Employers: What do you look for on a CV?

dseventy

My opinion :

1)Just stand out. I can spot a Job Centre CV/downloaded internet CV template/Word template a mile away.
2)Don't do any internet links in your CV (I dont want to look at your facebook/linkedin/myspace link for more info - thats why I asked for your CV!).
3) Tailor your CV to your application. (Its a put off to see you want to work in retail when I dont own a retail company)

HTH
D70

Elvisia

If you are rewriting your CV to apply for a very specific role then imagine your CV is in a big pile of CVs all going for this job, and that you have only a moment to skim read it and make a decision. Does your CV sell you straight off, and would you interview you? Do remember that most people won't have the time to read the whole thing, and generally read personal statement (does it match up with what we put in the advert) and work experience. Have you written clearly what you've done, so many CVs are confusing to read.

Also the PhD thing is interesting - I was employing someone to work as my assistant and he had a spectacular list of employment and qualifications, turns out he was SEVENTEEN when I was expecting someone in their late forties. He was obviously being extremely economical with the truth. So a PhD at 23 would be rather an extravagant claim, and I would be looking to check which academic institution they were doing it through. A colleague of mine claimed to be doing a PhD in 2 years, alarm bells rang even louder when she said it was 10,000 words long instead of around 100,000, and that she was getting a BA and MA at the same time. Turned out the university wasn't accredited, and they were literally printing off qualifications.