Writing a CV

"My communication skills are excellent" would get ride of one of the 'I have' openings without changing your meaning.

But I'm not sure if "I am motivated and commercially aware" actually ought to be put together?

Hope that helps

I think 'considerable' is a bit weak and you can't afford to be weak. I can't
think what would be better but 'vast' 'enormous' or ''demonstrable' or something like that.

I would also suggest that the sense of humour may work better if second in the sentence in case they think you are always joking around. ' I interact well with people from all walks of life, often by using my sense of humour.'

Closing sales gets a bit lost too so perhaps more emphasis as in ' My main pleasure in my work is closing sales, closely followed by the pleasure gained by being part of a happy and successful team.'

Don't be modest - I know we all cringe at the Apprentice when they blatently lie on CVs but if you are good at something (and it seems like you are) and have the proof then yell about it.

Thank you, taken on board!

My suggestion: I've chopped it around a tiny bit and excluded the sense of humour bit. I don't think that is relevant because you 'interact well...' anyway.

Good luck!

I have considerable experience in the sales and marketing field and proven sales ability. I am motivated and commercially aware, especially with regard to and understand the importance of customer service in an increasingly competitive market. I have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal I have a good sense of humour and interact well with people from various walks of life. Apart from closing sales, my main pleasure in my work is feeling that I am part of a happy and successful team.

Most of the sentences that start with ''I have..'' can be turned round. It is better to make you good qualities the subject of the sentence rather than yourself.Otherwise ,very good. I'd employ you like a shot.

I had a little go at this - hope you don't mind I used to do quite a lot of pre and post interview coaching.

'As a highly motivated and commercially aware professional I am deeply committed to the high level of importance which must be placed on customer service in an increasingly competitive market. To this end I have developed excellent communication skills in using a variety of technological and non technological mediums written and verbal. My considerable experience in the sales and marketing field proven sales ability have resulted in a number of tangible successes (name a couple in percentage terms). My colleagues will say I have a good sense of humour, team spirit and my career has enabled me to interact well with colleagues and clients at all levels. My job satisfaction comes from closing sales and increase profits as part of a happy and successful team.'

Good luck

I used to shortlist applicants' and read their CVs and one criterion we always looked for was examples/evidence, so I would add some examples of how you were successful, what gave you the competitive edge, name some of the media you have used, specify what you think is relevant to the reader. Good luck! It's looking great

Thanks all, I will have a bit of a re-jig.

Carol and susiecb , I have included examples of my achievements/successes in the sections I have done with regard to my 2 most recent jobs. I have only covered the last 2 employments, but they do cover 17 years!

I sent an email yesterday in responseto an advertisement, requesting an application form. (That was what the advertiser requested, not a CV)

The form came today, and part of it requests details of your education,including dates. This has made me a bit as it means that they can work out ones age, to a degree.

Mr Phoenix has suggested that I put the qualifiations in, bt not the dates.

Any thoughts, ladies?

real cleft stick that one Phoenix.
I vote for "excellent" sense of humour.

Ooooh, forgot to run this one by you all!

I had another meeting with my boss last Friday, showed him the draft of my CV.

His response? "That's a good start, I will help you to make it really stand out."

OK, fine, but he then went on to say that Lucy (a recent intern) has a rather "thin" CV as she was just out of UNI, but they worked on it and managed to get it up to..............................*5 PAGES* !!!!! I kid you not!

Every website I have looked at says 2 pages max! I also think that the covering letter or email can be a crucial factor, as that should be a sort of "appetiser" to make them want to actually read the attached CV.

Covering letter, mission statement, call it whatever name, is the clincher in my book. I would keep the CV shorter rather than longer. Many decisions are made in the first 10 secs. or so.
Good luck! x

Thanks Butternut , glad to hear that I seem to be on the right lines.

This next bit is from the section on my "current" (ha, tomorrow is my last day!) employment.

I first joined the company as an Administrator, providing support to the Client Services Managers, then became Project Manager with sole responsibility for selling a benchmarking programme to Local Authorities across the UK. I was promoted to Business Development Manager, a position I have held for five years.

My role involves contact with both clients and prospective clients by telephone and email, preparing quotations, proposals etc. (using Microsoft Office) and delivering face to face sales presentations. An essential part of the job is identifying clients’ needs and offering appropriate solutions at competitive prices that will meet company requirements with regard to profit margins.

For over four years the company has taken stand space at various key industry specific exhibitions, where I have had the responsibility of representing the company and engaging with potential new blue chip clients. I have also taken part in several live interviews on various BBC Radio stations on the company’s behalf, and contributed to articles in the Daily Telegraph.

I have been successful in winning contracts with clients such as British Gas, Anglian Home Improvements, M&S Money, Nuffield Health and Camelot (The National Lottery), among many others.

Dare I suggest - Move para. 4 to the top of this section. Include the BBC and D.T. too. It's the most relevant. The rest is padding ( everyone in similar businesses will be aware of this) and can be put in later.
x

CVs - short, relevant, punchy, evidenced and show something of the person behind them. More than than a page and a half becomes a chore for the reader, and you know the old saying about the first few seconds clinching an interview, well the beginning and end are what tend to be remembered so put the sensational stuff first and last. You will have the best CV ever written!
xx

Butternut, do you mean put that before my progression through the company? If so, I think I can see your reasoning, they are household names and I must admit I am a bit proud of being responsible for adding them to the company client list. (Slightly abashed at boasting smiley).

I am still of a mind to tailor it to suit the application, there is one I applied for over the weekend that, with the 20/20 vision that is hindsight, I think will actually scare the potential employer into thinking that my salary expectations may be more than they can afford!

PS Am I allowed a bit of a "moment"? It is quite a good list, isn't it?

Agreed!

Thanks!

The para re winning contracts was the stand out one for me. Beef it up. Did you lead the bid, write the bid, make the pitch - or were you just one of a team that did this. Make it clear.
I have read thousands of CVs. 5 pages - you lose the will to live.The person commenting had probably never been on the receiving end of hundreds of CVs that he had to read TODAY.

Key tip - make sure that key words for the job jump off the page.
I once waded through gadzillions of MBAs applying online for a role in which some background in marketing was essential. If i could not spot that word marketing in the first 30 secs it would be a "no thanks" .
Other tip, before I get on, is to make sure there are no unexplained gaps in your chronological CV. If you were a full time parent for 5 years, make that clear. Some people look for gaps and fret about what you were up to.

The most important ting for someone shortlisting applications is find the ones that most closely match the job specification and personal specification and they don't want to wade through pages and pages to find that so make sure you meet the essential critieria as soon as you can and the profile you are putting first needs to say some of this. These days employers are wading through sometimes 200 applications. Good Luck with it.

Many thanks all. And, yes, JessM , I did lead, write, and present on all of the ones mentioned!

Thought you might have. So blow your trumpet woman. Make that crystal clear. There are a lot of 22 year olds out there padding Cvs and exaggerating what they have done.

Oh bluddy hell!

First feedback from an agency, it's too "wordy". This agency left a message on my mobile at 8.30 on Monday, after I submitted an application for a specific job on Saturday. It has taken until 5.53 today, to actually speak to the woman. I have phoned every day, left messages with her colleague, finally has a brief chat yesterday, she said she would phone me at 4pm to discuss in more depth. She didn't. I phoned again today, finally managed to talk. Apparently her client doesn't think I'm right for the position.

Now need to re-write the CV to be more bullet points, rather than text.

I did some serious jobhunting when I wanted to return to the workforce after a small stroke and some heart dramas that had put me onto a disability support pension. I attended 2 course and saw 3 alleged Human Resources experts, all of whom had very firm rules on how to write a CV/Resume, and of course that meant I got 5 quite varying versions of how to write a CV.

Here in Australia the requirements to become a clinical psychologist changed in the 1990s. You had to have a MSc.Psych rather than a MA.Psych which meant a lot of people who had a BA.Psych and wanted to get into clinical psychology were excluded - most of them went into human resources.