CV template recommendations

[Ryan Paul]

Can anyone recommend any free CV template downloads compatible with MS Word?

Thank you

 

[ethical PR]

There are hundreds, just google CV templates and find one you like.

 

[Bob Morgan]

Alternatively, devise you own format! - At least it will stand out from the other 'Boilerplate CVs!'

 

[Ryan Paul]

Alternatively, devise you own format! - At least it will stand out from the other 'Boilerplate CVs!'

I have although I admit it could do with some finesse.
I read dozens of CVs a week at times. 99% are basic diy jobs or indeed templates

 

[Bob Morgan]

. . . and leave out all of those 'Americanised Statements' such as "My goal in life is to become the most efficient and effective Sagger-Makers Bottom-Knocker! I also want to work towards World Peace and become the CEO of your esteemed organisation" - Just look at the words! It is stating ambitions, and not something that has been achieved yet! - NEXT!

Currently, I have a box-full of CVs that have arrived since the commencement of the 'Great Contagion!' They have all been written from 'Boilerplate Templates!' - It demonstrates a level of naivety and immaturity! - What arrives in the box, stays in the box!

 

[Ozzy]

I like CV's that are bespoke to the role being applied for. I had a real stand out creative CV once sent in that was using a clever use of creative design flair, good use of colours and design. Stood out a mile even though it has much fewer words.
I then had a CV that was for a programmer, and some of the CV was written in code. Very plain, no fancy design and used some basic code between sections, CV stood out as one of the best received for the role.

When we were looking for a junior and almost all applications came from a starting out style organisation linked to a Uni, and all CV's looked the same and used the same opening paragraphs we ended up hiring none of them.

 

[HWilliams27]

It's great when you can tell that the applicant has tailored their CV to the job role - employers/recruiters can always tell when it's a generic CV. We deal with education recruitment, but our applicants are often graduates with no prior experience, so we look for a good personal statement - concise but well-written. It's also good to see key relevant experience that focusses on achievements and skills gained, and a separate list of any professional skills of note is great. Make it reader friendly!

 

[The Byre]

I once accepted someone without an interview because the candidate wrote the perfect letter - it went -

I, a 30-year-old with an MA in German studies, seek a position that gives me the horizons and experience that other employers expect me to already have.

That short sentence, originally in German, was enough.

Another successful letter ran -

I am a 21-year-old IT and electronic engineering student about to graduate from Trier University. My studies were sponsored by Hewlett Packard, for whom I have written several software test protocols that are now in their catalogue of commercially available software upgrades.

There was a closing sentence about wanting to be interviewed for a career with IBM, but that was it. Short, sweet and to the point. Both of those letters were from female candidates who went on to have very successful careers.

Here is another genuine letter - very much a guy's approach to blowing one's own trumpet!

This is an actual essay written by a college applicant to NYU. The author was accepted and went on to attend NYU.

3A. IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400.

My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four-course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven.

I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin.

I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.

 

[Bob Morgan]

I once accepted someone without an interview because the candidate wrote the perfect letter - it went -

I, a 30-year-old with an MA in German studies, seek a position that gives me the horizons and experience that other employers expect me to already have.

That short sentence, originally in German, was enough.

Another successful letter ran -

I am a 21-year-old IT and electronic engineering student about to graduate from Trier University. My studies were sponsored by Hewlett Packard, for whom I have written several software test protocols that are now in their catalogue of commercially available software upgrades.

There was a closing sentence about wanting to be interviewed for a career with IBM, but that was it. Short, sweet and to the point. Both of those letters were from female candidates who went on to have very successful careers.

Here is another genuine letter - very much a guy's approach to blowing one's own trumpet!

This is an actual essay written by a college applicant to NYU. The author was accepted and went on to attend NYU.

3A. IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400.

My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby ****, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four-course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven.

I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin.

I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.

I would have dismissed that because he said 'Train Station' and NOT 'Railway Station!'