For obvious reasons, I think that right now many of us are thinking about the world of employment and where things are heading, so it seems appropriate to post this here.
Recently I have been the recipient of quite a lot of attention from employment agencies. Not because they have work for me, but because I am self employed and run my own business. The agencies dig my details out of trade directories, put 2 and 2 together and assume that I must be in need of employees. So much so that one particular agency keeps sending me the CVs of other engineers in the region who are looking for work, despite me repeatedly telling them to Go Boil Their Head (okay, I did put it more politely than that).
It has been great to read other peoples' CVs though. Surprisingly entertaining, and an eye-opener to say the least. The most recent CV I was sent was a real stunner. 3 years out of Uni and asking for £38,000. In the South of the UK that is probably peanuts, but this guy is in the UK equivalent of Detroit. He also has 6 basic English errors in his 55-word Personal Statement, the very first thing you read on his CV.
Anyway, rather than clutter up the place with a huge long post, I have put it on my blog at
http://electronicsdesigner.blogspot.com/. If there is enough interest in it, I will gladly post the item here. I just wish I felt that I could publish the CV in full. Legally speaking I probably could, as it was unsolicited but, out of respect for the person concerned, I thought I should only post excerpts.
If you read nothing else, then read this:
- Get someone else to proof-read your CV! It is easy to use the wrong word, spell it incorrectly, or even miss entire words out altogether. You can read it yourself several times and your brain will not see anything wrong. If you are dyslexic or not writing in your native language, then this is doubly important. In a 55 word statement, there is NO excuse for messing it up.
- Leave out the crap! This CV is 4 pages long. People don't want to wade through swathes of detailed exam results, or read about irrelevant skills you used 5 years ago and about which you only have a basic understanding. If you claim to be an embedded software engineer then a score of 45% in your Embedded Systems module at Uni isn't going to impress, even if you did graduate with a 2:1
- Elephants in the room. From his CV details, this guy was clearly born in Pakistan and lived there until he was 16, albeit now with UK nationality. Equality has come a long way, but we aren't there yet. We are at the stage where having an Asian name doesn't matter so much, but having been brought up outside the British culture very well might. Don't lie, and don't go out of your way to hide anything important, but equally don't give the recruiter's subconscious bigotry any fuel. There is no need to add your native language ability in Punjabi and Urdu, or what qualification you got in a Foundation College in Pakistan, unless it is required for the job. They will see your ethnic background when you get an interview, at which point it won't matter any more because your technical ability will shine through.
- Remember this: Of all the people you meet during the course of your application, only one of them has the power to say YES. All the rest are there to say no.
I am always willing to learn more about recruitment and it would be interesting to see what people think of job applications and CVs. Maybe you have been responsible for recruiting and have some helpful hints. If you think I am wrong, say so!