Recuitment agencies & CV rewrites

[George Clooney]

Recuitment agencies & CV rewrites

Does it just happen to me, or do other people find that they are constantly asked to re-write their CVs by different agencies when looking for IT jobs ?

I know this could reflect the content of my CV, but many agencies are happy with it while many want it re-written.

I have come out of a pre-interview with an agency and been told to remove all the detail of my older jobs (>5 years for example) since employers don't really want to know about stuff that far back, and there will be an opportunity to give that detail in the interview. And then I have gone to another agency with the revised one and been told to stick it all back in again since if the employer doesn't see the experience in the first scan of the CV they won't be interested and you won't get to interview.

Both have valid points, but I then end up with multiple versions of my CV and it can be hard to know which one to send in for a particular job.

Then I go to a third pre-interview and the consultant tells me to include all the possible buzzwords and versions of everything I have ever used, like MS-DOS 6.0, MS-DOS 6.1, Windows 3.0 Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, and so on. The problem is that it would be a very long and meaningless list for most interviewers who are really only interested in your ability to deal with new technologies anyway.

Is it just me ?

George.

p.s. gis a job.

 

[Guest]

Recuitment agencies & CV rewrites

Apart from the general tips about writing CVs (two pages, clear layout, concise etc.) a key question to consider is whether the post you are applying for requires a technical/detailed or a "skills" CV. The former would contain summary information about the technicalities of the roles that you've had in the past while the latter would emphasise the skills involved and how they helped the organisation meet its overall goals. A skills CV is often useful when you are considering a significant role or career switch. In relation to a technical CV (and a technical IT CV in particular) I would NOT personally be inclined to list ALL details but only the most significant and recent ones. Otherwise one runs the risk of overwhelming the reader with what may ultimately be irrelevant information.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

There is no correct way to write a CV. When I suggest changes, I stress that they are suggestions which the writer is free to follow or ignore.

Then I go to a third pre-interview and the consultant tells me to include all the possible buzzwords and versions of everything I have ever used, like MS-DOS 6.0, MS-DOS 6.1, Windows 3.0 Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, and so on. The problem is that it would be a very long and meaningless list for most interviewers

My guess is that this has nothing to do with the interviewer. It just makes it easy for the agency to do an automated search of CVs if they are asked for someone with experience of MS-DOS 6.0

Brendan