Writing A C.v. Options

[madbassoonist]

I'm currently trying, and failing, to think of things to put on my CV that don't make me sound as if I'm showing off. I'm 14 and this is for a work experience placement - my dad has said it's a good idea even if not compulsory, and it's good practice for the future. I've done Education, listing my schools and the GCSEs I'm taking, and listed my ABRSM exams, but don't know what else to put.

Anyone else had experience of doing something similar? Thinking more of other school students but any advice is appreciated.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thanks.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[false_harmonic]

Ask yourself what you are applying for and tailor your C.V. accordingly.

My C.V. nowadays is a professional one, but I've had one since I was 16 and applying for Saturday jobs, and I agree with your dad that it's a good idea!

Some tips I have been given (and sorry if a lot of this is blatantly obvious and sounds a bit patronising!) - there is no need to write "Curriculum Vitae" at the top - you should always send a C.V. with a covering letter/e-mail, so it is obvious what it is! If printing it off use the best quality paper you can find, either white or cream, and use a professional-looking font, something like Times New Roman - do not use Courier or a curly sort of script! Put your full name, not a shortened form, at the top, with e-mail and/or address, and phone number below (I always have my name centred in caps, with contact details in a smaller font immediately below my name, but you can put it all left aligned and in ordinary font - this is just a matter of stylistic preference).

Make sure there are no spelling, spacing, grammatical or punctuation errors in the document. Check, double and triple check this, and then get someone else to check it too!

Schools and qualifications should be listed in reverse chronological order - most recent first.

Then list any other work experience you have done (as you are fourteen I expect there won't be anything yet! But if there is something like a paper round, babysitting, helping in the school library, or supervising brownies/rainbows DO put it down and highlight responsibilities and skills gained).

Then list other achievements, always considering what is relevant to the particular sort of work experience placement you are applying for. If you are applying to do a music type work experience placement, I might even be inclined to put your ABRSM Grades in the qualifications section (especially if you have any of the higher grades) and put them before your GCSE subjects, as you haven't actually sat your GCSEs yet. But this is just an idea, definitely not a rule, and it depends what you are comfortable with!

Other achievements: things like prizes won: have you taken part in debating or public speaking competitions? Maths challenges? Music Festivals? Duke of Edinburgh? At your age it's all relevant, anything that makes you sound like an interesting, responsible, well-rounded individual. Do you have a second (fluent) language? Definitely relevant!

Finally list other interests, and link them up to what they have taught you. You probably don't want to put down something like "going to parties" (sorry! not trying to sound patronising!) but things like sports, drama, orchestras (team work, commitment!) definitely should be mentioned.

You may wish to slightly tweak your C.V. according to the placement if you are applying for things in different fields - that is, switching round the order of things putting things most relevant to that area first.

Don't worry about sounding like you're boasting. It's your C.V.. It's a document designed to market and sell yourself (however crude that sounds), and you can be sure that there are plenty of other people who are only too willing to wax lyrical about how wonderful they are! Don't sell yourself short, just be honest. As you get older certain things will naturally fall off your C.V. but at the moment I'd say most achievements are relevant.

Your dad has shown an interest - he'll be able to tell you what he thinks. I'm sure your guidance teacher or PSE teacher would be happy to look at it too!

[Stephie]

Sheesh! I was all ready to give you a few handy tips, but false_harmonic beat me to it, and more! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Basically, just follow everything written above. When I was in year 11 (that's in Northern Ireland, but it confuses me in England... I think that's year 10 here..? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)) we all did basic CVs in class, and it was really helpful. Do you have a careers booklet or something? There's usually a CV outline in those. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[ChrisC]

all good tips from false_harmonic.

I would also suggest putting a short bullet point list of your main skills at the top, just after your name/address etc. (your work experience and education should back these up of course). Then potential employers can see at a glance if you're likely to be of interest to them.

Finally, try not to go over more than 2 or 3 pages, though that's not so likely to be a problem when you're just starting out.

Chris

[Robodoc]

Good tips from false harmonic and others.

The only thing I would say is that most CVs get glanced at first and only those that make an impact get read. For this reason you need to make sure that the salient points that you want to get across are easy to see and the whole thing needs to be very professionally presented as well as easy on the eye - clear headings and subheadings, uncluttered, mostly bullet points and lists with very little if any prose. Don't forget to add contact details for any referees on the last page.

Remember the golden rules for ANY presentation (including a CV):

KISS and GOGO,

KISS stands for "Keep It Short and Simple" (Not "Keep It Simple Stupid" - NEVER act stupid or assume either you or your audience are stupid). Don't use fancy fonts, multiple fonts, multiple sizes of font or unnecessary colours - for a CV simple black & white is fine. Underlining, italics and bold should be used sparingly (e.g. for headings & subheadings). Use indents a lot but with care. Don't be afraid to leave a little (but not too much) space at the bottom of a page to start a new heading on a new page.

GOGO stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out: If it's not worth saying don't say it! It may sound obvious but if it's not true don't say it!

Tailor the CV to the post: Then add a covering letter which says very specifically not only why the post is right for you but why you are right for the post: What will you bring that will make you stand out?

Get an experienced employer to review and proof-read your CV before you send it off.

My final piece of advice is that the main bulk needs to be good enough to get you a second look. Then there needs to be something in there that makes the person reading it want to get you up to the interview: Such things are often in the "outside interests" section. Real examples that I have seen in medical CV's are: "Egyptian Middleweight Arm Wrestling Champion", "Member of National Olympic Committee", "Qualified Tennis Umpire - have umpired at Wimbledon" and, less exaltedly, "grade 8 violin", "black-belt karate" all the way down to "O level Chinese - failed". Whatever your trumpet is, blow it as hard as you can - no-one else will. These things don't get you the job but they may make the difference between getting the interview or not. Once you get to the interview you're on your own!

Good luck.

[Mad Tom]

The best advice I ever had on CVs etc. was this:

1. The purpose of the CV is to get you an interview
2. The purpose of the interview is to get a job offer

it follows from 1. that a general purpose CV is unlikely to be right for any particular job application. One size does NOT fit all.

It is useful to have a huge, comprehensive CV, on your computer, but you use it as the source of accurate information for application-specific, terse, targetted CVs. The more you know about whoever is going to read it, the better the chance you have of getting it right.

[Misti]

Writing a CV is difficult, even when you've got something to write about! I'm not looking forward to overhauling mine, but as in future it'll be send to engineering firms and/or universities rather than everywhere I'd consider taking a summer job, it'll definitely need re-writing from scratch, rather than modification.

As you're young enough that I assume you will have plenty of space I suggest you consider putting in some of the following sections. They wouldn't necessarily be appropriate at a later date, or in certain styles of CV (there are several, and its worth looking into them!) but are perfectly acceptable before you've had a career!

-"Work and Volunteering Experience": Obviously only managable once you've got some. Once you've done your week or twos work experience you can add it on here.

- "Personal Profile": List your (positive) characteristics. 'I am a friendly cheerful person, who enjoys helping other people. I work well in a team, and individually -blahblahblah" List adjectives, atributes and adverbs you feel happy to describe yourself with (responsible, concientious, engaging, enthusiastic, diligent; then think up things that demonstrate them. This is the message you want to get across in your CV: And its also really useful for interviews. Solves the issue of the "Tell me about yourself" question.)

-"Hobbies and Interests": As previously mentioned, try to stick to ones that show what an employable person you are. Socialising with my mates does not count. Demonstrating your committment to orchestras does. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-"Specific skills": Useful if you're a self taught programmer or similar. Also a useful place to mention the fact you can use a computer, if you don't have any qualifications. "I am a competant user of MS Office including Access, Outlook and Publisher" is the sort of thing I usually have down, along with mentioning the engineering software I've learnt to use at Uni. Also a good place to mention competancy in any languages (I have a friend who regularly suprises people at interviews when she mentions being a native speaker of Russian: Shows they don't read her CV very well!)

-"References": These are important, remember its really rude to put someone down without explicitly asking them first! Two is usual: Try a teacher at school and then a family friend.

Good luck, the sooner you have the first one, the less painful writing all the others will be. It also gives you a start on future application forms (e.g. for college, uni etc).

[Violin Hero]

I recently made my CV which was approved by my college.

1. personal statement. This is maybe 4 or 5 lines telling the reader about you.

2. Contact details. Include e-mail, telephone numbers and geographical address.

3. qualifications. I have my GCSES, A levels and IT qualifications listed. If you have somethng other than GCSES or a levels then include the relevent logo on the top of each page. For example I m comptia A+ qualified so I have a comptia logo on every page.

4. previous jobs/work experiance. Even a saturday job must be mentioned.

5. Interestst and hobbies. If you have played at a famous music venue or something similar put it in with the relevent hobby. My Cv says that I have played at Cadogan Hall and the RAH becuase it sounds impressive and proves you don't just sit around idling your free time.

6. References. Make sure it says "References available upon request"so that they can't contact someone without you knowing.

Check this article for hints. http://uk.nissansimplicity.yahoo.com/artic...implify-your-cv

Finally, get it proofread for errors, my trainer at college noticed 2 minor errors immediately when checking my CV.