help needed

apples101

to aide myself in getting the familly out of debt i need to increase my income.
(no big surprises there for anyone lol)

to this end i need to get my CV done.

can any one point me in the best direction, i work in the mobile comms market as a project manager at the monment but can work in multiple indutries as i am a qualified electrician.

i know i will probibly need two verisions of my cv, but how much does this all cost, and who is the best.....

briona

apples101 wrote:

to aide myself in getting the familly out of debt i need to increase my income.
(no big surprises there for anyone lol)

to this end i need to get my CV done.

can any one point me in the best direction, i work in the mobile comms market as a project manager at the monment but can work in multiple indutries as i am a qualified electrician.

i know i will probibly need two verisions of my cv, but how much does this all cost, and who is the best.....

Hi Apples

I am a Graphic Designer and my very first job involved setting people's CVs. Many of these people had a poor grasp of the English language [well I did work in a crappy printers!] and I used to alter the wording to make their CVs appear more confident and coherent and give the candidate a better chance of getting an interview!

In order to get myself a better job [as I was so badly paid] I used to go into bookshops at lunch time and read all the "how to write a good CV" type books. It paid off for me and for a number of my friends whose CVs I later designed. I am pretty literate with a good grasp of grammar and punctuation. Being a designer I also have a keen eye for detail so the CV will look nice and be typo-free! So, if you would like me to cast my eye over yours and put together a draft in Word or on PDF, simply PM me. And the same goes for anyone else who would like help!

Why pay when someone will offer the service for free!

Best of luck

Briona

apples101

ok,

i'll pm you with cv & current job spec.

Many thanks

Oldernotwiser

Nextstep offer a career information and guidance service for adults and their services are free. They won't produce one for you but they will help you to revamp yours (and yes, you should do different ones for different jobs).

http://www.nextstep.org.uk/

If you are looking at websites and books for information, look at "skills based CVs" as these are a more up to date and flexible way of presenting a CV than the more traditional "chronological" format.

Good luck.

pyrorus

If you do you own remember there simple rules.

Keep it clean and precise - don't waffle, fill in what you want to say andthats it.

Use a good clear font - keep it professional and use fonts like arial, times roman etc. Don't use borders to box things in. it makes the CV look ameuterish. Never use italic and only use bold for headings.

Don't lie or exagerate (sorry can't spell) - A big thing people do on CVs and interviews is to lie or exagerate there abilities OK you may get the job but as your on probabtion for 6 months the new employer will soon find out you lied and you'll soon find yourself unemployed.

The basic layout for a CV would be

Personal Info - Name DOB, Adress, Contact Info (include an email if you have a joke email set up a sensible one on yahoo)

Experiance - Start with your most current job title start date and Leaving date, reason for leaving and a brief description of your duties no more than a paragraph.)

Work backworks to cover all your work experiance. anything not relavant make the description of your duties even briefer.

Qualifications - List all from highest include level grade achieved dates attended. If you are up at Degree/PHD level theres no use wasting paper and listing the monor qualifications so group GCSEs and Olevels together and don't bother with the details. (ONly do this if you are at degree or higher)

Work relelated achievements - any awards you have earned though works or courses attended. If you were Employee of the moth etc. Things that show your willing to go above and beyond.

Personal experiance and achievents - list any hobbies you do. BUT only list those that show you are sociable or willing to look after yourself and not a sad git who sits at home all day.

Referees. You should only have 2 your current employer/last employer and someone who can give a personal reference (not a relative) if you don't want you last employer to know till you leave add a third from someone else and put next to your current "please only contact if position offered" 9 times out of ten they won't bother even if they offer you the place.

Your CV should not exceed 2 types A4 sides. this forces you to be precise and if you imagine your the manager receiveing loads of cvs do you really want to wae though some large waffling document or a short percise professional document.

Hope that helps.

Rus

pyrorus

SOrry I forgot in my last one I set up a web site for you CV.

My current job I set up a website with my CV on and then expanded the cv into loads of detail including topic covered in my degree etc etc.

I then sent a letter to the prospective employers with a very brief CV (About half a page) with a link and the password to my web page.

This lets the employer find out more if they want to. lets you waffle and it shows you are uptodate and willing to use modern techniques.

If you wondering it works I sent this to about 20 prospective employers all of them asked to see me and I was offered a place at 16 of them (and its a very nice feeling being able to barter between 16 people). Almost all of them complimented me on the web site.

You can even spend a couple of quid and register your name as a domain name. ie https://www.JohnSmith.co.uk.

apples101

Thanks Rus,

i have got my web site already. but how did you put a password on it?

pyrorus

apples101 wrote:

Thanks Rus,

i have got my web site already. but how did you put a password on it?

I'll get back to you on that. A freind I know over the internet did mine.

timbo82

I just wanted to add to the above points that you should:

1. Get some good friends/family to check your CV before sending to correct your spelling and grammar, and to remind you of things you've forgotten about (so long as they are worth adding).

2. Make sure you tailor your CV for every application. Its fine having a standard CV where you are making general enquiries but IMO you should always tailor your CV where you are responding to an advert etc. It shows that you care about how you present yourself and aren't someone who sends the same generic message to hundreds of companies.

Good luck!!

timbo82

I just wanted to add to the above points that you should:

1. Get some good friends/family to check your CV before sending to correct your spelling and grammar, and to remind you of things you've forgotten about (so long as they are worth adding).

2. Make sure you tailor your CV for every application. Its fine having a standard CV where you are making general enquiries but IMO you should always tailor your CV where you are responding to an advert etc. It shows that you care about how you present yourself and aren't someone who sends the same generic message to hundreds of companies.

Good luck!!

timbo82

I just wanted to add to the above points that you should:

1. Get some good friends/family to check your CV before sending to correct your spelling and grammar, and to remind you of things you've forgotten about (so long as they are worth adding).

2. Make sure you tailor your CV for every application. Its fine having a standard CV where you are making general enquiries but IMO you should always tailor your CV where you are responding to an advert etc. It shows that you care about how you present yourself and aren't someone who sends the same generic message to hundreds of companies.

Good luck!!