Messy CV! Should I list part-time jobs?!
I graduated in 2004 and have had one full time job since. Now i want to apply for new jobs but im not sure how to lay me CV out. Should I put my current job first, then my degree, a-level, GCSE results? Or should I keep my degree first (it is a media degree and not relevant to the generic Admin Assistant jobs i am going for). Also what about the part time (mainly shop/cashier stuff) jobs i had whilst at uni? Should I even mention these? So far my CV looks like this:
Personal Details
Skills Summary
My current job
Education
Work Experience (here i have put the part-time jobs and voluntary work i have done)
Activities & Interests
References
Does this look a bit messy? Please help!
Thank you
sunchime Sun 11/05/08 11:41
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Question Author
ok, i meant to put 'my cv' not 'me cv'... That sounds really great. Doh!
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Your experience is more important to the reviewer than your education, so always put your employment history before your education.
For each role you’ve had, include these:
Job title
Company name
Date (ideally to the month) you started and finished
Very brief description of the activities you did and the responsibilities you had, describe the projects you were involved in, and state any awards you gained.
Those should be listed in reverse chronological order, so that the first one is your current role.
If you've been doing voluntary work that has nothing to do with the role you're applying for, it'll only get in my way. So, if you can, remove it completely, or move it to the activities & interests section. The summer holiday stuff is not relevant really, but be ready to discuss it at an interview. This goes for any period of time that is unaccounted for in the work experience or education history too.
So, here’s the general outline:
Personal Details (you might want to include a short, snappy personal introduction)
Skills Summary (include how much time you’ve spent using a particular skill)
Work Experience
Education
Activities, Hobbies & Interests
I’d hesitate to put references on the CV itself, but I suspect that’s a personal preference on my part.
Some other general advice: keep it short & relevant (two or three pages should do it). Bonus points are awarded for accurate & continuous timelines and you’re awarded nothing if you say you enjoy socialising. It is quite possible that your CV will be faxed a number of times, so avoid arty fonts, photos and embossed paper. If you’re posting a CV, make it stand out using non-white (but not dark) paper.
And finally, don’t be afraid to leave things out. Revealing new things about yourself at interview will make
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(Didn't realise there was a maximum length!) Here's that last paragraph:
And finally, don’t be afraid to leave things out. Revealing new things about yourself at interview will make you immediately more memorable. But use careful judgement if doing that!
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Hi,
I went on a CV writing course, and they told me to keep my CV to two pages max, the tutor said any more pages than that, and it doesn't get read properly.
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When I was at the beginning of my career I did a lot of temping, but obviously could not list every job on my CV. As the job I did at each of these places was pretty similar I just put it all in one paragraph. E.g.
I spent three years temping. Some of the companies I worked for included:
Joe Bloggs Inc
Mickey Mouse Ltd
During this period I gained experience in blah blah...
I didn't want to leave this out as I worked for some impressive sounding companies when I was temping and I had also gained valuable skills during this period.
In a couple of interviews the interviewer asked for more details about my temping jobs.
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