CV Layouts, Examples Professional

glenwheeler

glenwheeler

Senior Member
Hi Guys,

I am a gradute of University of Teesside and have gained a 2:1 in BSc in Computing. I have been out of University now for 3 months and am really struggling to find a job. The area's IU am looking to work in is web development or IT Networks. I feel that my CV is not doing the job and would like to see examples of peoples to see where I am going wrong? or maybe just some tips to improve my CV.

Thanks Guys,
Glen
 
For me the first problem is it's too long. I have little to no experience in dealing with CV's, but try and get it on one page if you can. The large paragraphs are too daunting and probably wont get read.

At a bare minimum everything needs to be aligned properly (dates of achievements & bottom right 2nd page for example).

Try and design something more interesting if you can, for example this tutorial:
Create a Grid Based Resume/CV Layout in InDesign
 
Portrait A4

One side maximum.

Minimum text - don't bore any potential employer. Bullet points if you have to.

Make it stand out.


Stay clear of clip art (i've seen some shockers!)
 
Ive seen some absolutely terrible CV's in my time it has to be said.. some using far too much clipart (exactly the same as you Ross) :lol:
 
I am in a similar position with a CV and job.

But what I would say is that you need some sort of introduction/personal profile at the beginning or it just looks like the results of an experiment.

As said the alignment needs to be a lot better and lets it down.
 
Small intro, shorter end sections, alignment, very nice in my opinion otherwise, I think printing it off and looking at it from far away gives a good indication of how busy / normal it looks
 
Ok, Glen try the following.....

Sort the formatting out on your Address, rather then being all on one line, split it down like you would do with a formal letter. Also remove the fact you have a full driving licence from this section too, its irrelevant in this location.

Remove the colured formatting on your section titles; a simply Bolding will sufice....

My cv consists of this.....

(top of page) Name,
Address,
Contact Details

section1
Profile: a bit of blurb about yourself including key aspects which will make you ideal for the position your applying for no more than 2 paragraphs.

section2
Expereince: talk about specific industry related experience you have for the role in which your applying for, your first paragraph should tell the reader why your the best candidate, if you have no direct experience, fall back to the closest match again, tie in keywords for the job role, and identify skills within your experience that are transferrable to the role your applying for. Again no more than 2 paragraphs.

section3
Recent Employment History
The most recent job you have had that is directly related to the role in which your applying for, list exact role and key responsabilities, again the responsailitys should be listed in preference to the role your applying for.

A single paragrah should be enough

put down no more than 3 roles that are related, and additionally in chronological order, ala oldest last in the list. If you gain do not have any specific related employment history, choose the closest match, then fill with other employment history. Again list key responsibilities that will be sort after or transferable to role your applying for.

section 4
Education
Typically Uni - College and GCSE's dont bother listing all subjects in GCSE's as its a gimme that you should have 5+ c's and above.

section5
Reference: give two references, make sure that these reference are available and that the company will freely give them, nothing worse then being offered the job to find out you didnt get it, because your reference dont give references or cant remember you.

section:
additional supporting ingo
drivers license, first aid etc.

My final point is, your CV will be competing with potential 20+ other candidates and depending on the job role / type your going for your needs to be clear concise and readable. If you cant make your CV look professional how will you be able to produce professional result on behalf of a company thats paying your wages.

PS. you should aim to get all of that in on 1 side of a4 and make sure that your formating and alignment is rock solid!


interview techniques... well first you need to find out whether or not your being interviewed by a man or a woman..... :)
 
Think I've covered this topic before for someone.....Anyway, I have a bucketload of CV's on file and they are all as interesting as a tax return. While too many people over-design CV's there should be a sense of creative layout/typography or design skill reflected in the CV. Think a bit more creatively if it's a one to one specific send for an advertised job. Attach it to a box of jam doughnuts or something. Send a photo, add some personality od some sort, otherwise it's just information. This is a creative environment we exist in.
 
whilst I agree with what Berry has to say if your applying for a creative role, an IT position in an accountancy firm may not appreciate a CV glued to a wodden stick bouncing around in a 3foot pink and grey striped box :) ...

i digress, what should be made clear is that your CV is tailored to the industry and specify role in which your applying for, if the industry/role allows for greater creative freedom then perhaps a more flamboyant approach would be the order of the day.
 
Some good advice in this thread, as the others have said 1 side of A4 is best, as pages can't get separated and lost, imagine the potential employer losing the page with your contact details. With mine I've just kept it simple and clean design-wise, content wise keep it brief and to the point, as already mentioned the people reading these will have seen 10s/100s! and don't include 'I like socialising' as a hobby, include your interesting points that stand out :)
 
seems to be a popular topic Greg :) we should do a sticky thread about how to make the best CV? :) would be an idea :)
 
Berry said:
Attach it to a box of jam doughnuts or something. Send a photo, add some personality od some sort, otherwise it's just information. This is a creative environment we exist in.
Click to expand...

We once took on junior who sent her cv in with a hand made box of cakes with the agency logo on top of each cake. Looked fantastic and very professional - stood out a mile off from the other potentials.

Cakes lasted longer than she did.

And were tastier.
 
All the articles I read said no more than 2 pages but its all relative - Someone in this thread said no more than 1 page, if you can write a cv on one page your not worth employing because your probably not human. its the ONLY thing representing you when applying for a job so it needs to be detailed enough to be useful but not ott.

My CV actually spans 3 pages now but includes images (mini portfolio & interests) and I've tried to keep block text to a minimum.

Not perfect but hopefully useful in some way:
Brendan 'br3n' Patterson - Designer of furniture & graphics
 
My CV covers only 2 pages.. bullet points and small blurbs, and then a 10 page portfolio sample PDF.. my CV is in Word these days, as people seem to ask it to be a .doc file nothing more nothing less.. I let my work do the talking for me, not how well I have designed my CV.. seems to have worked thus far :D :lol:
 
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