What do employers expect to see on a CV these days?

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MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
My most recent version is from 2013 and includes my full employment/education history going back to 1980... which reveals my age.

I'm thinking of just using my recent employment history, eg. this century which will reveal that I'm over 40 but not that I'm closer to 60 than 50.

What do you think?
 

Drago

Legendary Member
I've got no idea. My work experience is shooting at people or hitting them with a stuck. Never had a CV in my life, so it'll be interesting to see others experience of them.
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
My most recent version is from 2013 and includes my full employment/education history going back to 1980... which reveals my age.

I'm thinking of just using my recent employment history, eg. this century which will reveal that I'm over 40 but not that I'm closer to 60 than 50.

What do you think?

Try and keep to one page, don‘t over embellish. Plenty of templates on line to lay it out professionally
 

Emanresu

I asked AI to show the 'real' me.
The main pitfall is not reading the job specification. If you are unemployed you're supposed to be applying for jobs full time. This means that employers are swamped with mass produced CV's which are not relevant to the role. So the answer is - there is no right answer.

Read the spec and produce a tailored CV that answers the questions posed and how your skills you've picked up in your life can help the employer achieve their aims. And the older you are, the more skills you can bring to the party, and the advantage you have over the youngsters.

They call it 'onboarding' now!!

Good luck.
 
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All uphill

Still rolling along
Location
Somerset
Our son just landed his dream job competing against a lot of other candidates.

He says he did thee things at CV stage:

1 Use his network to find someone in the organisation who would meet for an informal chat about the culture.
2 From the person spec. and job description make a list of everything that the employer wants.
3 Write his CV to demonstrate, from his experience, each of the things the employer wants.

The process took him hours, but he got the interview and the job. Much better than showering employers with standard CVs that don't fit.
 

markemark

Über Member
I tend to look for the last couple of jobs. Points that would need clarifying are high turnover of jobs and gaps.

Not interested in the part time jobs you got a decade ago, nor what gcse or A levels you got 20 years ago unless role specific.

Appreciate a cover letter that shows the candidate has done even the bare minimum of finding out about the organisation and the role.

Poor grammar or spelling is a big red flag.
 
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SpokeyDokey

68, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
Our son just landed his dream job competing against a lot of other candidates.

He says he did thee things at CV stage:

1 Use his network to find someone in the organisation who would meet for an informal chat about the culture.
2 From the person spec. and job description make a list of everything that the employer wants.
3 Write his CV to demonstrate, from his experience, each of the things the employer wants.

The process took him hours, but he got the interview and the job. Much better than showering employers with standard CVs that don't fit.

Very similar to the recent experience of my daughter.

A one page CV targeted at the detailed job role advertised was submitted for her 'dream job'.

Written in a less formal style than my dinosaur brain was used to back in the day, it secured a telephone interview which narrowed the pack down to 55 applicants. A further telephone screen narrowed it down to 11 for face to face interviews.

She got the job (she deserved it tbh) - her feedback was that she was 'on point' with her CV, had carried out terrific research on the employing company, that she understood the global context of the business, and had also produced a killer business plan for the job role.

It all took a lot of effort and time but was worth it - secured a significant increase in salary and other benefits for her.

The 'onboarding' process (as mentioned in a previous post) as it is now called, has changed significantly since I were a lad.

Employers not only expect relevant qualifications and experience for the role applied for, but also want evidence of a deep understanding of the company, company culture and the job role all within the context of the 'new' social mores that dominate today's world of employment specifically internal/external customer engagement, collaborative non-hierachial team working and with an emphasis on the deeper cultural shifts re major global issues.

That's my 'take' after a long dad/daughter 'debrief'. I guess the depth of probing will depend on the actual role applied for but some of the questioning seemed very left-field to me. But, as I said, I am now a dinosaur!

To anyone applying for a job I suggest joining LinkedIn and becoming acquainted with the (new to me) employment landscape.

Hope this helps.
 
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