12 things your CV should NOT have
While the rules listed are well-founded, they are not carved in stone.
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.
~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.
~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.
~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proofread your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation. A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.
~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.
~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.
~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call. For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.
~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.
~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.
~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.Now that you have run through the list, take a fresh look at your CV and prune away unnecessary details and unaffordable blunders that could have cost you your dream job.
I also found out that its not so easy here to detect if the applicant is FEMALE OR MALE by just looking at their name unlike in western or some asian countries.
so for me i think putting ur gender & how old u are is important since some companies looking for specific applicant or some jobs required age limits & male or female only.
"Even if LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."
VERY TRUE PANDA, I HAD A FULL EXTRA COURSE AT UNIVERSITY ABOUT COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT UNIVERSITY WHICH INCLUDES THE CV THINGS.
YOU ARE RIGHT IN EVERY WORD.
THANKS
I would like to add one more thing...
When it comes to your academic qualification on your CV, just write the highest degree/certificates you achieved, I have seen a resume of a civil engineer showing his school and college name, year and division, which is irrelevant to his Job.
.
“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
Martin Luther King.
Intresting thanks, woud like to add one more thing...
Dont mention your nationality or maratial status.
IF EVERYONE WAS TO TAKE AN EYE FOR AN EYE, THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD'VE BEEN BLIND TODAY - MAHATMA GANDHI
you are assuming that there are HR people here. well most are hardly typists or clerks. real HR professionals are very rare here.
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Please no drawings or hand made pictures of any kind! Absolutely no attempts to show any hidden talents whatsoever! HR people can spot a nutcase from a mile away...they did in my case!
.... if the religion was "Judaism"
The truth is, there is no magic formula for "the perfect CV" - a CV should, if possible, be written with a specific job in mind, emphasising the points relevant to the position being applied for, and toning down non-relevant parts with regard to that particular job or function.
KH is quite right to say that details such as marital status, number of children, etc are relevant in this part of the world. When considering candidates here, companies look at the overall cost, which usually includes medical insurance, annual flights, educational assistance, etc.
As regards not telling lies on your CV .... .... everyone does,and professional recruiters know it. There is, however, a difference between stretching the truth and outright lies. The trick is to know enough about the "white lies" to get through the interview.
In the end, it's a game. Professional management and HR people with many years of experience can spot a fake a mile off. If they can't, then they shouldn't be in the job and deserve whatever tossers they end up with.
"You can't tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks"
at least in this part of the world.
those details such as gender/marital status/number of kids are important here. usually employers would like to know the financial impact for recruiting any person. so if there is a policy for providing tickets/schooling. etc. such details are necessary.
Also age and gender. if the firm is looking for a saleslady and a male applies, then the HR cannot tell sometimes if the gender of person fits the category. imagine a male in the cosmetics section or lingerie section.
last but not least. the photo does not give any indication about personality or decency. some or most photos are misleading.
btw. I used to have a special shredder for CVs
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And many candidates also state their religion in their CVs. I don't see the relevance of Religion to the ability of the candidate to manage the construction of a 50-storey tower in Doha.
Had to look at quite a few CVs for my work recently, so let me add some more mistakes that you want to avoid...
- Keep you CV as short and crisp as possible. (I spend an average time of 1 minute to read a CV)
- Don't include your hobbies or interests, unless they are obviously relevant. Hobbies can easily work against you (I have spent a lot of time laughing at the ridiculous hobbies some people put on their CVs) and rarely in your favor.
- Don't include outdated information, unless highly relevant. You may still be proud of winning that elementary school coloring competition, but your recruiter is probably not impressed. (seriously... I've read tons of CVs for senior positions that mentioned "best boy in grade 12")
- Do include sections on your education and work experience. Even if you graduated a long time ago, recruiters are probably still interested to see where you got your degree.
- Don't write that you speak a language when you don't. You never know who will interview you. Really. (I've busted people who claimed they spoke Dutch, German, French, Chinese and Japanese :D )
- Keep the lay-out/graphics simple. No colors, no fancy figures, boxes or lines. I've trashed a few CVs simply cause I thought they looked really amateuristic. Definitely no powerpoint (really, I've seen it!).
- Never use font sizes smaller than 10. Ever.
- I'm pretty neutral on the picture question... but if you do include one, make sure you look professional (suit/shirt/tie) and handsome ;)
LOL wmhizon!
i got these info from one oil&gas forum and i don't have any idea who did this but it seems like it has been done by a professional....i just wanted to share with you this information and if any one of you want to contribute it'll really be great.
TX
i also got one CV with [email protected] email add!
My God!lol
"Even if LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."
panda marital status nd gender r essential is CV..it is a basic required info...u knw smal things like writin age directly or DOB even make big difrns, coz i hv seen how does it filtrs....LOL
If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
one more thing if the employers asked u to send ur CV in word format u should follow it dont send CV in photoshop or excel or any other format.
Employers might think that u dont know how to understand & follow simple orders, what more the critical instructions.
"Even if LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."
most people dont realise it. i actually created a new email id just
for job applications. and i preferred to keep my real name as email id.
YOU DONT KNOW ME, DONT EVEN TRY !!!
[img_assist|nid=98090|title=New|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
it'll be great from you! tnx
right panda! I will try to look for that CV again! lol
Even if LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN
For me attaching picture is a must. Some employers preferred applicants with pleasing personality (not only if ur applying for a model or artist).
Companies in line with sales or customer services preferred if not good looking at least with pleasing personality staff.
I had this applicant who submitted her CV to us (without photo) but when we interviewed her she looks like she just stand up from bed & untidy! She dont even bother to prepared her self for interview...
In applying for a job it same as u selling ur self to the employers. U should look more presentable and neat. If u personality look like a mess other people will also think that ur work will be the same.
Sometimes first impression last.
Lets face it aside from the work experiences, looks also counts in applying for a job.
"Even if LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."
wmhizon, help him to improve his cv by giving him these informations mentioned above....tnx
CV (resume) must look professional, so does the e-mail address!
Also, it shouldn’t exceed 2 pages.. ok, for the seniors with long work history- 3 pages..
I have seen the 23-y.o. guy’s CV on..8 pages..!!! WTH!! He just repeated his experience in the different ways, and went too deep into details of his present job. I asked him how many pages he will have in his CV when he is 33? Like 50 pages or so??
Who is supposed to read all that cr**???
********** [img_assist|nid=102563|title=QS|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0] Copyright©Mr.PAUL
I also received 1 CV with his motto & hobbies...
Good that he dont put his favorite colors too! lol!
"Even if LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."
Live and Die with DIGNITY!
-JaYTeR-
it's true that most companies (in the world) don't require headshots, unless you were auditioning for a theatrical role. But I notice in this part of the world (Gulf), looks take a person a long way. Most of the adverts I see in the classifieds section ask that a photo be attached. I was shocked when I first moved here and heard about this. Another thing I did not appreciate was the fact that you had to divulge your nationality, your age, and your sex. And they say EOE!
One more thing missing...
Weird email addresses like hotboy or pick_chick @ xyz.com
“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
Martin Luther King.
Keem it's up to you....
but not agree with no photo
charan, i'll bring to him some souvenirs when i'll be back....lol no chance for dating lol
i'm sure that you can find your luck here, just send ur cv through agencies or directly to the compagnies...but don't forget to refer to the recommendations above.....
13th Rule _ Don't ask Dates from Office bOYS :)
i hope i will find/make my luck in Qatar
:-)))
*WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL?*
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/home
yvw swissy!! good luck for your search...;)
would be helpful for my job search.
:-)
*WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL?*
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/home