C.V/Resume review please

Well since pro C.V writing isnt supposed to be good and I have a new cert I think its time to have my C.V ripped apart by the lovely people of TE

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Techexams_C.V__2013.doc

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Comments

cyberguypr

Multiple issues
- Extremely inconsistent capitalization: "Comptia", "installing ghost images", "The Building and configuration", "XP and server 2008", and many others
- "customer facing" and "trouble shooting" need to be fixed. Always spell and grammar check
- The boxes are driving me crazy. Not digging the format

Now, my biggest issue is that this resume lacks substance. You claim to have been a Technical Engineer as well as an IT analyst. With those titles I would expect way more. You need to show how what you did brought value to the company. Anyone can build, install, configure and troubleshoot. Not everyone can bring solutions to the table that provide value. Again, show which specific contributions resulted in tangible benefits for the company. Example: "implemented X technology resulting in 60% reduction in help desk calls." Or something like "replaced obsolete POS application resulting in improved uptime of 99.99%."

Those things that differentiate you from the rest are what will get you your next job.

dazl1212

Yeah, I have always been rubbish with grammar.
I get what you mean about the "trouble shooting" should be troubleshooting...
But I'm not sure what you mean about the "customer facing bit.
Sorry

dazl1212

Ahhhh it seems I missed the "a" from "working on a customer facing support desk"
Don't know how I missed that....

dazl1212

Bump!!!
Ordered this book to assist me with my new CV that I am going to write
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1580628559/ref=asc_df_158062855913052995?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=hydra0b-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=1580628559&hvpos=1o1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3462849262006953765&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

Asif Dasl

I would agree with cyberguypr says. Go to borders in Word and put them to none it looks ugly with borders set to black, and flesh out your job tasks where you can. Keep it to one page.

dazl1212

Thanks man. It might be worth me cutting down on the details for the Customer service role and maybe my first IT gig?
I'm off tomorrow so I may completely do it from scratch

jonny72

- Not sure about the general structure. Mine goes profile, key skills, technical skills, work history, education.
- Avoid terms (ie ANPR) that most people would have to Google to understand.
- Play down proprietary technology unless relevant for the jobs you're going for.
- You've got 8 years experience in IT but the CV doesn't sell that.
- Google for some example IT CV's and use them to re-work your experience.
- Get rid of the boxes and expand it to two pages.

dazl1212

Thanks Jonny I have redone it.
This is only my first draft but I think it's a lot better

Latest C.V Public.doc

dazl1212

Anybody?
Does anybody know how to update the title so I can tell people I have redone it?

Danielm7

I stopped at
8 years’ experience
There is no ' needed there. If I stopped at the first sentence and I'm surely not a master of grammar, other people will too.

dazl1212

Apparently it is correct
Apostrophes in time (temporal) expressions

ptilsen

Eight years of experience
OR
Eight years' experience

Either is correct, but "8 years' experience" is not. I would say "years of experience" is more standard both in written and spoken language, and would go with that. That might be different regionally, however, and being from the UK you can probably trust your gut or at least your countrymen over me. As long as we're nitpicking, "problem solving" in Job 2 needs to be hyphenated and "repair" should be capitalized in "NVQ Level 2 in IT repair."

What's with Job 3 being there twice, but with different title's and a time gap between them? Were they the same company, or did you mean to put "Job 4?"

On each description, you have a mix of present progressive ("Building") and past ("Provided") tenses. Stick to one tense, preferably past IMO. You can do current tense on your current job, although I would say that doesn't matter much.

Perhaps more importantly, the descriptions are extremely bland and simple, to the point that I can't tell how advanced the work might have been. What I would recommend (and constantly do) is something like this:
Employer
Title

date to date
One-to-three sentence, concise description of the job duties of the title, (again, preferably in past tense).
*Non-sentence description of major accomplishment, project, or remarkable duty
*Another
*And one to three more

Ideally, you "skills" should show up in there to the point that you don't need a skills section. If you feel you have truly applicable skills that can't be honestly reflected in your work experience, you can keep a skills section, but that is really the only reason I would. You have enough experience that you shouldn't need that.

You have a mix of sentences and fragments (sentences with contextually implied subjects, in this case) in your "Profile." I actually prefer to drop the "I" in a summary or profile (using the first person at all is generally bad in formal documents, including resumes) and use fragments, but either way it needs to be consistent. You do have the right idea with the profile itself, however, and it is actually my favorite part of the resume. I have typically seen it called a "summary," but that doesn't matter as much.

Finally, your goal should be to either fill one or two pages. Depending on how much deeper your experience is than what you're showing us, you could potentially fill two pages (I have been in the workforce since 2005, and I can easily do it), but with the current content it looks like it should fit in one.

After all that, we could look at formatting or font changes, but getting grammar, style, and content fixed should be your main priority.

Danielm7

dazl1212 wrote: »

Apparently it is correct
Apostrophes in time (temporal) expressions

Heh, I did make the disclaimer that I'm not a master of grammar. But, it still looks odd.

dazl1212

Thank you Ptilsen I will change them. 8 years of experience does sound better even if both are correct.
It might be a regional think hence Daniel picking up on it.
I will implement the changes you mentioned P.
I appreciate the effort that went into writing that
Thanks again.
I will re upload it after I have been to the gym

jonny72

- I never remember the correct term for this but use the same tense in your job description bullet points, or put simply change all the words to ...ing from ...ed so they all match up.
- Add your school exams to the qualifications section, ie GCSE's and A levels.
- Work on the job description bullet points, more detail, more skills used, more information and so on. So rather than "selling loans" maybe "advising on and selling financial products to customers". Or something like that.
- Profile section is good, write the rest of the CV like that. Again, probably drop the "I am", "Also" and bits like that to make it a statement.

dazl1212

I think I'm going to do this at weekend. A lot of work needs doing