Help with CV design

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TheGuy

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Hi Guys

Who can I go and see to help with designing my CV?

I do currently have one but I'm not sure who can help make sure its in the best possible format for what I'm aiming for.

There are a million different websites if you Google but I'm not sure if they will be helpful.
 
If you are working through personel agencies speak to them first and find out from them what constitutes a good CV. They receive thousands of them. Also suggest you take a headshot and stick the picture on your CV. It is helpful for a company/personel agency to be reminded what you look like after you left and they have a stack of CV's. Dont use shots you took on the beach. You basically want your CV to stand out from the other ones.
 
Mr Big T said:
If you are working through personel agencies speak to them first and find out from them what constitutes a good CV. They receive thousands of them. Also suggest you take a headshot and stick the picture on your CV. It is helpful for a company/personel agency to be reminded what you look like after you left and they have a stack of CV's. Dont use shots you took on the beach. You basically want your CV to stand out from the other ones.
Click to expand...

Thanks about the picture some people say yes others say no so I'm not sure what it is.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't put a picture on your CV.
 
Griz said:
Yeah, I wouldn't put a picture on your CV.
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Same same...

If I may elaborate, a picture exposes you to some prejudices, in fact plenty ... let's say for argument's sake you appear to be a bit 'large' and many people hold a perception that large people are lazy... and imagine if a recruiting agent has that in mind before even reading your CV... It could be anything, colour of your eyes, hair, wrinkles etc...

I usually have this rule, if they want to see you, they will call you for an interview. Till then, they really don't care what you look like.
 
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I suggested the head shot which is only a head shot and not a picture of your whole body after several employers commented on it. They all said after seeing several people the head shot make it easier to remember you. The funny part about the head shot was that I had a jacket with a tie on and shorts. It was in the time before you could crop a picture. I had to cut the part with my shorts off before I stuck it on the CV. By the way it was only a suggestion after I got possitive feedback from employers.
 
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Mr Big T said:
I suggested the head shot which is only a head shot and not a picture of your whole body after several employers commented on it. They all said after seeing several people the head shot make it easier to remember you. The funny part about the head shot was that I had a jacket with a tie on and shorts. It was in the time before you could crop a picture. I had to cut the part with my shorts off before I stuck it on the CV. By the way it was only a suggestion after I got possitive feedback from employers.
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What industry are you in?
 
Make sure you summarize your CV/Resume into one page, MAXIMUM 2. This is not 1950, put a link to your Linked In page on there, if I am interested I will read more. I'm tired of potential employees sending in a 10 page CV which includes which subject they took in high school, come on.
 
CV design is pretty important actually - well, depending on your industry. But a clean well-planned layout can give a strong impression. Obviously the more creative or content-oriented the job, the more the CV will help - an engineer or doctor probably just needs a list of qualifications. If you're really into design you could try using an Adobe tool like InDesign.
http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/5-examples-of-beautiful-resumecv-templates/

Otherwise just spend time to shape the content you're putting in there. You'll want to focus on getting maximal relevant content into minimal space. Use tables to structure the points. Use bullets and shorten the wording you would normally use to be as precise and readable as possible...

Now I'm reading this I need to look at my own CV again lol.
 
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I run a design studio and, ironically, I can't stand it when people send me "designed" CVs.

Put it this way, many business owners and HR people will only be skimming over your CV the first time around to weed out the poor candidates. If I can barely read your CV because of the font you've used or clashing colours, you've lost your only chance.

When I read a CV I want to see a few things at a glance:

- Personal particulars. (Age, race, health, marital status, criminal record, etc)

- Noteworthy achievements and skills. I don't care if you got 62% for geography. I do care if you were dux, prefect, etc. I care if you've won a prestigious prize to do with a skill that is RELEVANT to the job you're applying for. I don't care if you won a hotdog eating contest.

- Employment history. This is a tricky one. I had an applicant recently whose employment history consisted only of bartending jobs at about 10 different nightclubs. Let's just say I read a lot into that and the applicant didn't make it past my inbox. If you're in the same boat, rather only put down the employment you've had after odd jobs like bartending, or consolidate all of the odd jobs into one title, aptly named. (My personal opinion/suggestion)

- References. If I'm interested in you, I am going to call your references. Please make sure I know what your relationship with the reference is and that they know they are references for you.

Your CV should be succinct and clean. If you've sacrificed readability for design, you're probably not going to get a job in my business. A CV is not meant to look pretty. If you're a designer, send your portfolio separately or include a link to an online portfolio in your CV.

Oh and for crying out loud, if there are spelling/grammatical errors in your CV, don't wonder when you don't get invited back for an interview. A CV is something you make sure you proofread or get someone else to proofread. If you can't be bothered to do that, I can't be bothered to hire you.

But to answer your original question - I wouldn't bother seeing someone to design your CV. It's about what information you're putting into it - not how it looks. Open up word, use a nice clean and simple font, bold and underline where necessary. That's it.
 
Yeah. I'm not really talking about 'designed' cv's in that sense.. More just taking time to layout your information in a clean readable way. I've seen atrocious cv's and it just indicates that the person doesn't care about presentation, and isn't able to present themselves in a proper way.
 
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I was helped by a few members on the forum to create my CV. I kept it positive, good punctuation, neat paragraphs and only highlighted my strong points and left out the negatives.

I don't agree that people put their failures or possible mistakes on a CV, criminal record: none, seriously, you could have left that out.
I was very fortunate to have the advice and help from guys here and I got called many times for work and had 3 interviews before finding the job I have now.

Keep it professional, clean, well written, truthful and to the point. Don't mention your weak points, that is for interviews. Put a photo on of yourself if you want to, I have one. Keep a good structure and make sense out of what you want to say.

My CV is 3 or 4 pages, I could condense it into 2, so don't give them a book either :)
 
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Please understand the difference between a resume and a Curriculum Vitae...
 
DJ... said:
Please understand the difference between a resume and a Curriculum Vitae...
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A curriculum vitae (CV), also spelled curriculum vitæ, provides an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications.

A résumé also spelled resumé or, colloquially, resume, is a document used by persons to present their backgrounds and skills.


Sounds alike to me, but I get what you are saying.
 
Thanks guys someone contacted me via PM and gave me some excellent advice based on my CV. Not sure if I'm allowed to post their nic.
 
Simplest format possible CEOs and recruiters don't like gawd
 
teraside said:
A curriculum vitae (CV), also spelled curriculum vitæ, provides an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications.

A résumé also spelled resumé or, colloquially, resume, is a document used by persons to present their backgrounds and skills.


Sounds alike to me, but I get what you are saying.
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Biggest difference is the length really. Resume is a one-pager, CV is more detailed multi-page document.
 
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TheGuy said:
Hi Guys

Who can I go and see to help with designing my CV?

I do currently have one but I'm not sure who can help make sure its in the best possible format for what I'm aiming for.

There are a million different websites if you Google but I'm not sure if they will be helpful.
Click to expand...

You can also try https://elite-cv.com or www.professional-cvs.co.za/
there's also many websites now that offer free cv building tools try to google "cv designs"
 
images
 
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