On the other hand, when I block out an hour of five people's time (spread across multiple departments and often timezones) to perform an interview, then we discover that you're inappropriate for the job because you were "vague" about what you can actually do, there are now have 5 folks who are pretty annoyed their time has been wasted.
This is particularly true for jobs of a "hard skilled" nature, where your "soft skills" (ie: how well you can interview) are relatively unimportant. For jobs in sales and the like, it's somewhat reversed.
I will concede that vague and/or stupidly worded job advertisements exacerbate this problem, however. I do always try to be reasonably specific with my job advertisements (and still get applications from people completely and utterly unsuited for the position ).
Precisely! So I just revamped the CV and took it off. And have sent off an application so we'll see. Next time the photo comes off too, though at least it's a fairly decent one! Well, wouldn't have included it if it wasn't would I!!
ok here is to bring back an extremely useful topic.
I am probably going to convert to Europass, at least look into it more.
Now here is a disagreeable bit.
What to do about failures? More specifically in educational terms.
Does one simply mention:
-dates
-school
-subject
but NOT the diploma?
The reasons for not having succeeded/completed could be multiple yet that time should be included as it represents a healthy chunk of time.
People also find ways to put a creative spin on failures ... well what to do in this case?
I'm sure hard questions regarding the diploma could come along during the interview process and it could also be something that could make the resume/cv go straight to the "denied" box
I've read through this whole thread and there seems to be lots of different ideas into what makes a good cv. When i was applying for jobs 3 years ago I was told that the CV must be concise, relevant to the job advert and free of grammar mistakes. Also as long as it doesn't exceed 2 pages its fine. Whenever i tried writing it all on one page it came across as a list and i couldn't find space for any description of my previous jobs/education. Presentation can only get you so far though. I still think your best chances of getting an interview are if you have a very good work and educational history ie. working for top companies, studying at the best universities, publications, no gaps in your cv etc.. Also if your skills/experiences are perfect or near perfect match for the job then your chances are greatly improved. Finally having good contacts or knowing people in the company can't be underestimated. In todays market without some or all of the last 3 you are going to struggle to get a good job no matter how well presented your cv is.
I think if you're applying for a professional position your CV should be long enough to list your relevant experience and to provide a profile of your professional successes.
The more years you've been working and generated outcomes, the more difficult it is to limit the page count.
on a few occasions I've read about the CV having a title..where is it to be inserted, how long etc? I used to have a more of a US format with an objective but now my CV morphed into some CH/EU/US format. I received good input on it but can't say I'm being swamped with calls from headhunters
If you have been working for many years, your experience and qualifications from the early part of your career are likely to be much less relevant than your recent employment. Generally, this can be summarised down. Generally anything more than five years ago starts to become irrelevant. Over ten years ago will not be high priority to an employer.
Focus on what you have been doing recently and what you can offer to the potential employer.
Ideally, every CV that you submit should be tailored to suit the position that you are applying for. Whilst the basic CV will remain identical, you can make subtle tweaks, particularly with your key strengths, to reflect the role profile of the position that you are applying for.
also where would you add the point about your particular skills and strengths...under the title, somewhere closer to the bottom around education?
Been working for 15 years+ but here it seems having this perfect CV/Resume with all the glowing references is the key.
Did those of you who are not from AT, DE, CH explain in your application pack the reason for lack of Zeugnisse or Reference Letters? If yes, is there some format you used and where did you insert it as far as the diploma/cert/ref letter pack is concerned?
You can ask ten people and you will get ten different answers. I think it really depends on your individual situation. I for example will typically stress my work experience in my specific industry (as I worked for some high profile employers). Others probably want to highlight some special education...
My current one is structured like this:
Page 1:
- Personal info: Photo, address, birthdate...
- Objective
- "Strentghs and Skills". Basically an executive summary which I adapt for the job
well, mine used to have a objective but hearing about it not being needed and really having the Cover Letter as a place to show it I've simply done without it...
Personally, I don't see an objective as being important. If you were sending out speculative CVs it could be helpful. For specific jobs, the objective should be obvious. As you say, the covering letter will expand on this.
I consider the most important section to be the key strengths and achievements.