Thread: HR help - Stupid CV's

I hear you
Havnt had a job for about 15 odd years (self employment), last cv I handed in got thrown out, went to the source and got the job.
Im of the old school and would still put the leg work in and knock on doors, keep knocking until someone listened to me.
Feel sorry for your postion.
cheers
blaze
Ps tidy up your cv, have a real one on an overstated one, take the real one door knocking (thats where your job will come from) and send the over state one to the upstarts that wouldnt know what an honest days work was

Well as an employer for the last 20 yrs or so, and not knowing the industry/occupation, my feedback would be

- Forget the spin. And the patronising about "working for your esteemed company.." etc. I don't want to employ a BS artist.

- But do include something about you as a person, your values. You have to give them an idea of how you'll fit in.

- It has to present perfectly. Grammar, punctuation, don't misspell the their name. This is supposed to be your best effort.

- How to stand out from the rest? This is the hard one. Its not silly fonts, mug shots or waxy paper, but it is content. For me anyway.

- One way of standing out is do some homework on the prospective employer. Look up their website, and explain how your skill set is a good fit with what they do. Very few candidates do.

The CV is the only thing I've got to extract a short list from say 300 applicants. Its no fun. Scattergun, generic, photocopied applications are the first to go. The BS ones go. Those with significant gaps go. Those that don't give me anything about them as an individual go. Likely transport problems go. And so on.

Lastly - and this is important for us - I hire largely on attitude, we can always teach the function. The other way around doesn't work. Focussing on technical strengths only can be a disaster.

Regards
Max P

Some times it is hard to research the company as alot of adds, especially online, do not say who it is for. A recent one is a Business Development Accounts Manager Venue.

What do you think that is?

I have to wait to see on Tuesday, who the venue is, and then what services they are selling. It could be anything from a functions venue to a pub.

I know it is only organising a team of sales people, developing ideas, presenting reports and reading figures and results, but it would be handy to know before you go.

CC

Originally Posted by Col.Coleman

Some times it is hard to research the company as alot of adds, especially online, do not say who it is for. A recent one is a Business Development Accounts Manager Venue.

What do you think that is?
CC

If its the Brissie job top of the list in Google, then I haven't got a clue.

Sounds like a purely sales role in corporate hospitality, monthly performance targets etc.

Yep that is the one. ALOT less money than I am used to, and a few steps back, but I was a big fish in a small pond at the other job, so time to move to a bigger pond.

When I was contacted, I was told I was probably not suitable for the role, but they have something else that I may be, so am going along to see what happens.

Clear as mud though eh.

Thanks for the tips Max, I will redo and add as I have another GM/OM role I will put in for today.

CC

i know what you mean mate, over the years i've only ever gotten one interview from a written application, and then i didnt get the job because no prior sales experience

every job i've had has been from fronting up and asking in person

You have 2 problems Michael.

1 are the HR/recruitment oxygen thieves who's job it is to fill the seat. They're not after the best candidate, they're after the easiest candidate to "sell" to the decision maker.

2 is the issue of the resume. Try as you might you won't be able to format a resume to suit all. I've been involved in a lot of recruiting for management and coal face and the best advice I can give is keep it short, accurate and professional-looking.

Good luck.

Shoot me an email with your CV attached and I'll give it some treatment. I have to deal with recruitment ***** nearly everyday, but it's them ringing me which changes the balance of power somewhat.

Basically Mick, the majority of recruitment peeps are LAZY. So it should be 2 pages long MAX. Content is the most important. No long winded stories, just bullet points and qualifications. Anyway, shoot it though and I'll have a look.