tuesday when you pop something relevant into discussion.
Slim your CV, talk around how you helped companies do what they want to do, and I think you'll start having more interesting conversations with people.
There's nowt wrong with direct approaches to companies in your area that look interesting. Gotta be better than continually beating yourself up every day and looking at JSA
Exactly this. You can get a job in your industry. You need to concentrate on a great CV, a good linkedin profile, post your CV on RELEVANT job sites for your industry and get in touch with as many recruiters and contacts as you can. It is all about Marketing yourself! I've worked in companies where they've taken in people who've been way overqualified for the job they're doing, but they're happy to bring value and experience to the company. They maybe used 20% of the experience they possess.
But dont most people do that anyway? You learn new things and you dont always use that thing you learned the day after you learned it, or the day after that. It could come in useful 10 years down the line
I think, and you can either agree or disagree, that you're set into a rut you cant get out of. And the best way to get out of it is to go do something completely different.
Your CV isnt overly impressive. You're not 'too' experienced. You've got good skills and experience that might come in useful for your next job, they might not. Trying to leverage all your skills and experiences as tools you can bring in wont work, because no-one needs them day in day out. They might need them for 2 minutes in a meeting next Tuesday when you pop something relevant into discussion.
Slim your CV, talk around how you helped companies do what they want to do, and I think you'll start having more interesting conversations with people.
There's nowt wrong with direct approaches to companies in your area that look interesting. Gotta be better than continually beating yourself up every day and looking at JSA
edc said:
It's easy to get into a position where you second guess what the company may want. The best and most experienced person isn't necessarily the best fit.
Whilst this information is difficult to get pre-interview you may want to find out about why they are recruiting for a role, where it sits in the team/structure. It could be that the team is inexperienced and young and they need a mentor, perhaps they are succession planning based on some more experienced team members moving on, perhaps there is only a small team and they cannot carry an inexperienced person who can only do a small part of the requirement. This type of information you never really see on a job advert. But, if you can get an understanding of the context of the role before the interview it will help you to position yourself appropriately.
This makes a lot of difference. Some of the jobs I enquired about are effectively turn arounds, ie something has gone wrong and needs fixing. No way can they say in the ad that the client may have a big problem or be in trouble. However I have started using the term explicity in my profile and giving examples and it's getting noticed. Whilst this information is difficult to get pre-interview you may want to find out about why they are recruiting for a role, where it sits in the team/structure. It could be that the team is inexperienced and young and they need a mentor, perhaps they are succession planning based on some more experienced team members moving on, perhaps there is only a small team and they cannot carry an inexperienced person who can only do a small part of the requirement. This type of information you never really see on a job advert. But, if you can get an understanding of the context of the role before the interview it will help you to position yourself appropriately.
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