CV writing

[Deleted User]

I'm starting to spruce up my CV and I'm having a little trouble with the grammar I need to use. Do I refer to the job I am currently in the current tense or past tense?

'My role relies' Vs 'My role relied'...

It's linked to this thread

missk_ensington

The present tense, although you should never use any personal pronouns. If you want me to show you my CV as an example send me your email address and I'll forward it to you

Astaroth

If you currently do it then it should be current tense, for previous or terminated roles then it should be past tense.

Whilst certainly the stock advise is not to use personal pronouns I personally dont agree with this both for my own CV and CVs I have received from applicants for jobs. For almost every job I have had the role has been unique to myself and therefore talking in the third person or indefinate doesnt feel to fit.

At the end of the day however there are no true rights or wrongs when it comes to CVs as it all depends on the person reading it and one CV can be rated as excellent by one person and poor by another.

jobbingmusician

A CV is about selling yourself (so that you get shortlisted) so I find the advice about avoiding personal pronouns a bit odd!

An easy way to sort out your tenses is to (maybe mentally) add the word 'current' into the sentence. If you think that what you are writing about is what your current job requires me to do, I don't think you'll be tempted to use the past tense. HTH

HouseHunter_2

I used to write CVs for a living in my role as an Outplacement Consultant (they get brought in when companies are making people redundant). there is actually no right or wrong way of writing a CV however we did find CVs rewritten by our consultants got candidates to more interviews and were therefore doing a better job or selling their skills. While I didn't agree with all the methods the company used for CV writing when I joined, I couldn't help but change my mind as I saw the results that were achieved.

Here are a couple of things we used to suggest:

- Tense: use the past tense as this shows something you have achieved or mastered
- use bullet points as CVs are read on average in 30 seconds
- as you are using bullet points rather than prose, personal pronouns should be omitted
- begin each bullet point with a strong statement. For example rather than "reponsible for filing", put something like "Devised and reliably maintained complex filing system. Close attention to detail ensured that all memebers of staff were able to quickly access the information that they needed, which improved efficiency significantly".

I'm a bit rusty, but that's the sort of thing. Each bullet point should state what you did, the skills you used to do it and the benefit to the company of you doing it. (if you can put numbers in, even better e.g. "by 30%").

date of birth should be on there, but right at the end. there's loads more, but I don't want to bore you with the details! We used to charge around £150 to provate clients for this sort of help, although most were paid for by their insurance company or employer.

jobbingmusician

Thanks HH, this is really useful stuff. You won't bore us with the details!! - please post any more hints as they occur to you!

It's one of those occasions when I am very happy to be proved wrong.

HouseHunter_2

jobbingmusician wrote:

Thanks HH, this is really useful stuff. You won't bore us with the details!! - please post any more hints as they occur to you!

It's one of those occasions when I am very happy to be proved wrong.

OK, if you want to know more, the best place to start is by not having "a cv" but rather to put your cv together for the particular job you are going for. That way you can ensure that it's tailored to the information that the recruiter wants to see rather than having irrelevant stuff on there. Of course as time goes on you'll have a range of different bullet points you can C+P in which makes it easier.

First thing to decide is format. Always go for a two page CV and you need to make sure the important stuff is on the first page. Name at the top as a heading and then address on one line underneath, phone number and email on a line below (so it's like headed paper I suppose). A 3-4 line paragraph listing your key strengths tailored to the role is next and then it's decision time. A functional CV where skills are grouped together regardless of where you obtained them? Or Chronological? That depends on the role and how it relates to your previous career. Page 2 is then the end of your career summary (only go back 10 years) OR a brief career history if you've gone for a functional CV. then a short training and qualifications section, personal details (age and driving licence) then right at the end 3 interests, just briefly listed and nothing contraversial.