Critique my CV

Hi

A friend of mine is currently out of work and i've suggested he revise his CV. I've made a few suggestions but I think at the CV workshop he goes to, they've not been that helpful and haven't really given him good advice. I've suggested making his CV more achievement based as opposed to it reading like a shopping list where the job history is.

Job he's after is in admin although he's looked at retail work too.

He has been out of work for 4 years.Please see link
Admin CV.docx

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Ciscodian

anyone?
I know it isn't IT related but any suggestions would be appreciated

Ciscodian

75 views and no comments.Please take the time to review it.Feedback will be helpful

DigitalZeroOne

Keep in mind that some people (like myself) get on these forums during work hours, I was blocked when I clicked on the link. I'll check it out later though.

lantech

There are a couple of things.

1) There is a 3rd page on there that is completely blank. It needs to be removed.

2) The font on it seems pretty big. It would probably make the resume shorter if the font size was reduced.

3) He needs to work on the formatting of the document. It appears that there may be more space in between some headings than others. For example the space in between the Education heading and his education appears to be different than for his employment history

4) Not sure if it's just me and not understanding how schools work where you are from but the education section is confusing. Does he had a degree or any certifications?

5) He might also consider putting the dates on the right hand side of the page rather than on the left

6) His last two jobs don't have end dates on them. It looks like he is currently working two jobs right now. Also try and put the months he started and stopped each job.

7) Under the skills section be as specific as possible. It says full use of Microsoft packages but what specific programs is he referring to?

Just a few things to get you started.

MrXpert

cv needs a lot of work, in particular the opening profile statement needs to be shorter and should not focus so much on wanting training to work in an office. It makes this person sound like they have very little experience and no company wants to spend time training someone on how to work in an office.

I'd also remove the following
"full use of microsoft packages" and replace it with something better written
Under the employment history the word "stock" is repeated over and over again and gives the impression that the candidate has been a warehouseman or merchandiser. This may not be the impression he wants to relay to anyone reading the CV, especially if its an admin job he's after.

The tasks listed under each company he worked for should be more achievement based as opposed to laundry list style which Ciscodian mentioned earlier.

Is he still working for Poundland and WH Smith? it is not clear. Putting "2008" and no finish date is not informative enough.

As he has been out of work since 2008, what else has he done? I have seen he's done 3 short courses but has he built on this? He did an ITQ Level 1 and did not proceed onto Level 2...why not? He's done a Dreamweaver course level 2 in 2010 but there is no mention of Level 1. How come? why did he just stop there. If he's really got his heart set on working in administration then he needs to bolster his CV further by doing courses more closely related to his job goals. I don't see how doing a web design course would help him in administration. What's he been doing this year? My advice is for him to do some good courses and ones which are worthwhile to his end goals because at the moment his CV gives the impression he lacks focus and direction.

Another concern is his work history. What was he doing from the years 1993 to 1999? Looks like he left school and then took 6 years to find work. Did he work? did he do any courses? employers will always pick up on these big gaps and could assume the worst.

Michael2

My two cents: You need to be more specific with the dates. Include months, not just years. For the Poundland entry in your Employment History, you just wrote the year 2008. Did you work their the entire year, or just one month? Same goes for education.

Don't use things like "Level 1." In fact, you might even want to include an additional heading titled "Programming Languages" or something like that.

Change "Key Skills" to Core Skills because it will look better. "Full use of all Microsoft packages" is probably too broad. Just put MS Office; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and then put the years after each one. The reason is that the only time you indicate having used that software is in 2009 at Bexley. That doesn't necessarily mean you know MS Office 2010.

Next to Web design, put the language or languages in parentheses so people will know how you design web pages. What if their software doesn't support DreamWeaver? Do you know HTML or CSS?

Break up your skills category into hard skills and soft skills.

You also list duties at your previous jobs but no results. Employers want to know how you helped the companies you worked at, and they want you to quantify those results with phrases like 'cut costs by x%' or 'increased productivity by x%'. This is the most difficult part of writing any resume, I think, because often times when you've just held entry level positions it's unclear what the results of your work have been. I'm in the same boat with my resume. I'm just telling you what I've picked up.

GOZCU

I dont like the headline :" Personal Profile" cv is all about your personal profile. I prefer the headline :" Professional Objective"

Ciscodian

I checked with him for better clarification. He only worked at Poundland for 3 months. At WH Smith he was there for 3months. In reality he only worked at MP Sales for 1 year not 7. He has stretched the truth on this a bit. He's not done any learning this year apart from going on a "Employability" and "BTEC Work skills course" which was funded by the government's job centre.

He does not know HTML or CSS programming and his ability to use Dreamweaver is based on the WYSIWYG interface.I did mention transforming his job duties into more accomplishment based but so far it's fallen on dead ears.
Maybe your advice will help.
Having an Objective instead of "Personal Profile" is a good point.Thank you.

MrXpert

Yeh that "truth stretching" could get him into trouble if they go back and ask for references. If he worked at MP Sales from 1999-2000 then still got 6-7 years of unknown in there.As his next entry is 2007.

What was he doing from 2000-2006 and from 1993-1999
That is 12 years of unaccounted history. A friend of mine recently went for an interview and was asked to explain a 4 month gap in his CV. Easy enough to explain but when you have gaps as big as 6 years that indicates a problem. Employers will assume the worst unless you tell them otherwise.

My honest advice is to do some volunteering work maybe and/or do some decent courses. Don't declare the BTEC employability or how to work courses as these only would give the employer the impression that these were job centre hand outs and the he's struggling to get work.
Need to think on your feet, get motivated and work as a volunteer or do some admin or Microsoft office course.Has he considered that? what's his typing speed? i've seen some people declare this on CVs if its really good.

Ciscodian

His typing speed is 30wpm. He's changed his CV a bit since my original posting but he's added Hobbies and "References On Request" to his CV. I told him that employers are not interested in what you do outside of work and rarely will even ask you this. references on request is a given usually so don't see why that needs to put down. His employment advisor told him to put these sections in.

Thanks for your help.

Ciscodian

Please see attached revised CV

Admin CV2.docx

I don't know what he's been doing in those gap years. He's spent a lot of his time this year learning to drive and this has been his main goal.

MrXpert

Your friend's CV is looking a bit better but got to remove interests/hobbies section (it's very old fashioned)and get rid of that 3rd page because it looks bad if he's applying for Admin/office jobs and doesn't know how to edit a document.
30 words per minute is well below average and he needs to be hitting 45wpm + at least if he's to be considered dangerous. It states data entry and proficient in Word etc so gotta back that up with evidence. Has he considered a typing course?
i've been out of work too for a long time but got some qualifications and have used my time wisely before getting a new job.

No offence but your pal needs to sort out what he wants to do and get on and get some experience and do some courses to show he's still keen and doing something constructive with his time. Learning to drive seems like an odd priority for someone who has been out of work for 4 years unless he's aiming for a career change to delivery driver? I don't mean any offence by this

He's had a lot of unexplained gaps in his CV and all that time should be shown to have been used for the better.
Qualifications won't mean he gets the job but at least they will help someone get an interview(this maybe half the battle!
!) and doing something while you're not working is a good way to keep learning and improving your skills. Unfortunately most employers will view him as someone who doesn't do anything with his time apart from listen to music and collect stamps in the periods of time he's been out of work. It's the cold hard truth of the matter. No offence intended.

Ciscodian

MrXpert wrote: »

Your friend's CV is looking a bit better but got to remove interests/hobbies section (it's very old fashioned)and get rid of that 3rd page because it looks bad if he's applying for Admin/office jobs and doesn't know how to edit a document.
30 words per minute is well below average and he needs to be hitting 45wpm + at least if he's to be considered dangerous. It states data entry and proficient in Word etc so gotta back that up with evidence. Has he considered a typing course?
i've been out of work too for a long time but got some qualifications and have used my time wisely before getting a new job.

No offence but your pal needs to sort out what he wants to do and get on and get some experience and do some courses to show he's still keen and doing something constructive with his time. Learning to drive seems like an odd priority for someone who has been out of work for 4 years unless he's aiming for a career change to delivery driver? I don't mean any offence by this
He's had a lot of unexplained gaps in his CV and all that time should be shown to have been used for the better.
Qualifications won't mean he gets the job but at least they will help someone get an interview(this maybe half the battle!
!) and doing something while you're not working is a good way to keep learning and improving your skills. Unfortunately most employers will view him as someone who doesn't do anything with his time apart from listen to music and collect stamps in the periods of time he's been out of work. It's the cold hard truth of the matter. No offence intended.

No offence taken.Your advice is much appreciated. He had looked into doing an ITQ Level 2 course or EDCL but says it costs too much at £330. I am not aware of other options.

MrXpert

hey,got your PM.
There's no need to put "references available on request". It is like stating the obvious. If a potential employer wants a reference they will ask you whether or not its on your CV. I've never been to an interview where they asked me for my hobbies and I've been working for the last 15-20 years and been to about 25 interviews some of which were sales and customer service type jobs.

I don't like giving financial advice but if your friend has been collecting stamps, going to concerts and is a "hifi enthusiast" couldn't he have used that money he spent on his expensive hobbies to finance his course? couldn't he have ditched learning to drive and replaced it with something like further qualifications to help him get a job? In the grand scheme of things £300 quid isn't a lot of money.It's minimal investment for maximum return. If he's serious about getting a job he would do this rather than complain about costs. I don't know if you know the true story about the 84 year old Kenyan man who went back to school when the government in his country invoked the free education for all act. Isn't that inspiring.He walked several miles to the school with a walking stick just to be able to learn.

There's loads of people on this site that have had money troubles including myself. I was homeless for a short period of time but you can't let that be an obstacle nor can you make excuses because there's always someone out there with bigger problems.

He has to ask himself
1. What have I been doing for the last 4 years? going to concerts? buying stamps? etc?
2.Have I done anything productive in the last 4 years to help me find a job and did I follow it through and build upon it?

Then compare the two answers.

Ciscodian

Thanks MrXpert;that's very helpful advice:)