Job Discussion Forums

[massivegeoff]

i'd always been told to keep my cv to one side of A4. my first CV when i left uni was one side, and a decade or so later it's still one side. back then i had to pad it out, now i think the skill is in cutting out the fat. the people i've talked to in various places all said pretty much the same thing - keep it short and especially relevant, ie tailor it to the job.

then just the other day we had a discussion in the office with a kiwi teacher we have. she was applying for a summer job in the UK and was having great difficulty slimming down her SIX page cv. this apparently included her teaching philosophy, three references and about two paragraphs on EVERY job she's ever done. i tried to tell her all the stuff i put above, but she wasn't having any of it. apparently in NZ they insist on these lengthy resumes. when i showed her my cv she said that if she had gotten this when she was a recruiter in japan she would've binned it because a single side implied i didn't care enough to write a decent lengthed resume!

is she talking out of the wrong orifice, or are resume expectations REALLY that different in diferent parts of the world?

[Guy Courchesne]

Speaking as someone who sees about a dozen resume/CVs a day, short is sweet. A nice cover letter that is to the point is best.

What a resume or CV does is call attention to you. Remember, it's probably sitting in amongst several others, especially if a job ad was put out. It's best to highlight the most important things, and leave teaching philosophy, references, and the extra job information for the call back, the interview, of the follow up.

That's my take...perhaps others see it differently. Regardless of whether you are a looker or not, a picture at the top is a natural eye-catcher and will stand out from the rest. In some countries, a photo and your DOB is required info, despite it being seen as potential for discrimination in certain first-world countries.

6 pages? I wouldn't 'bin' it as it's information I'll likely need later anyway. But, very often, less is more.

Here's the resume style I like. http://www.innovative-english.com/resumeguide.htm

[moot point]

No it's true that in NZ and Oz most resumes are many pages in length, whereas the North American and British resume should be kept down to a page or two.

In our business it is crucial to know who (i.e. what nationality) will be looking at our CV, as his/her bias will determine whose CV will wind up in the trash bin.

[Glenski]

I think we need to make a distinction here.

In some parts of the world, CV and resume are synonymous, and that means a document no more than 2 pages. In such a document, the author is usually looking for non-academic work, and there isn't a huge string of such things as publications and presentations, nor lengthy descriptions of what the person has done.

On the other hand, many academics (especially long-timers) have what is called a CV, not a resume. This is a huge document akin to what your NZ friend had described and containing everything I mentioned above. This CV is designed for people who have been around for many years and have rather high positions.

Send me a 6-pager when I'm only looking for someone to teach for a year's contract somewhere in the world, and it will automatically go into pile B, not pile A. I will probably put it on the bottom, too, because I would think the person is overqualified and/or overly wordy for that type of position. The cover letter should explain things a resume does not, and it should make the reviewer interested in seeing your specific qualifications (on the resume). However, even a cover letter should be no longer than 2 pages.