Great cv but getting nowhere in job hunt

motorguy

You use the phrase "transferable skills" quite a bit. That translates to me as "no direct skills".

I would say chances are you're up against people with relevant experience for the job role, rather than experience.

Murphybear

Part of the problem might be that I worked as a professional gambler full-time for six years. It isn't phrased that way on my cv though and it actually gave me lots of transferable skills that would be beneficial to employers. I was considered a world class expert in my (somewhat niche) field and I consider myself to be a very intelligent and decent person overall. It's clear whenever people meet me that this is the case.

If you were a world class professional gambler why did you give it up? I’m intrigued.

LilElvis

Reality check. You're now mid thirties, two degrees, two years working for "prestige" employers in entry level positions followed by six years gambling and more time then spent faffing around doing non-jobs like being a "brand ambassador" on an ad-hoc basis. You just don't have experience and are looking at taking entry level positions. Effectively taking time out from your career has cost you dearly.

Marcon

ThisIsTheNewHit wrote: »

I would say my cv is impressive, rather than overconfident or arrogant. I've had friends look it over, I've had their feedback and edited it according to their suggestions.

Toning down my cv would be somewhat depressing. Shouldn't I be proud of my achievements, rather than removing them in order to just secure any job at all? I have some impressive brand names on there that should be helping to open doors for me, in theory.

It may be that my experience is a bit too muddled and unfocused. But there are underlying themes of research/analysis/communication that should be applicable and useful for many different roles.

Having friends review your cv is a hiding to nothing unless they have the professional skills to comment constructively. Get a third party to review it objectively and be prepared to listen to criticism rather than doing what you're doing here - getting defensive.

You can be as proud as you like of your achievements, and the 'impressive brand names', but the reality is they aren't getting you anywhere. You have had a couple of short terms jobs with a bank and a regulator, but frankly not much else - an employer isn't going to be bowled over when you've only managed a year at each.

You say 'there are underlying themes of research/analysis/communication that should be applicable and useful for many different roles' - this sort of fluffy comment is optimistic rather than likely to help, if you can't bring into focus exactly what you are offering and how this matches what an employer is looking for.

If you are pursing entry level positions, then your cv needs to be crafted to encourage an employer to consider you - and backed up with a compelling covering letter setting out quite explicitly why you are the right person for the vacancy, including reassurance that you have plans to stick around for a while, not leg it after a couple of months because you have two degrees, great experience, blah blah blah.

Best of luck!

TELLIT01

How many pages does your CV run to? I suspect, in part from the wording in the original post in this topic, that it could be rather lengthy and going into far too much detail.
When I was made redundant we had a specialist team brought in to help with job search and CV creation. Their opinion was that a CV should never be more than 3 pages at most, and preferably only 2 pages. It needs to make an immediate impact with the personal statement at the beginning. If it doesn't fit those basic criteria it is likely to end up in the reject pile. The CV also needs to be tailored to the specific job, so any skills which aren't relevant should be at the bottom of the list, or removed completely.

[Deleted User]

In reality your CV might be impressive, but if you refuse to edit and change it to tailor it to each job you are applying for your going to get no where.

purpleozzie1

Hi Newhit,

I could probably post a lengthy reply trying to determine where the issues lie, but unless I see your CV I can't comment or make judgement..

I was made redundant a couple of months ago from a Sales director role, I've looked at hundreds of CVs in my time and have a bit of time on my hands.. If you PM your email address I'll happily reply so that you can send me your CV.. I can then tell you what my thought processes would be if that CV landed on my desk.

Cheers,

Murphybear

Jsacker wrote: »

Sometimes the activity just gets tougher, that's what happened with online poker about 13 years ago when the notorious SAFE Port Act 2006 was introduced in USA to 'improve maritime and cargo security through enhanced layered defenses, and for other purposes.'

Of course, completely unrelated legilation was hastily attached to prevent Americans from depositing onto online poker sites and therefore the largest customer base was killed off almost overnight. That's about the time I stopped playing professionally myself because I couldn't make enough money without more serious study of the game (drunk Americans are rubbish at cards).

But who knows in OP's case! I would be curious to know as well.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Takeaway_Addict

LilElvis wrote: »

Reality check. You're now mid thirties, two degrees, two years working for "prestige" employers in entry level positions followed by six years gambling and more time then spent faffing around doing non-jobs like being a "brand ambassador" on an ad-hoc basis. You just don't have experience and are looking at taking entry level positions. Effectively taking time out from your career has cost you dearly.

This with spades.

I'd also add that if someone came to me for an entry level position with two degrees my biased would be that they would be unlikely to stay for over a year- thus if there were two candidates inc yourself but the other had a better work record I would pick them.

Dumb the CV down

SingleSue

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

This with spades.

I'd also add that if someone came to me for an entry level position with two degrees my biased would be that they would be unlikely to stay for over a year- thus if there were two candidates inc yourself but the other had a better work record I would pick them.

Dumb the CV down

This was an issue I had. I have oodles of experience, a fair amount of qualifications and had held senior positions in a corporate setting, however, I had also had a lengthy career break due to providing care for family members.

Unfortunately, I also developed disabilities in the intervening years which meant I could no longer do what I used to do and so was only looking for employment that was more entry level and with reduced hours.

I think the triple whammy of better than required qualifications, a career break and disabilities put a lot of potential employers off with the same thoughts...that it would be a stop gap/I would take too much time off sick etc and I would be refused at application level. I was however lucky that an employer did finally look past all of that and took a chance on me.

I've been there just over two years now, have a perfect attendance record, love my job and my little team and have moved up from the bottom of the pole to second in command.

Looking back, I thought that putting everything on there would somehow counteract the lengthy career break and make me more attractive to potential employers but instead it was making an already eek situation even worse!