900 applications in 2020 and no job [Part 2]

Sorcerer2018

If i was looking at your CV my first concern would be you don't seem to hold a job for very long about 1.5 years per job. You also seemed to have started in services moved to IT and then back to the service sector. Perhaps look for an entry level IT job, but they are hard to get these days. What type of jobs are you applying for.

Littlemidi

Sorcerer2018 said:

If i was looking at your CV my first concern would be you don't seem to hold a job for very long about 1.5 years per job. You also seemed to have started in services moved to IT and then back to the service sector. Perhaps look for an entry level IT job, but they are hard to get these days. What type of jobs are you applying for.

From the bottom: First job laid off, second job didn't get along with people and office closed 3 months afterwards, third job had 7-8 jobs (interdepartmental reassignments) because the boss kept reassigning everyone, they got fired and I quit over this, forth job was 2 because they kept firing people or they walked out (same boss from before) and I got reassigned, fifth job temp, sixth job temp. 

My history has serious gaps because I choose to take on risk. These are companies who do not train or invest in their employees, and it is ultimately up to the individual to take responsibility for their own continuing development and experience. It is not unreasonable to want and demand more. Half of the companies on my CV no longer even operate at the address I worked. Why do they get to move around and I can't? And why am I not allowed to experiment and fail sometimes? 

Of course you cannot have the mentality to just throw the blame on your previous employers. I'd like a stable background where everything is nice and clean. But I can't afford that. These are dead end jobs in companies with poor reputations and these were the best I could get at the time. They're still trading, and I can't get a job. 

Jsacker said:

People getting bogged down with the mathematics here which is quite funny given I could theoretically fire off 100 job applications with just 1 click of a button! Won't get a job due to lack of personalisation, mind you!

In terms of your question, I'm personally not a huge fan of your CV if that is what it looks like. Reasons for not liking it:

- Titles don't really *jump out* for me (and using "Employment Cont." as a new section makes it look like it isn't linked to your Employment section)

- Job history is quite in-depth for all of them, which is good in one respect BUT I'd argue you only need to expand the most recent/relevant job you've done, and keep the rest short.

- It's the sort of CV which I personally would need to sit down and have a cup of tea to read it. May work for a few employers but a lot will be wanting to skim read it, and find the key words/skills. Nothing really jumps off the page to me here, and that could be for being a tad wordy (previous point) or job titles not bolded, or spacing being quite close together.

- Personally, I'd be aiming for one page unless I'm applying for a more senior role!

- Your training section is good, but there might be *too much* there? I'd personally include only training relevant to the job. Also, why have you listed Level 2 English & Maths if you are educated to degree level?

Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated. It's difficult to know how to market my last jobs, they were only fixed term contracts, but removing them would make me look as if I was unemployed for a year, I've already tried this route and recruiters have wanted to know more about those jobs. I got really good feedback on those jobs too so leaving them out feels unworkable. Do I need to start off with things like "Managing" and "Improving" more when I never really managed or improved anything>

theoretica

Littlemidi said:

Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated. It's difficult to know how to market my last jobs, they were only fixed term contracts, but removing them would make me look as if I was unemployed for a year, I've already tried this route and recruiters have wanted to know more about those jobs. I got really good feedback on those jobs too so leaving them out feels unworkable. Do I need to start off with things like "Managing" and "Improving" more when I never really managed or improved anything>

Did the job advert or use the word managing or improving?  If so work them in, or whatever other words you see the employer is looking for.