CV's - how much to focus on job experiance

[Bugz]

Basically, say you had 2-3 previous jobs related to the career you intended to pursue, and you have an awful lot to write about for each one.

Do you write an awful lot in your CV or just include a main overview with the hope they'll pursue it further at interview stage?

I'm trying my hardest not to push it past 2 pages, but the 'experiance' section seems so damn limited, when theres so much to be said.

Just curious of others' thoughts - esp. those who employ people themselves!

 

[Zenith.UK]

I allow myself a paragraph for each RELEVANT job that I've previously held. I emphasise my previous experience in the cover letter.

 

[tris-]

You don't have just one CV. you tailor individual CVs to each job you apply for. Some work experience will apply more to a particular job than another. In this case, you go in to more detail about such a job and less detail about another.

I.e. applying for a job in a shop requires a different CV to one working in a factory and would not necessarily discuss your qualifications too much. Unlike a graduate job, where you might list modules youve take and practical skills gained etc.

 

[TheBinarySurfer]

Only go into a lot of detail where there is direct relevance to the job you are applying for. As some people have said, nobody will care about the details of a factory job if you are applying to a shop or v.v - a few bullet points will suffice.

Also, if you look at the job spec it will usually "tell" you what competencies they are after so it's piss easy to "demonstrate" them on the CV but in a slightly reworded format.

Lay it out properly and spell check it. Those of us who read a lot of CV's are usually fed up CV's with poor spelling and worse grammar. Use a spell checker!

Also a tip: discussing your current salary gets you a crap pay increase. Never discuss your current salary, only what you think you are worth.

Researching the job market helps here - asking for £37k if the going rate is £34k isn't too bad, asking for £30k if the going rate is £20k will get you binned. Similarly asking for £25k if the going rate is £35k may get you hired as the "cheap option" - but now you're underpaid for your time/effort! As ever though, if you ask for more than the "stated range" for the job there's got to be a good business reason for them to consider it: i.e. you can bring something to the company that makes you worth more than someone who can just "do the job".

 

[Garaen]

If you're young and only have a few jobs then you can tailor each previous job to highlight skills which will be important for the current job - a CV with no prior work experience will look shit. Say for example you had a job in a shop for a few years while at school I would personally but it down with a few bulletpoints underneath highlighting generic skills that it built, such as teamwork, communication, time management etc etc.

 

[Lamp]

My CV's currently 7 pages long, and I bullet point all my experiences & responsibilites under each firm I've worked for. I only list the relevant work experience items. Everything else not relevant to the position I'm applying for I reduced to 2 or 3 lines, or omit completely. But thats investment banking for you. Other fields of work may vary. Also depends on how much experience you've got to offer. No one gives a shit I managed a bookshop when I was 20 but they do want to read about my current work and responsibilities.