Why is there this current fashion to have a personal statement as part of a CV. They always read as being a bit false, contrived. OK CVs are for selling yourself but personal statements are probably more fitting for resumes rather CVs (in Britain we don't normally do things in such a vulgar fashion).
Why can't we just stick to the facts qualifications, experience and maybe major achievements.
Agree 100%. It almost like the employers are after playwrights who can string a load of bol****s together.
Just thank god this wasn't out when I was being interviewed.... I can't hardly string 2 words together.
Me personally, I don't use personal statements on my CV. I send a cover letter in with my CV, that normally houses more info than 2 lines on the CV
-ken
Probably so the literacy level of the applicant can be judged. Would probably be made rather more fun by being replaced by a short story exercise.Originally Posted by ITWombat
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David Hicks
IT's stupid, firstly because if a recuiter is looking at a lot of applications manually they'll scan it visually to make sure the applicant meets the minimum entry requirements. You'll normally find that out in the edu, work, training ans skills bit...not in the personal statement.
As someone else has said a covering letter can elaborate on info about you or expand or include a brief personal statement.
Another thing i hate about some cv's are those that list hobbies and interests, with most cv's being 2 pages, a comprehensive work and training history would mean you didn't have the space for frivilous nonsense about what sports you do or that your a ham radio enthusiast. I don't see why any recruiter should care what an applicants hobbies and interests are...
Agree with that statement, i mean i dont mind putting my hobbies down but i dont see how that will affect how the selection process goes. i strugle to get what i have done/currently doing on 2 pages. some things i miss off but then also thing hang on that might help. pretty crazy things thats why i dnt application forms lol as i just fill in the required information.
James.
Well it would seem to me that it's delivered to students as part of vocational skills. When i was at college and uni every time they made you sit down and write a cv part of it was to write this paragraph of bullsh*t...
I think it's ridiculous as well. To be honest i don't think you should describe yourself at all whether it be covering letter or cv, if your experience and qualifications don't get the job done there's no point being hardworking and trustworthy on paper. I think employers should try and find that out at interview combined with your references.
When weeding out candidates on of the first things I look at is the personal statement...if there is one I disregard the CV.
Wes
I was taught at secondary school that the CV should be just be a listing of personal details, qualifications, experience and references. The 'personal statement' should be a separate document sent along with the CV. The personal statement was simply what everyone would call a covering letter, and was altered according to the post you were applying for.
The only places I see advocating inclusion of a personal statement on a CV are US 'how to write a resume' sites. And the only people I've actually seen include one on their CV's were people on MBA courses... :P
I was never taught how to put together a CV, ended up using google
James.
Well I say this everytime I get shot down for it but will say it again best resume/cv advice I have seen is from manager tools but then how dare someone suggest a cv can be one page long.
Your Resume Stinks!
Resume Update 2008
Runs and hides.
Russell
What?! At school/college they tell you to include a personal statement and a lot of the online examples include one too.When weeding out candidates on of the first things I look at is the personal statement...if there is one I disregard the CV.
Wes
I still don't believe that you should stick to one page. Not a single personnel manager I have met has ever said this, they all say 2 pages is the ideal. One page gives the impression that you are either a) lazy and couldn't be bothered to write a proper CV or b) under qualified and don't have enough to fill 2 pages. And this goes for 5 different personnel managers in different businesses.
Put it this way, contact details for yourself and for your references take up nearly half a page on their own.
The other information on that site is faulty too - for example a commenter asks about organising a CV by skills applicable to the post (rather than in chronological order). The response was that recruiters hate it - which is simply wrong. I know of several who do like it, as it shows the person is focussing on why they are good for the job!
Large organisations, particularly recruitment companies, use automatic CV readers to filter the large number of CV they receive, I suspect the personal statement is designed to seed the CV with key words and phrases.
Seems a bit harsh - unless of course you warn applicants first. If we do not offer an interview we have to be able to explain why. That there were five better applicants is acceptable, we would have a hard time explaining that it was because a personal statement had been included on their CV.
Contact details are normally on the first three lines of the first page. I was advised not to include references in a CV, but to included them on a separate sheet only if requested. The references will probably be pushed out to an admin assistant to send out a reference request while the CV will be passed to HR/Management. The general advice is no more than 2 sheets i.e. if you only have one sheet there is no need to pad it out onto two.
We actually use application forms but I imagine the principle is exactly the same for CVs, we send out a job and personal specification and mark the applications against these, the applicants who score highest get an interview.
It still surprises me that the weakest applicants on paper are frequently the best candidates when we get them to interview.
Well my CV must do the job, as it's got me numerous interviews and several jobs over the last 5 or 6 years. It DOESN'T have a personal statement, it is 2 pages long including names and addresses for references, and doesn't elaborate too much. I always include a single page covering letter that is usually 4 or 5 paragraphs that I write from scratch for each position I apply for.
Everything is clean, clear and simply presented in arial size 12 with size 14 in bold/underline for headings and that's it.
You can apply the KISS theory to CV's. Keep It Simple Stupid.
Mike.
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