Obligatory CV shredder

[Expert #7451]

Howdy.

I'd be interested in some critique of my CV. It's my second draft, so I know there's a lot more I could do with it. Compared with a lot of the applicants I've seen so far, I know I'm risking coming off as rather boring or too bookish/technical for the job (well-rounded people and all). I'm hoping for my CV to change once I get to uni and have the chance to get stuck in with all the varying societies and so forth.

Be as fierce as you want with the criticisms. I'd rather be called a bookish dullard who can't format for jack than lose out on a role.

Thanks in advance!

 

[hitchensism]

General:
- Margin spaces are *far* too wide; you have so much spare space being wasted

Education:
- your Sixth Form section sticks out as misaligned: put the school dates on the first line of your A-Levels
- list your predicted grade

Work exp: put this in reverse-chronological order

Exp 1:
- 1st bullet: shadowed who? Shadowed what? You're not being specific. 'Asset Management' encompasses a great deal; you need to tell me where you were, what you did, and who you did it with
- 2nd bullet is useless. Use it to talk more about this shadowing experience/any projects you worked on
- 3rd bullet reads as a sentence. This is out of sync with the rest of the bullets. In addition, it's far too long. You led a team of x, you analysed y, and this resulted in z. Keep it simple

Exp 2:
- 1st bullet: putting 'scheme' on a separate line blows a whole line of space. This is a waste. How did you take charge? What were you in charge of? Vague, vague, vague
- 2nd bullet: see 1st bullet recommendations
- 3rd bullet: how? You've given me an end result with no real explanation of how this happened

Exp 3:
- 2nd bullet: why were the resources you made helpful? Anyone can create a colouring book. Why was yours particularly noteworthy? Why am I being told about this? Why was yours used? I need more specific information
- 3rd bullet: what events? How did you encourage the borrowing of books? Very vague

Leadership & Interests: I'd be tempted to split this into leadership & additional categories; leadership on its own, additional compassing any languages skills, activities, and interests

Exp 1:
- 1st bullet: Succeeded how? What did you do that got you there?
- 2nd bullet: what are you referring to? Your tense is off, too; past tense, not present

Exp 2:
- 1st bullet: you've given me 0 context. This bullet is immediately useless without context
- 2nd bullet: you made money. So? How? The 'how' is the significant part. Anyone can buy Bitcoin at a low price and flog it at a high. I need some indication of strategy to make this a CV-worthy achievement that you're drawing to my attention

Exp 3:
- so? You're marketing this as an experience and not an interest. You've not given me anything to qualify it as a decent experience. More info and details needed

 

[Expert #7451]

Thanks so far for that. I'll have to purge a fair amount, since a lot of this does seem to be very woolly and ambiguous content.

Would it be worth talking about my some of my academic work outside of school? For example, I was in a University summer school where I wrote a report on international trade and investment and public perceptions of globalisation, and I also did a presentation to some professors critically evaluating Britain's position in the EU. I could provide some hard information for that, but I know it risks not presenting me as very well-rounded.

 

[hitchensism]

Thanks so far for that. I'll have to purge a fair amount, since a lot of this does seem to be very woolly and ambiguous content.

Would it be worth talking about my some of my academic work outside of school? For example, I was in a University summer school where I wrote a report on international trade and investment and public perceptions of globalisation, and I also did a presentation to some professors critically evaluating Britain's position in the EU. I could provide some hard information for that, but I know it risks not presenting me as very well-rounded.

I suppose if you market it as an extra-curricular activity it would help. You'll have to be particularly careful with your formatting to make it read well. There's the point about appearing well-rounded, too.

Let me know what you come up with once you've implemented the changes I've already suggested (i.e. repost your CV). Once you've done that, we can talk extra additions.

 

[Expert #7451]

I gave it a try as you suggested. I decided not to add anything, other than a first aid qualification that I forgot to include in my first go so I could have a good new starting point. I replaced some of the fluffier extracurriculars with a skills and interests section. I'll probably have to purge that, since I suppose most of that part will be meaningless to the bank.