Be a recruiter for 5 minutes

CYPER

Can you please spare 5 minutes of your time and tell me which CV is more likely to get your attention and why.

CV1
CV2

Any tips are also much appreciated.

Thank you.

Linton

IMHO CV2 looks easier to read, but I think you need to focus your CV to the job you are after. If you want a cheffing job there's no point in listing your computer experience in detail. If you want a computer job suggest you could explain how you got your knowledge and cover your kitchen work in a paragraph.

I feel your assertions of being a perfect employee need some evidence in the context of the type of job you are after. So if you want a kitchen job perhaps you could use the OU and computer knowledge as evidence of your enthusiasm, ability to plan etc and for a computer job use your kitchen experience as evidence of hard work, ability to get on with other people, understanding of customers etc.

Slinky

I think CV1 looks more visually attractive, but I think you need to expand your personal statement from the rather wooly description you have at the moment.

Presumably you want to use your business studies degree, tell people in your statement what it is you are looking for as all the work experience you have at the moment is not really relevant.

Tailor the statement for each job you apply for to make it relevant as to why you are applying.

Lovelyjoolz

I don't much like either of them. Neither of them tells me very much about you.

Your personal statement is lacking. It tells me nothing about what you are looking for, or what you are hoping to achieve. The first sentence is ok, if a bit of a cliche, but the second sentence is just flannel. Sharpen this up because the reader may decide whether to bin or continue reading based on your personal statement.

You make statements that you do not provide evidence for. For example, you state that you have leadership skills - what skills? Where did you learn them? What achievements in leadership can you put down on your CV to impress me?

There are some spelling and grammatical errors that you need to address, especially the American spelling which really sets my teeth on edge. Your sentence structures are wrong. You write as if you are chatting to someone, where a CV needs to be formal.

As Linton says, your computer knowledge is irrelevant if you are looking for a kitchen job. Decide what job you want and then tailor your CV so that the relevant skills and experience you have that fit the job spec are foremost in your CV.

I'm recruiting at the moment, so this subject is forefront in my mind and I'm sorry, but as it is at the moment, your CV would be destined for the bin.

bluenoseam

CV 1 has potential, however the layout is not as clean as could be (for example one job is split over a page break - not major but it's something which when added to others will mark it down). There's also the the problem with CV1 that it's very vague in some parts while there's an over abundance of information in others - you've described in intimate detail the courses of your degree with the OU but haven't said what grades you got with school subjects.

Your descriptions of the jobs are also terribly vague, as far as it goes you've done nothing to upsell your place in previous employment which doesn't make you look attractive when compared with people who WILL big themselves up.

You have listed selective interests, but that could have been written with a lot more passion & been used to highlight your multi language skills, but do you believe that every job will be looking for a native Bulgarian speaker with a basic ability in Russian too? That's not going to be relevant for every job.

CV2 is far too cluttered, looks as if it's been knocked up in 5 minutes and in a situation where there's only one piece of paper left in the entire world.

jfh7gwa

The format of them both is fine, but I prefer number 1.

Neither of them screams "this person would be perfect for X position"... and that's nothing to do with lack of experience, it's all about selling yourself. Others have highlighted some of the more obvious things such as focusing down on one aspect when you do the applications (if you're doing something with your business degree, why does a recrutier care for so much detail of your catering experience? Why, if you're applying for a lower level kitchen job, would they care for your computing studies?)... etc etc

Kynthia

I prefer CV1 as I like the font and elements of the layout. It's clean and elegant, but there is room for improvement.

Please check the spelling on your Word is set to English (UK) as organisation shouldn't have a Z in it. I'd also prefer traditional brackets () instead of the squared ones [].

The personal statement isn't very personal. It doesn't tell me much about you and could be written about almost anyone. I'd prefer it to say about what your career aspirations are, what type of job you are looking for. If it's different from your prior experience perhaps why you've changed direction or why you think you'd be good at the new work.

With your employment history I'd also expand upon the roles you had and the skills you learnt that are transferable to any job. For example "dealing with customer requests/complaints" could be expanded to say that this gave you face to face experience with customers' and taught you how to find out more information on what customers needs were which allowed you to meet their needs, also you learnt to diffuse tense situations and resolve conflict. Did you cash up your till when working as a cashier as this would show you were responsible and have a good level of maths/mental arithmetic. When working with the chef did you perform some kind of quality control which maintained high standards and prevented disappointed customers.

I think you can take less room to show your language skills, as it looks odd to show it in table form when your competency is the same for each language. I'd maybe just say that your written and aural skills for English and Bulgarian are excellent, plus you have a basic level of Russian.

You don't want a bland CV that is forgettable and the same as everyone else's. Try to ensure that everything you are including is useful, specific, makes you stand out but lets a potential employer you can possibly do the job so they should interview you.

Elvisia

Do it skills based maybe, so you list your skills? I would never put my education ahead of my work experience on a CV. You look to me as someone who has a business degree but little work experience and wouldn't be looking for a particularly high up job. I think as others have said you need to tailor the CV depending on the job. Do you also need to say you speak basic Russian, I used to teach English as a foreign language and if someone could speak it at the basic level that wasn't enough to be able to use it in a job. I wouldn't have thought that many jobs require Russian, and if they do, they'd want it at a higher level? (We had someone who worked for us who said on his CV he spoke Latin and Ancient Greek - ho ho ho - and since I studied Latin I tried speaking some to him and he looked completely flummoxed, then a colleague tried a phrase in Ancient Greek and he had no idea what we were saying).

Having said this I have seen far worse CVs out there, so well done you for being able to competently use a template! You'd be surprised how many people can't.

MissSarah1972

Organizational, with a z?

KiKi

Number 1 is much more professional looking.

However, I don't think your CV says anything enough about you, your experience, or what you can bring to the role. Your personal statement needs to be much clearer and specific.

Your whole CV needs to be more more specific to any role you apply for.

KiKi

MrSnuggles

Honestly, while CV2 is better, they're both terribly written CVs.