Job Discussion Forums

[cstevens]

I have seen a lot of examples of CVs that have martial info included. A friend of mine questioned whether that was necessary or not.

Is that a normal part of a good CV?

Also, is there a place where people review CVs for newbies?

Thanks in advance.

[jdl]

The purpoase of the cv is to get on a short list of competitors for a job with the next step usually being an interview. A cv then needs to grab enough of the employers attention to get you onto that short list. A successful cv is one which is targeted to the employer or general set of employers. When wondering what to and what not to include on the cv one must ask, "what does the employer want or expect?".
Ok, now to be specific...should marital status be included? Yes and no: to whom you are applying. Is the employer looking for a mature, stable, reliable, settled family type etc. individual to join a well established community based educational team? Is the employer looking for straight academic and experiential qualities? If applying to a Catholic school putting divorced on the cv would not improve your chances for an interview.
Unlike North America many parts of the world do not have the same laws detailing what can and can not be required on a cv so for the most part it is an open free market affair.
When preparing your cv provide the information that bears the best chance of getting you the interview. A general rule would be not to offer any info that may raise questions from the employer and to include information only germane to the position.
For advice on how to prepare a cv follow a standard format that many employers are familiar with. Refer to a high school business education text or follow the microsoft office suite format.

It is all about marketing! Welcome to the work world.

[dharma86]

Yeah, a good CV is all about quality not quantity. Optimising your two pages with positive and relevant information.

If marital status is relevant, specific to the job then include it. If it serves no purpose in getting you the job then why include it?

It's best to always taylor your CV to a specifc job.

[cstevens]

Great, that is clear.

Thanks for the responses.

[naturegirl321]

I don't include it. I wait until they give me an offer based on my quals and exp and then bring up the fact that I'm married

[spiral78]

Naturegirl, I think you should be up front about your marital status - it clearly affects any potential employer, since you are counting on an employer to get a visa for your husband in most locations. It's not fair to kind of lead them on about that, and I think it might leave a bad impression of you.

[Justin Trullinger]

[naturegirl321]

If they ask, I tell. If they don't ask, then I don't tell them until later.