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"Writing a CV?"

So now that uni is done I guess I need to start looking for a job, but first I need a fairly decent CV.
Anyone know of any good sites that show the format of most cv's and good pointers to use when writing a cv?

Or anyone expalin the kind of things they have in their cv's?

Thanks

Speaking of pdf, does anybody think that sending a cv as a pdf file rather than a clumsy word file might be helpful if asked for an electronic version? I suppose it may depend on whether or not they want to be able to make notes directly onto your copy whilst viewing it on their computers.

Another one.

Make sure it's flawlessly written for spelling. If there are nay mistakes, print it out again.

Vital!

EDIT:

Aha. I make myself laugh.

Thanks for all the suggestions and pointers. Much appreciated.

AliBoy wrote:
> Nah, not done anything like that since school.

Heh, I was never taught how to prepare a CV at school, but my advice would be to keep it simple and to keep formatting to a bare minimum (As already said).

Nah, not done anything like that since school.

Although I thingk if you go talk to the careers service folk then they will gladly help in producing a cv - but that would involve setting up a meeting and driving into uni. :0)

pdf thingy would be great. thanks

Shiggy you covered CV making at uni surely, or where you to busy getting your ass handed to you on CS to learn anything.

:P

I have a PDF of CV making from my uni will msn it to you tomorrow.

:^o

War!

I'll try to remember who / where I got that from. But I must admit I feel mine was much better for losing them.

Perhaps it depends on the job somewhat too. A lot of places are unlikely to follow them up anyway, if it's monkey work.

Hopefully someone will refer us to a qualified source, who'll settle the mater.

Graham Duck wrote:
> Also, someone suggested to me not including reference names and
> adresses, but stating 'References available on request' at the bottom
> instead. It saves space (should you need it) and looks a bit tidier.

Contact details are THE most important thing about a CV.

I would reccomend never doing the above.

Also, if you have the luxury of an excess of content on your skills or relevant employment history / work experience, then tailor your cv to the job you're applying for.

Think about the skills the employer wants to see from you for that job (which obviously also includes lots of generic things like personal hygiene and working knowledge of the alphabet), and show that you have those skills.

If like me you're struggling to fill 2 sides of A4 as it is, this piece of advice may be less useful.


Also, someone suggested to me not including reference names and adresses, but stating 'References available on request' at the bottom instead. It saves space (should you need it) and looks a bit tidier.

Use decent quality paper (100gsm or more).

I always used to believe this piece of advice was crap, paper was paper, and if you could read the words it was fine.

But a friend who screens applicants' cvs told me that he'll often disregard ones printed on crap (or coloured) paper.
Looking at it from that side of things, if someone's job is to go through morons' cvs, eliminating the unsuitable ones, you look for whatever reason you can find to disregard them, especially if it means you don't have to read the damn thing.

When I first printed off a cv on decent paper (100 gsm) and compared it to the old tat I used, the difference was shocking.

In summary, use decent quality paper.