Ask the Expert: How do I present a year out on my CV?
A year travelling-- lucky you! Did you have a good time, what did you
see, do and learn? After nine years' working in finance, our guess is
that you knew how to value that year and didn't spend the whole time
flaking out and working on your tan. Is that right?
Depending on what you actually did with your time, you have a couple of
options for your CV. One is to mention it in your covering letter and
then confine it to a half a line at the end of your personal statement
or summary at the top of your CV: "Now looking for a position in x,
after a year spent travelling in y." This is the minimalist route.
The other option is to make something of it and unapologetically leave
it as the top item after your personal statement or summary. Call it a
sabbatical and pick two or three things to say about it that would make
good talking points, should an interviewer wish to pursue it. Even then
it will still just take up just three or four lines, leaving plenty more
space on your first page for 'harder' information.
Whole books are written about the best way to write a CV, but if you
remember the following three things you won't go far wrong:
1) CVs are skimmed and not read. Keep it brief and to the point and
choose a layout and fonts that make it easy and inviting to read.
2) Focus on achievements rather than responsibilities.
3) The purpose of your CV is to get you an interview, not to get you a
job. You want to whet the reader's appetite and make them think, "I want
to meet this person."
Next
week's question: I am currently recruiting for staff and after agreeing
to interview a candidate through an agency I was contacted by another
agency who claimed that they had sent me the CV first and therefore
under their Terms & Conditions, they would be eligible to invoice if I
appointed the candidate. Is this correct and do they have a legal point?
What would you advise? Send your answer to: expertadmin@efinancialcareers.com.
Look out for the Experts' answer to this dilemma and readers' comments on Ask the Expert next week!
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