How to Take Care of Weaknesses on Your CV
Do you have a unique circumstance that might raise a recruiter's eyebrows when reviewing your CV? Your first impulse might be just to lie about your past experience, put there are other ways still make yourself attractive to an employer without necessarily being deceitful.
Many people have gaps in their work history. If you have a legitimate reason for major gaps, such as going to school or having a child, you can simply state this on your CV. You could, in some situations, handle one of these gaps by putting the alternative activity on the CV, with dates, just as you would handle any other job.
Minor gaps such as being out of work for several months, do not need an explanation at all. You can often simply exclude any mention of months on your CV. Instead, just refer to the years you were employed such as "2003 to 2004" and any gap of several months is not apparent at all.
Some of the most accomplished people I know have been out of work at one time or another. It's really not a sin and many people who are managers have experienced it themselves. But the tradition is to try to hide this on the CV.
One technique is to put something like "20xx to Present" on your CV when referring to your most recent job. This approach makes it look like you are still employed. While this might be an acceptable approach in some cases, it may mean having to explain yourself early on in an interview. This soft deception can start you off on a negative note and may not end up helping you at all.
If you are currently out of work, your other alternatives are to write the actual month that you left your last job or to write in some interim activity such as being self-employed. Even if that means that you are working at a temporary agency or doing odd jobs, it may be better than being deceitful. Remember that many employers have experienced being out of work themselves and may have more understanding of your situation than you realise.
There is no reason for a CV to include any details related to why you have left previous jobs -- unless, of course, they were positive. For example, leaving to accept a more responsible job is to your credit. If you have been fired, analyse why. In most cases, it is for reasons that do not have to do with your performance. Often, people are fired as a result of interpersonal conflicts. These are quite common and do not indicate that you will necessarily have the same problem in a different situation. If your performance was the reason, you may have to explain why that would not be the case in a new job.
The CV itself should present what you did well in previous situations. Leave the discussion of problems for the interview, and take time in advance to practice what you will say if asked.
This situation is related to the one described above and would also be handled through the use of a skills CV. A change in careers does require some justification on your part, so that it makes sense to an employer. This should mean that you should present experiences where you have demonstrated ability in or preparation for success in a different occupational area.
If you have recently graduated, you may well find yourself competing against people with similar levels of education and more work experience. If you don't have a lot of work experience related to the job you want, you will obviously want to emphasise your recent education or training. This might include specific mention of courses you took and other activities that most directly relate to the job you are applying for. New graduates need to look at their course work as the equivalent of work. Indeed, it is work in that it required self-discipline, completion of a variety of tasks, and other activities that are similar to those required in many jobs.
You may also have learned a variety of things that are directly related to job you want and you should present these in a skills CV in the same way you might present work experiences in a chronological CV. You should also play up the fact, if you can, that you are familiar with the latest trends and techniques in your field and can apply these skills right away to the new job. And, since you are experienced in studying and learning new things, you will be better able to get to grips with the new job quickly.
A skills CV will also allow you to more effectively present skills you used in other jobs (such as working in a restaurant) that don't seem to directly relate to the job you now want. These jobs were also work experiences and can provide a wealth of adaptive and transferable skills that you can use, with some thought, to support your CV's job objective.
Young people, including recent graduates, often have difficulty in getting the jobs they want because employers will often recruit someone with more experience. In this case, you may want to emphasise your adaptive skills that would tend to overcome a lack of experience. Once again, a skills CV would allow you to present yourself in the best light. For example, emphasising skills such as "hardworking" and "learn new things quickly" may impress an employer enough to consider you over more experienced workers.
You should also consider expressing a willingness to accept difficult or less desirable conditions as one way to break into a field and gain experience. For example, "willing to work weekends and evenings" or "able to travel or relocate" may open up some possibilities that might appeal to an employer
After a period of unemployment, most people become more willing to settle for less than they had hoped for. If you are willing to accept jobs where you may be defined as overqualified, consider not including some of your educational or work-related credentials on your CV -- though I do not necessarily recommend doing this. And be prepared to explain, in the interview, why you do want this particular job and how your wealth of experience is a positive and not a negative.
As I have mentioned on several occasions, including a job objective on your CV is highly desirable but not required. If you really can't settle on a long-term job objective, consider on settling on a short-term one, and use that on your CV. In some cases, you can also do several CVs, each with its own job objective. This can make sense in some situations and will allow you to select information that will support your various options to best effect.
If you have the previous experience and skills to do a job that is often filled by someone with more education, you should take special care in preparing the education and experience sections of your CV.
For those with substantial work experience, you can simply not include a section on education at all. While this does have the advantage of not presenting your lack of formal credentials in an obvious way, a better approach might be to present the education and training that you do have without indicating that you do or do not have a degree.
For example, mention that you attended such and such a college or program but don't mention that you did not complete it. This approach avoids your being screened out unnecessarily and provides you with a chance at an interview that you might not otherwise get.
Young people need to present their youth as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. So consider just what aspects of your youth might be seen as advantages. For example, perhaps you are willing to work for less money, accept less desirable tasks, work longer or less convenient hours, or do other things that a more experienced worker might not. If so, say so.
You do need to realise that many employers prefer to hire workers with experience and demonstrated ability in jobs related to those they have available. Still, young people who present themselves effectively can be considered over those with better credentials.
A CV should never include any negative information about you. So if you have ever been "in trouble" with the law, you would certainly not mention this in your CV. Newer laws even limit an employer from including such general questions on an application as "Have you ever been arrested?" and limit formal inquiries to "Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence?"
Being arrested and being guilty are two different things. Arrests for minor offences are also not supposed to be considered in a recruiting decision. A criminal conviction is a different matter. These crimes are more serious and current employment laws do allow an employer to ask for and get this information -- and to use it in making certain recruiting decisions. For example, few employers would want to hire an accountant who had been convicted for stealing money from a previous employer.
If you have an arrest or conviction record that an employer has a legal right to enquire about, my advice is to avoid looking for jobs where your record would be seen as a negative. The accountant in the above example should consider changing careers. I would advise people in this situation to avoid jobs where they could easily commit the same crime, since few employers would even consider hiring them for that reason. Even if they did get such a job by concealing their criminal history, they could be fired at any time in the future. Instead, I might suggest they consider selling accounting software, starting their own business, or getting into a career completely unrelated to accounting.
As always, your CV should reflect what you can do rather than what you can't. If you choose your career direction wisely and present a convincing argument that you can do the job well, many employers will, ultimately, overlook previous mistakes. As you prove yourself and gain good work experience, your distant past becomes less important. So a criminal history really isn't an issue for a CV at all. Instead, it is a career planning, job search, and interview issue.
From the book titled, "The Quick Resume and Cover Letter Book," by J. Michael Farr. Copyright 1994, published by JIST Works, Inc., Indianapolis, IN. Used with permission of the publisher. Additional photocopies strictly prohibited.
