Thread: Polishing ......

For the first time in my life I'm going for a job that requires a resume. What does a 50 year old bloke with a rough spread of tickets (none really relevant to what they do) and skills put down on paper?. There's a job going at a place where my current employer has been contracted to. I've spoken to the feller that I worked under on that site and he's more than happy to give me a push to help me get over the line but I need to put a resume in to HR first. I need this thing to shine.

Originally Posted by Bigbjorn

First, don't put your age or date of birth on your CV. This may prevent illegal age discrimination which is still strong out there even three decades after it was made illegal. Don't go back into ancient history. If you have good work history for no more than ten years back only include this. Note any recognised trade and post trade qualifications you have acquired. They may not be relevant to the job but can be thrown in to demonstrate your ability to learn and acquire new skills. Have copies of the certificates. Try to avoid showing any unexplained gaps in employment (gaol, hospital, etc). Dress appropriately. If a staff or white collar job, wear suit and tie and CLEAN POLISHED shoes. Clean shaven, shortish hair, tats covered. Some employers won't consider anyone with "tough pictures or purple mohawks". So don't present as feral.

Edit - Answer their job specifications in dot point format. Indicate that references are available for their perusal. Take copies to the interview along with copies of trade papers, Certificates, Diplomas, Degrees. Don't write a long diatribe about your social and community activities. One sentence saying you are involved in community and club activities is all that is needed. Your submission should ideally be no more than two A4 pages. Paeons of self praise are off putting. No HR person or interviewer wants to read page after page of BS.

I am a recruiter, a lot of this isn't necessary. No offence.

You have someone who can vouch for you and will be your supervisor, so no point in trying to hide anything. Trying to hide stuff is something we recruiters don't like, and is more off putting than anything else.

In most cases there is no need for a cover letter. I have been in recruitment for 11 years and have read less than 20 in total and those 20 were because I was bored.

Keep all your work history on there, just start abbreviating it the further it goes back and the less relevant. Leaving it out won't prevent age discrimination, when they meet you they will figure out pretty quickly that you aren't in your mid 20s (unless you have some crazy great skincare regime, in which case commercialise that).

Gaps in employment are perfectly fine and are expected throughout people's lives so leave them in, but be prepared to explain them during an interview.

Put your quals on your CV, but no need to provide them at the time of application, not at the interview either unless requested. It's good to be organised but most of this would be verified at the employment offer stage. If there is a specific request to include it at application then do so, otherwise just stick to a CV.

Keep the formatting of the CV simple. Text boxes, crazy fonts and other pointless things aren't worth the time. Save it as a word document, and send it that way. Word docs are more easily read by any systems they may use, in this instance not a huge deal because you know the supervisor.

People think that HR are the process police, or want to make it difficult for people. Most of them don't, they are just making sure the bare minimum is done so that they company isn't at risk. Provided you meet the minimum required quals or certs for the role, the content in your CV is less important than how you present it at an interview. Provided this person will vouch for you, then you will likely get an interview, and the CV is really just a document that allows the interviewer to ask you questions.

Good luck, don't agonize over it and make sure you meet the minimum required and don't list every task you do/did in each role. Main points, and any achievements while you were in that role, they are way more important (saved X amount of time, reduced safety incidents by Y, or sorted the coffee room so that you could make a cuppa in half the time, no idea what you do!).

No need to wear a suit and tie to an interview if you aren't corporate, although a suit helps, I am corporate and hardly wear a tie these days.