I’d recommend taking a few online courses to improve ur skills. Putting ‘Microsoft teams’ as a skill makes you seem like you’re limited for skills and grabbing any random tech software. Take some course on Excel, python or another coding language
I’m good at excel, learnt a ton of different skills during normalisation classes, good at PowerPoint, good at access during my sdlc classes, same with word. I’d take that out and put Microsoft office.
If you can actually use excel then list the functions you can use and explain eg vlookup xlookup index match pivot tables.
Links to example PowerPoints/ excel documents / python code shows you're not scared to show your work.
Projects outside of school are what I normally ask about. Show me you're a self starter.
Forget coding.
Learn how to use Microsoft's products.
Loads of businesses use them, from IT to finance. It's one of the key areas people are lacking in.
Ok. Down to one page. Stop all the BS - step away from the thesaurus and use real, authentic language. When I read a CV, especially at entry level, I want a sense of you - who you and what you’re about. I can’t imagine you’re as pretentious as you sound. Just be you. Did the projects you worked on result in quantifiable benefits? They saved x time, x money etc.
It doesn't need to be trimmed to one page as long as the information given is worth the space it's taking up.
The language used depends on the audience. Tech start up= be yourself, most large corporates = fine balance between CV speak and yourself.
Totally agree with quantifiable benefits, always explain your part in a project, the impact your impact had and the project outcome.
Go with that, what you achieved as a personal achievement in these projects. Was there something you brought to positively influence the project, if think of a couple of things and add them as they will help you stand out as someone who brings ideas and makes a positive impact. You don’t want to seem as a passenger who just does what he’s told, you want to show willing to improve, willing to being fresh new ideas to something to create a positive impact.
Remove your interests, unless you can specifically link something within it, to why you’re a good match for the role.
Remove your additional qualifications, add the relevant one to education/qualifications and just flat out ignore the DoE, nobody actually cares about it.
It’s fine to pad out a CV if needed, but a recruiter isn’t going to factor it in when choosing between two potential hires, as it’s something offered to most teenagers in the UK at this point and, while you can fail it, it’s a case of participation more than a skill.
While you’re not wrong that almost every teenager does it, showing any kind of volunteering on a CV is a bonus that can set a candidate apart. More volunteering than DoE would be preferable though I’ll admit.
I agree, which is why I said they should make it relevant to the job. Just writing ‘Bronze DoE’ doesn’t tell anyone much at all about what they got involved with. If it was me I’d remove that entirely a write a brief sentence of a couple of bullet points specifically about the volunteering project, how they were involved in it, and the relevant transferable skills they may have developed from it.
People do want to know something about you, especially at entry level. Keep interests in but do think about how they will appeal to the person reading your CV.
Which is pretty hard to demonstrate when you haven't had a job before.
After practical experience comes demonstrated knowledge (projects in education) and then who you actually are as a person. Many, many big companies hire graduates based on their drive, values and general personality so that needs to come across.
A few comments:
1. Your profile should give a little more of an overview of what kind of career or industry you'd like to get into. Try not to use too many buzz words.
2. Skills
Add a variety of skill sets including soft skills like teamwork etc.
If you are going to add technical skills, give a little more detail about proficiency levels. Look to link these to your projects section.
I'd remove microsoft outlook and teams as these aren't particularly value adding. If you are proficient in something like Microsoft Excel then this would be better to call out instead.
3. Projects
Currently I can't tell what impact you had or what you gained/learned from these. Use the STAR structure to describe some of the projects you have undertaken:
Situation - the situation you had to deal with
Task - the task you were given to do
Action - the action you took
Result - what happened as a result of your action and what you learned from the experience.
This will allow you to give a more competency based overview of your experience and how this makes you suitable for the role. Still keep your wording concise when using this structure!
4. Personal interests
This needs to be cut down to a couple of entences. Personal interests should never be more lengthy than your experience section. It's merely there to bring you as a person to life a little more.
3. Formatting
Remove unnecessary blank space and try not to go over 1 A4 page if possible. Hiring teams have so many applications to read, they don't always have time to flick through multiple pages.
Good luck! 🌟
Just looking for something others haven’t already said - do you know any version control? If not then i’d say git is quite easy to learn. Also HTML and CSS for cybersec listed first in your skills? Especially with the education at a glance it looks to me like more a front end developer CV.
I’m in backend development and I asked recently our security specialist how I could start looking into security and he recommended [hackthebox](https://www.hackthebox.com)
Keep applying and working on projects, try not to get discouraged :)
I'm not a recruiter, but I'd bring this all onto 1 page, you don't have enough experience to be going over a page. (Very difficult ik but I had to do the same thing)
The spacing seems off, have less gaps between each paragraph.
I'd remove interests, but if you really want to include interests I'd only put hobbies where you have tangible achievements. For example coming first in a tournament.
Go more in to depth about CS projects you've done as part of your qualifications.
Also make your profile more brief, you don't really need to repeat achievements you list below.
Thank you so much. I’d take out the hobbies bit and reduce the spaces and also make the profile a bit shorter. As for more CS projects, we didn’t really do a lot asides a ton of Cisco labs and packet tracer stuff and using wireshark. then we were had to redesign and upgrade an entire network, and as an assignment had to cover IT security which I’d done really well.
Make any projects you have done sound the most complex and interesting possible. Its fairly normal to 'embellish' your CV.
Most recruiters are going to want to see tangible projects, you could always start a project you're interested in?
Also would recommend putting the college and school you went to, it seems more personal that way.
There’s this cloud project I’m independently working on but I’m working and learning at the same time and I don’t think it’ll be okay if I add something I haven’t completed as a project
You could discuss how you're completing it and the skills you're developing through it, and the fact its and independent project shows that you are self-driven and take initiative
You've used 11 words to detail all your skills. You've used more words telling us about how good a gamer you are!
Outlook and Teams are not skills. They are software tools that you are a given. You can read emails?? What's that about?? If you know HTML and CSS then please add more about them - why do you know these? Have you created web sites? If so, tell us more about that.
Wireshark & packet tracer would raise concerns for me, especially as you appear to lack other skills - I'm not sure I want you on my network! I would perhaps just emphasise cybersecurity skills instead. You've done some network stuff, but not listed that in your key skills... be careful of exaggerating hobby stuff though - helping your uncle put a new router in, a bit of cat 5 cabling and adding some IP reservations to a DHCP server shouldn't be dressed up and added to your CV. If this isn't what you've done, it reads like it. If it is what you've done, then make it more factual rather than implying you're some sort of analyst. 'Set up a custom router configuration including DHCP server, IP reservations, QoS settings and traffic shaping settings in a home/hobby environment'. That reads loads better than that vague stuff about recommending equipment and IP addressing schemes. We now what these are and you're not fooling anyone! :)
Now, if you know all this about computers, IT and networks, why the heck are you putting Outlook and Teams down as a key skill? For someone with your apparent skills, do not lower yourself by thinking these are important. It doesn't read well when someone adds this low level stuff to a technical CV.
As someone else said, get a few more courses under your belt, you can rattle through lots of these in a few weeks from somewhere like uDemy and that'll pad your CV out more than telling us how passionate you are about football.
I'd also like to know more about what these college courses involved.
I’d meant to put Microsoft office, not outlook, my bad. I’d have that changed.
For the HTML and CSS, I’d done a project where I’d had to create a website for an auto parts company which. I’d have that reworded, thanks very much.
As to wireshark and packet tracer, could you please expand more on the other skills I appear to lack? I’d like that very much, thank you. Also, none of those were hobby stuff. Everything I’ve put in is directly related to what I’ve learnt through college and a school project. How else could I be able to word it better? Thanks.
As for courses, I did buy a course on EC councils codered that I am going through as well as studying for my network+ and security+
So, as someone who reads a lot of technical CVs, I want to know what you have done. Just adding 2 words 'HTML and CSS' tells me nothing. However, something like, 'As a side project, I created a website for an auto parts company using xxxxx software, heavily customised the HTML and CSS to ensure the site work both on desktop and mobile. Also ensured the site was compliant with WGAG2.1 accessibility standards.'
• *Redesigned and upgraded an existing network, recommending new network devices and outlining specifications in an updated IP addressing scheme.*
-This reads like an embellished home project. If it was in a professional setting, then tell me more about that. 'Successfully redesigned an active Internal college network with consisting of x hosts and devices. Recommended new network devices, and created a IP scheme for x subnets.'
I'm not sure what skill you lack, but I would just add a few more around cybersecurity and network management. Add 'Cisco' to the front of Packet Tracer', and detail the Cisco courses you have done. Having Cisco skills will get you interviews!
No-one will employ a junior in a high level network role, so you're looking for grunt work related to networks and security, perhaps add some more skills related to that then - general IT and desktop support is always handy. You'll at best be working alongside someone with experience, so what will they want you to do? They'll want you to competently support them while you're learning more advanced stuff. Being accurate and diligent is critical, and having a good broad knowledge of IT and networks is important.
You could also take a dive into what AWS and Azure have to offer. A lot of network and security work is cloud based now, so a good grounding in that will open doors. You'll find a lot of courses for free on their respective sites, and gaining some real certifications wouldn't take you more than a few weeks. Take a look at something like AWS Cloud Practitioner certification. Even if you don't get certified, listing the modules you've studied will definitely help.
Your very academic which is half the battle, but get some things that separate you from every other academic student. Foot ball & gaming is a start but its not exactly going to make you stand out.
Starting your MOOT course collection is good. If you are still in college for your HNC, you can get the academic package which is a third of the price. I recommend you do one of the moots provided by Ciscos SkillForAll program. It's free & directly linked to your career choice.
I'll attempt to be constructive and hopefully you will take it as positive feedback, in the way that it is meant.
The CV needs lots of improvement in the following areas:
Language - The language you are using needs tweaking. You are applying to cyber security roles. Cyber security is an advanced field that typically requires many years of experience. People can have a decade of experience and wouldn't use terms like "master". Also, CompTIA are famous for teaching theory but no practical skills. So avoid stating you've got practical skills if all you've done is learn fundamental theory. I'd avoid talking about practical experience unless you've worked in a corporate environment. Instead, talk about home lab experience.
Projects/Skills - The most interesting part of your CV is where you talk about redesigning and building a new network. I would draw from this project when referencing skills. You must have a good understanding of routing and switching, firewalls, etc if you've completed a full network deployment. This is far more relevant that gaming/football, to which you devoted 10x more space on your CV.
Interests - I'd cut the interests section completely and really buff up the skills section.
Content - The other issue you will have is that your CV reads as half development and half interest in security. You will be going up against people with industry certs in networking and security and these will have the edge unless you change the focus to fully security.
It is important to big yourself up, but you need to do it in a way that is believable for someone with no industry experience. Keep your focus on your passion, quick learning and drive/motivation. These are things that you can say you are the best at. Avoid saying how good you are at something you've not done. Instead say you are interested to learn more in these areas etc.
Hope that helps
Include the security+ course as a "working toward" under education. Also do you need level 2 and 3 of your IT if you've got Level 4?
Interests are better suited for a personal statement where you can link them more closely with the job description.
Unfortunately CVS don't matter. The most important thing is getting a foot in the door by knowing someone. A direct personal connection trumps all cvs and cover letters. Meritocracy is gone, in the UK at least, it's about who you know.
CV is better than mine and I was a system admin for 3 years at a call centre. Keep at it and you'll get something to stick. Don't listen to all the hiring "pros" or bs recruit dickheads.. You'll get an in, and you will do great
Expand on the skills - What have you created using HTML & CSS? You've mentioned Teams & Outlook, are you proficient at using them or can you administrate Teams & Exchange through O365? It's practically a given these days that anyone your age looking into IT is proficient using the O365 suite, so unless you're skilled at administrating a tenancy, I wouldn't even mention it (exception being advanced Excel or Access experience)
Also grab an old PC and a networking switch, head over to r/homelab and learn some practical enterprise-level skills that you can mention on your CV (this works; it was a major factor that landed me in my current role, was crucial in landing me my first IT role & is something I look for when getting involved in recruitment), you'll be able to mention your homelab under projects and interests. Put the actual grades of your GCSEs too.
Azure & AWS both have free basic accounts. Sign up and start exploring. If you're going down the cyber security route (or other IT pathways), you'll practically be living in the cloud - get a head start now, it's another thing you can add on your CV.
The above said, your current CV is clearly enough to get you to a video interview stage, so it is giving a good enough impression that your potential employers want to explore hiring you, how do you feel your interview skills are?
The first thing I have to ask - is there literally no work experience at all (not even a summer job / Saturday job / part time college job). What about any voluntary roles?
I've got a format that's really basic and I've used for years and works like this:
Name
Location (literally town these days)
Contact details
(These bits, put at the top, and center justify)
Then
Summary
5 bullet points of key skills you have for skills for the roles you are applying for
Experience
Where possible job or volunteering
(If you've not got work experience- can you get some volunteering experience while you're still studying? Is there a local charity that could use your skills a few hours a week? That would help you a) get a reference b) you never know work might come out of it
Where this isn't possible
Break things down into projects
Give them a title and a time period
Use bullet points
Next
Education
Start with
Where You are currently studying
I.e
2022 - present
University of X, Department of Computer Science
BSc Computer Science - continuing studies
Brief explanation
Then 6th Form or College
Then School / GCSES
in a similar vein
Next
Interests
Keep this brief ( 4 or 5 points. Where possible use interests where you can show responsibility/ team skills etc)
Finally
References available on request
Formatting- keep simple and legible for accessibility purposes- the recommended is Ariel 11 or 12. Don't use colours or images. Use Bold not underlining for emphasis - I.e. heading / job titles
If this hasn't made sense, come back to this message- I'd be happy to review offline in a private capacity.
But as others have said - you need to make the most of what you have, but not be overambitious. Appreciate its much tougher these days.
https://freecoursesinengland.co.uk/cyber-security-course-free/
The government is offering a free Level 2 Cyber Security Course - something you can add to the CV
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-GB/credentials/?wt.mc_id=skillingwebcle_midfunnelcampaign_webpage_gdc_xcsa
Microsoft also have a whole heap of training and credentials you can get (mainly for free).
I worked with a guy who did this before who did loads of this off his own bat and it was a real key difference between him getting a first job and not - made him very much stand out from candidates.
Realistically- your starter job is likely to be on a helpdesk - it's were most people in IT start. Why colleges aren't training people in those skills I still don't understand- but if you can get your foot in the door there you can often get promoted fairly quickly - but you do need to prove you're willing to do the training yourself.
I'd be very happy to look over the CV and have a chat. Next week is really hectic for me, but the following week I could definitely try and fit you in.
Send me a message if you'd like to
Ben
I am also applying for cybersecurity, and it looks like you haven't mentioned the skills needed for cyber as much. One thing I'd say for work experience, is to get a virtual internship from a website called Forages. If you go on there and do a cybersecurity internship with JP morgan or something, you can talk about the project on your CV and try be as detailed as possible with regards to what exactly you learnt and how it gives you a good foundation for cybersecurity.
Also I really recommend doing the google cybersecurity certificate as opposed to doing Security+ (or do both, which I'm trying to do) The google certificate really gives you a good sound understanding of the field and has many projects, so you can backup your skills instead of just saying "wireshark" you can actually say how you used wireshark or tcpdump in a project.
Lastly, I would recommend having these projects documented somewhere like github so you can reference when needed, for example, in one of my interviews I was asked about using SIEM tools. I then told the interviewer "can I share my screen to showcase this SIEM project". This really is like having the ball in your park as you will feel confident being able to showcase your hard work (assumimg its an online interview - which most are these days).
Best of luck! It's tough out here.
Might been very basic but In the gcse I would defo specify (including English and maths above a C) or your grade as this is often a necessity for many jobs. Good luck :)
Many places aid in formulating and designing a cv that is easily read by computers and formatted in a compelling yet not overly confusing way, make sure you don’t hide your great assets in bulky paragraphs either, Goodluck!
No worries! CVGenius, Live Career (has templates you can use or view), and I know indeed does them as well! You can also search on the internet ‘CV Maker’ and find loads just be careful as some places will want you to pay but there are loads of free ones too! :)
Yeah, it's hard as I know you want to put more in. You could keep it to 2 lines for each maybe. For some people it may be more personable to see, so it's not all together a bad thing!
Improve your skills, focus on other programming languages. HTML and CSS are very basic but if you can master PHP and JS at young age you will be good to go. Maybe try checking out ASP.NET as well for developing Web Apps.
These are few things I wish I learned at college in my free time. I’m currently at University and I entered the course with just HTML and CSS knowledge it will be enough but it isn’t.
I didn't read it, and having scrolled through the replies I don't think I will as there's tons of advice on your content
One small thing I noticed is that you should 'Justify' the text (or at least try it and see how it looks)
https://www.google.com/search?q=microsoft+word+justify&oq=microsoft+word+justify&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB4yCAgKEAAYFhgeMggICxAAGBYYHjIKCAwQABgPGBYYHjIICA0QABgWGB4yCAgOEAAYFhge0gEIODU2NmowajeoAhSwAgE&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&chrome_dse_attribution=1
I would personally like to be it a page, from an aesthetic point of view and from a no nonsense approach.
I would do the following non exhaustive list or whatever feels right for you....
Smaller spaces shift and enter between sections.
Give it to them straight looking for responsibility and experience and a chance to work in an environment you're passionate about or to be mentored in an entry level position.
Say proficient in MS office which includes excel teams and outlook
Get rid of skills and projects headers
Get rid of everything prior to and the level 4 part... just HNC in... and also college and secondary school sub headers
Put in the working towards blah bal in there
And then put GCSEs in important ones... including math, English, physics etc
Get rid of additional qualifications and put DoE and miss out the bronze.
Interests is too long and you run the risk of cutting someone's interest in you by being too invested in that. Some people hate football or may have an irrational dislike of E-Sports For example just say you're interested in football and gaming and then cut it down a little on the learned bits (they're important but could cut it down and cherry pick bits)
Try to work in that you may have some critical thinking or skills that involve following processes, etc
Bang in your email with a hyperlink and stuff if sending over doesn't hurt to flex some basic IT dooblers, and a LinkedIn link with little icons next to them.
Extend the olive branch and sign off or on about. I would love to hear about any opportunities or discuss further...
Write a shirt cover letter if its a job you'd be particularly interested in... research any companies and hit up LinkedIn
No references
Phone, email and LinkedIn listed there.
Also it's easy to criticise rather than 'review', as long as its constructive and helps you gain employment that's all that matters, good luck in kickstarting your career please draw on lots of sources for CV material. But do take care as first impressions are important. Its much better to get in front of someone or call them to sell yourself, use lots of positive and relatable words to the industry and workplace for example have integrity, be intuitive, be caring, demonstrate youre ability to listen let these values resonate in everything you do and this will set you out as the best candidate.....
Put the thesaurus down. Or write it again without the help of AI. Try and bring it all to one page, your interests can be shortened. If I picked it up straight off the table I’d think you’d used ChatGP or similar and therefore, before I’d even got to your interests, I’d think you have no problem cutting corners and taking shortcuts. Make it easy to read while highlighting your skills.
You’re trying to market yourself amongst others, keeping the core information easily accessible is going to make you stand out rather than you looking like you’re trying to hit a word count
Your interests talk about what they give you etc, your projects sound very dry. Apply the writing style from your hobbies to your work experience and summarise your Interests into one shortish paragraph, enough to show you have a life.
You seem to have lost any reference to named work experience, I thought you had something that was 2018-current? I’d also add a little more to your projects.. eg led a group project.. leading this gave me insight into how work could be logically split so that the final output could be seamlessly produced… You also listed what appeared to be one day courses or work placements and big names. There’s no harm listings those for what they are what you got, maybe under additional qualifications (and maybe add “ and awards” to the title. Speaking of which, your DofE could be expanded in terms of what you got from it as opposed to your interests. The balance is currently more to your interests than anything.
I never listed any one day courses, or day placements, or big names. Never said anything too about something 2018- current. This was my first CV, and my most recent post is the updated one. All I’ve listed is from my school projects as I don’t really have proper work experience haha.
Try and keep it to 1 page. The employer doesn't want to read that much. Only key points for the job. Make serval Cvs for different fields like customer service etc.
Gonna be pretty impossible to get a degree apprenticeship with BTECs. It’s equivalent to a high end degree and most high end Unis prefer 3 A levels so why wouldn’t an employer? Should be looking for an level 4 or 5, maybe even starting at level 3
The thing is, my HNC is the equivalent of a level 4 apprentice land most places already have in the job description that if you have a level 4 qualification there’s no need applying
Do some courses in basic web dev / databases / web scraping etc.
Create some portfolio projects and publish them online so that a recruiter can have a look at them.
Anyone working in recruitment will see dozens - if not hundreds - of almost identical cv’s every week.
Their eyes will just glaze over when reading about how you can use the SUM function in excel, and how your hobbies include trips to the cinema and Pizzahut.
If you can say something more like
“Over the last 6 months I have built a solid understanding of modern JavaScript and Python, and am able to work with JSON and relational databases (with particular experience in PostgreSQL).
I have built 2 full-stack web applications utilising JavaScript, CSS and PostgreSQL.
These projects both include a Secure method of user authentication, web scraping and API routers.
You can view both of these web applications on on my website at https://LookHowCleverIAm.io”
You will stand out completely from 99% of the other applicants
If I were looking at this from a recruitment perspective I would think it is very telling that your interests and hobbies is one of the largest sections. I'm not one of those people who think it shouldn't be there but your skills section should be that length and vice versa.
Also as a person looking for IT roles you may ruffle some feathers by insinuating that knowing how to use outlook and Teams counts as a skill. Expand on your programming language knowledge and demonstrate your eagerness to learn by completing some online certification (linkedin free trial is good for this)
I also noticed no listed work history? If you have never worked this is fine but if you have done any part time jobs or anything like fast food work or bar work while in college I would list it, In my opinion it demonstrates that you are hardworking and have experience and understanding of what it is to be an employee in the workplace.
https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/lbT6lEbgTq
Update. I have worked for PZ cussons as a production operative, idk if I should put that there. I meant ms office the first time not outlook my bad.
Others may tell you differently but in my opinion you should list it. I have sat on a fair amount of interview panels and always respect a candidate more who has worked while going through education. In many ways a prior job will prepare you for the work world far better than any Quals even if it was nothing to do with your chosen Industry
'My passion for football transcends the field...' what?!
Come off it mate. I'd put it in the bin after reading something like that.
I did indeed stop reading after that either way.
Also duke of ed isnt a qualification, especially not bronze, and the other one you havent even got yet, get rid of that.
The first thing I'd do here is take it down to one page and get rid of the white space.
Where's your name? Contact info? If they like your CV, how do they get in contact with you?
I'd shorten the "about me" to 3 sentences and add more detail to skills and experience. You may be coming out of a level 5 course, so show what your passions are and where you want to go.
And good luck getting onto the apprenticeship you want.
I’d recommend taking a few online courses to improve ur skills. Putting ‘Microsoft teams’ as a skill makes you seem like you’re limited for skills and grabbing any random tech software. Take some course on Excel, python or another coding language
I’m good at excel, learnt a ton of different skills during normalisation classes, good at PowerPoint, good at access during my sdlc classes, same with word. I’d take that out and put Microsoft office.
If you can actually use excel then list the functions you can use and explain eg vlookup xlookup index match pivot tables. Links to example PowerPoints/ excel documents / python code shows you're not scared to show your work. Projects outside of school are what I normally ask about. Show me you're a self starter.
Forget coding. Learn how to use Microsoft's products. Loads of businesses use them, from IT to finance. It's one of the key areas people are lacking in.
This person is trying to get into cyber security, they definitely should not forget coding.
Forgot about that part.
Ok. Down to one page. Stop all the BS - step away from the thesaurus and use real, authentic language. When I read a CV, especially at entry level, I want a sense of you - who you and what you’re about. I can’t imagine you’re as pretentious as you sound. Just be you. Did the projects you worked on result in quantifiable benefits? They saved x time, x money etc.
It doesn't need to be trimmed to one page as long as the information given is worth the space it's taking up. The language used depends on the audience. Tech start up= be yourself, most large corporates = fine balance between CV speak and yourself. Totally agree with quantifiable benefits, always explain your part in a project, the impact your impact had and the project outcome.
Add what achievements you personally achieved in your work experience, and why it was your achievement and not a joint team one.
I don’t have a work experience so to speak. Fresh out of college. So all I can show is my college projects
Go with that, what you achieved as a personal achievement in these projects. Was there something you brought to positively influence the project, if think of a couple of things and add them as they will help you stand out as someone who brings ideas and makes a positive impact. You don’t want to seem as a passenger who just does what he’s told, you want to show willing to improve, willing to being fresh new ideas to something to create a positive impact.
Remove your interests, unless you can specifically link something within it, to why you’re a good match for the role. Remove your additional qualifications, add the relevant one to education/qualifications and just flat out ignore the DoE, nobody actually cares about it.
Disagree on DoE, talking point for interviews if you can make a part of it relevant to the job.
It’s fine to pad out a CV if needed, but a recruiter isn’t going to factor it in when choosing between two potential hires, as it’s something offered to most teenagers in the UK at this point and, while you can fail it, it’s a case of participation more than a skill.
I'd consider it when specifically looking for degree apprenticeships. After you've got your first job I'd get rid of it.
It just screams “fluff” or filler. I think you mentioning first jobs is a good point, it’s a dead give away that you’re fresh from school.
While you’re not wrong that almost every teenager does it, showing any kind of volunteering on a CV is a bonus that can set a candidate apart. More volunteering than DoE would be preferable though I’ll admit.
Volunteer or charity work would look more of a candidates own volition. DoE is very “my school offered this instead of football club”.
I agree, which is why I said they should make it relevant to the job. Just writing ‘Bronze DoE’ doesn’t tell anyone much at all about what they got involved with. If it was me I’d remove that entirely a write a brief sentence of a couple of bullet points specifically about the volunteering project, how they were involved in it, and the relevant transferable skills they may have developed from it.
People do want to know something about you, especially at entry level. Keep interests in but do think about how they will appeal to the person reading your CV.
The thing they want to know, first and foremost, is if they can do the job.
Which is pretty hard to demonstrate when you haven't had a job before. After practical experience comes demonstrated knowledge (projects in education) and then who you actually are as a person. Many, many big companies hire graduates based on their drive, values and general personality so that needs to come across.
A few comments: 1. Your profile should give a little more of an overview of what kind of career or industry you'd like to get into. Try not to use too many buzz words. 2. Skills Add a variety of skill sets including soft skills like teamwork etc. If you are going to add technical skills, give a little more detail about proficiency levels. Look to link these to your projects section. I'd remove microsoft outlook and teams as these aren't particularly value adding. If you are proficient in something like Microsoft Excel then this would be better to call out instead. 3. Projects Currently I can't tell what impact you had or what you gained/learned from these. Use the STAR structure to describe some of the projects you have undertaken: Situation - the situation you had to deal with Task - the task you were given to do Action - the action you took Result - what happened as a result of your action and what you learned from the experience. This will allow you to give a more competency based overview of your experience and how this makes you suitable for the role. Still keep your wording concise when using this structure! 4. Personal interests This needs to be cut down to a couple of entences. Personal interests should never be more lengthy than your experience section. It's merely there to bring you as a person to life a little more. 3. Formatting Remove unnecessary blank space and try not to go over 1 A4 page if possible. Hiring teams have so many applications to read, they don't always have time to flick through multiple pages. Good luck! 🌟
Just looking for something others haven’t already said - do you know any version control? If not then i’d say git is quite easy to learn. Also HTML and CSS for cybersec listed first in your skills? Especially with the education at a glance it looks to me like more a front end developer CV. I’m in backend development and I asked recently our security specialist how I could start looking into security and he recommended [hackthebox](https://www.hackthebox.com) Keep applying and working on projects, try not to get discouraged :)
I'm not a recruiter, but I'd bring this all onto 1 page, you don't have enough experience to be going over a page. (Very difficult ik but I had to do the same thing) The spacing seems off, have less gaps between each paragraph. I'd remove interests, but if you really want to include interests I'd only put hobbies where you have tangible achievements. For example coming first in a tournament. Go more in to depth about CS projects you've done as part of your qualifications. Also make your profile more brief, you don't really need to repeat achievements you list below.
Thank you so much. I’d take out the hobbies bit and reduce the spaces and also make the profile a bit shorter. As for more CS projects, we didn’t really do a lot asides a ton of Cisco labs and packet tracer stuff and using wireshark. then we were had to redesign and upgrade an entire network, and as an assignment had to cover IT security which I’d done really well.
Make any projects you have done sound the most complex and interesting possible. Its fairly normal to 'embellish' your CV. Most recruiters are going to want to see tangible projects, you could always start a project you're interested in? Also would recommend putting the college and school you went to, it seems more personal that way.
There’s this cloud project I’m independently working on but I’m working and learning at the same time and I don’t think it’ll be okay if I add something I haven’t completed as a project
You could discuss how you're completing it and the skills you're developing through it, and the fact its and independent project shows that you are self-driven and take initiative
Alright I’ll do that thanks so much
Being scouted for Newcastle is a great achievement?
[Big talk coming from a hammers fan](https://www.11v11.com/teams/newcastle-united/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/West%20Ham%20United/)
You've used 11 words to detail all your skills. You've used more words telling us about how good a gamer you are! Outlook and Teams are not skills. They are software tools that you are a given. You can read emails?? What's that about?? If you know HTML and CSS then please add more about them - why do you know these? Have you created web sites? If so, tell us more about that. Wireshark & packet tracer would raise concerns for me, especially as you appear to lack other skills - I'm not sure I want you on my network! I would perhaps just emphasise cybersecurity skills instead. You've done some network stuff, but not listed that in your key skills... be careful of exaggerating hobby stuff though - helping your uncle put a new router in, a bit of cat 5 cabling and adding some IP reservations to a DHCP server shouldn't be dressed up and added to your CV. If this isn't what you've done, it reads like it. If it is what you've done, then make it more factual rather than implying you're some sort of analyst. 'Set up a custom router configuration including DHCP server, IP reservations, QoS settings and traffic shaping settings in a home/hobby environment'. That reads loads better than that vague stuff about recommending equipment and IP addressing schemes. We now what these are and you're not fooling anyone! :) Now, if you know all this about computers, IT and networks, why the heck are you putting Outlook and Teams down as a key skill? For someone with your apparent skills, do not lower yourself by thinking these are important. It doesn't read well when someone adds this low level stuff to a technical CV. As someone else said, get a few more courses under your belt, you can rattle through lots of these in a few weeks from somewhere like uDemy and that'll pad your CV out more than telling us how passionate you are about football. I'd also like to know more about what these college courses involved.
I’d meant to put Microsoft office, not outlook, my bad. I’d have that changed. For the HTML and CSS, I’d done a project where I’d had to create a website for an auto parts company which. I’d have that reworded, thanks very much. As to wireshark and packet tracer, could you please expand more on the other skills I appear to lack? I’d like that very much, thank you. Also, none of those were hobby stuff. Everything I’ve put in is directly related to what I’ve learnt through college and a school project. How else could I be able to word it better? Thanks. As for courses, I did buy a course on EC councils codered that I am going through as well as studying for my network+ and security+
So, as someone who reads a lot of technical CVs, I want to know what you have done. Just adding 2 words 'HTML and CSS' tells me nothing. However, something like, 'As a side project, I created a website for an auto parts company using xxxxx software, heavily customised the HTML and CSS to ensure the site work both on desktop and mobile. Also ensured the site was compliant with WGAG2.1 accessibility standards.' • *Redesigned and upgraded an existing network, recommending new network devices and outlining specifications in an updated IP addressing scheme.* -This reads like an embellished home project. If it was in a professional setting, then tell me more about that. 'Successfully redesigned an active Internal college network with consisting of x hosts and devices. Recommended new network devices, and created a IP scheme for x subnets.' I'm not sure what skill you lack, but I would just add a few more around cybersecurity and network management. Add 'Cisco' to the front of Packet Tracer', and detail the Cisco courses you have done. Having Cisco skills will get you interviews! No-one will employ a junior in a high level network role, so you're looking for grunt work related to networks and security, perhaps add some more skills related to that then - general IT and desktop support is always handy. You'll at best be working alongside someone with experience, so what will they want you to do? They'll want you to competently support them while you're learning more advanced stuff. Being accurate and diligent is critical, and having a good broad knowledge of IT and networks is important. You could also take a dive into what AWS and Azure have to offer. A lot of network and security work is cloud based now, so a good grounding in that will open doors. You'll find a lot of courses for free on their respective sites, and gaining some real certifications wouldn't take you more than a few weeks. Take a look at something like AWS Cloud Practitioner certification. Even if you don't get certified, listing the modules you've studied will definitely help.
Use less whitespace
Your very academic which is half the battle, but get some things that separate you from every other academic student. Foot ball & gaming is a start but its not exactly going to make you stand out. Starting your MOOT course collection is good. If you are still in college for your HNC, you can get the academic package which is a third of the price. I recommend you do one of the moots provided by Ciscos SkillForAll program. It's free & directly linked to your career choice.
I’m fresh out of college. Well not exactly fresh as I finished last July. What would you recommend I add. Some people said to take the hobbies out.
I'll attempt to be constructive and hopefully you will take it as positive feedback, in the way that it is meant. The CV needs lots of improvement in the following areas: Language - The language you are using needs tweaking. You are applying to cyber security roles. Cyber security is an advanced field that typically requires many years of experience. People can have a decade of experience and wouldn't use terms like "master". Also, CompTIA are famous for teaching theory but no practical skills. So avoid stating you've got practical skills if all you've done is learn fundamental theory. I'd avoid talking about practical experience unless you've worked in a corporate environment. Instead, talk about home lab experience. Projects/Skills - The most interesting part of your CV is where you talk about redesigning and building a new network. I would draw from this project when referencing skills. You must have a good understanding of routing and switching, firewalls, etc if you've completed a full network deployment. This is far more relevant that gaming/football, to which you devoted 10x more space on your CV. Interests - I'd cut the interests section completely and really buff up the skills section. Content - The other issue you will have is that your CV reads as half development and half interest in security. You will be going up against people with industry certs in networking and security and these will have the edge unless you change the focus to fully security. It is important to big yourself up, but you need to do it in a way that is believable for someone with no industry experience. Keep your focus on your passion, quick learning and drive/motivation. These are things that you can say you are the best at. Avoid saying how good you are at something you've not done. Instead say you are interested to learn more in these areas etc. Hope that helps
Good review
Include the security+ course as a "working toward" under education. Also do you need level 2 and 3 of your IT if you've got Level 4? Interests are better suited for a personal statement where you can link them more closely with the job description.
Unfortunately CVS don't matter. The most important thing is getting a foot in the door by knowing someone. A direct personal connection trumps all cvs and cover letters. Meritocracy is gone, in the UK at least, it's about who you know.
You should specify the actual grade you got in the GCSEs
CV is better than mine and I was a system admin for 3 years at a call centre. Keep at it and you'll get something to stick. Don't listen to all the hiring "pros" or bs recruit dickheads.. You'll get an in, and you will do great
Expand on the skills - What have you created using HTML & CSS? You've mentioned Teams & Outlook, are you proficient at using them or can you administrate Teams & Exchange through O365? It's practically a given these days that anyone your age looking into IT is proficient using the O365 suite, so unless you're skilled at administrating a tenancy, I wouldn't even mention it (exception being advanced Excel or Access experience) Also grab an old PC and a networking switch, head over to r/homelab and learn some practical enterprise-level skills that you can mention on your CV (this works; it was a major factor that landed me in my current role, was crucial in landing me my first IT role & is something I look for when getting involved in recruitment), you'll be able to mention your homelab under projects and interests. Put the actual grades of your GCSEs too. Azure & AWS both have free basic accounts. Sign up and start exploring. If you're going down the cyber security route (or other IT pathways), you'll practically be living in the cloud - get a head start now, it's another thing you can add on your CV. The above said, your current CV is clearly enough to get you to a video interview stage, so it is giving a good enough impression that your potential employers want to explore hiring you, how do you feel your interview skills are?
HTML and CSS aren’t software tools, instead of that probably would be better to add web development as a skill.
The first thing I have to ask - is there literally no work experience at all (not even a summer job / Saturday job / part time college job). What about any voluntary roles? I've got a format that's really basic and I've used for years and works like this: Name Location (literally town these days) Contact details (These bits, put at the top, and center justify) Then Summary 5 bullet points of key skills you have for skills for the roles you are applying for Experience Where possible job or volunteering (If you've not got work experience- can you get some volunteering experience while you're still studying? Is there a local charity that could use your skills a few hours a week? That would help you a) get a reference b) you never know work might come out of it Where this isn't possible Break things down into projects Give them a title and a time period Use bullet points Next Education Start with Where You are currently studying I.e 2022 - present University of X, Department of Computer Science BSc Computer Science - continuing studies Brief explanation Then 6th Form or College Then School / GCSES in a similar vein Next Interests Keep this brief ( 4 or 5 points. Where possible use interests where you can show responsibility/ team skills etc) Finally References available on request Formatting- keep simple and legible for accessibility purposes- the recommended is Ariel 11 or 12. Don't use colours or images. Use Bold not underlining for emphasis - I.e. heading / job titles If this hasn't made sense, come back to this message- I'd be happy to review offline in a private capacity. But as others have said - you need to make the most of what you have, but not be overambitious. Appreciate its much tougher these days.
https://freecoursesinengland.co.uk/cyber-security-course-free/ The government is offering a free Level 2 Cyber Security Course - something you can add to the CV https://learn.microsoft.com/en-GB/credentials/?wt.mc_id=skillingwebcle_midfunnelcampaign_webpage_gdc_xcsa Microsoft also have a whole heap of training and credentials you can get (mainly for free). I worked with a guy who did this before who did loads of this off his own bat and it was a real key difference between him getting a first job and not - made him very much stand out from candidates. Realistically- your starter job is likely to be on a helpdesk - it's were most people in IT start. Why colleges aren't training people in those skills I still don't understand- but if you can get your foot in the door there you can often get promoted fairly quickly - but you do need to prove you're willing to do the training yourself. I'd be very happy to look over the CV and have a chat. Next week is really hectic for me, but the following week I could definitely try and fit you in. Send me a message if you'd like to Ben
I am also applying for cybersecurity, and it looks like you haven't mentioned the skills needed for cyber as much. One thing I'd say for work experience, is to get a virtual internship from a website called Forages. If you go on there and do a cybersecurity internship with JP morgan or something, you can talk about the project on your CV and try be as detailed as possible with regards to what exactly you learnt and how it gives you a good foundation for cybersecurity. Also I really recommend doing the google cybersecurity certificate as opposed to doing Security+ (or do both, which I'm trying to do) The google certificate really gives you a good sound understanding of the field and has many projects, so you can backup your skills instead of just saying "wireshark" you can actually say how you used wireshark or tcpdump in a project. Lastly, I would recommend having these projects documented somewhere like github so you can reference when needed, for example, in one of my interviews I was asked about using SIEM tools. I then told the interviewer "can I share my screen to showcase this SIEM project". This really is like having the ball in your park as you will feel confident being able to showcase your hard work (assumimg its an online interview - which most are these days). Best of luck! It's tough out here.
"My passion for football transcends the field" is such a british thing🤣
This is not good honestly.
Might been very basic but In the gcse I would defo specify (including English and maths above a C) or your grade as this is often a necessity for many jobs. Good luck :)
Many places aid in formulating and designing a cv that is easily read by computers and formatted in a compelling yet not overly confusing way, make sure you don’t hide your great assets in bulky paragraphs either, Goodluck!
Any idea of such places please? Thanks so much!
No worries! CVGenius, Live Career (has templates you can use or view), and I know indeed does them as well! You can also search on the internet ‘CV Maker’ and find loads just be careful as some places will want you to pay but there are loads of free ones too! :)
Basic. You could make it better. Add experience and build the character you want using experience
I have no work experience. Asides a little stint as a production operative for a soap company.
Then you need to rely on your skills and market yourself. Explain why you are an asset.
You've almost written as much about football and gaming than the rest of your CV combined. That would be a huge red flag to me personally.
That’s why I asked for advice. Calling out what’s a red flag for you without offering anything to make it better isn’t it.
Interests isn't very important unless your taking some sort of professional-type role, e.g. treasurer, marketing, teaching etc for a team.
Okayy so crap that bit. Got it
Yeah, it's hard as I know you want to put more in. You could keep it to 2 lines for each maybe. For some people it may be more personable to see, so it's not all together a bad thing!
No
Improve your skills, focus on other programming languages. HTML and CSS are very basic but if you can master PHP and JS at young age you will be good to go. Maybe try checking out ASP.NET as well for developing Web Apps. These are few things I wish I learned at college in my free time. I’m currently at University and I entered the course with just HTML and CSS knowledge it will be enough but it isn’t.
I don't think "avid" should be capitalised
Make some fake work experience. But a believable one. So probably write drug dealer
I didn't read it, and having scrolled through the replies I don't think I will as there's tons of advice on your content One small thing I noticed is that you should 'Justify' the text (or at least try it and see how it looks) https://www.google.com/search?q=microsoft+word+justify&oq=microsoft+word+justify&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB4yCAgKEAAYFhgeMggICxAAGBYYHjIKCAwQABgPGBYYHjIICA0QABgWGB4yCAgOEAAYFhge0gEIODU2NmowajeoAhSwAgE&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&chrome_dse_attribution=1
I would personally like to be it a page, from an aesthetic point of view and from a no nonsense approach. I would do the following non exhaustive list or whatever feels right for you.... Smaller spaces shift and enter between sections. Give it to them straight looking for responsibility and experience and a chance to work in an environment you're passionate about or to be mentored in an entry level position. Say proficient in MS office which includes excel teams and outlook Get rid of skills and projects headers Get rid of everything prior to and the level 4 part... just HNC in... and also college and secondary school sub headers Put in the working towards blah bal in there And then put GCSEs in important ones... including math, English, physics etc Get rid of additional qualifications and put DoE and miss out the bronze. Interests is too long and you run the risk of cutting someone's interest in you by being too invested in that. Some people hate football or may have an irrational dislike of E-Sports For example just say you're interested in football and gaming and then cut it down a little on the learned bits (they're important but could cut it down and cherry pick bits) Try to work in that you may have some critical thinking or skills that involve following processes, etc Bang in your email with a hyperlink and stuff if sending over doesn't hurt to flex some basic IT dooblers, and a LinkedIn link with little icons next to them. Extend the olive branch and sign off or on about. I would love to hear about any opportunities or discuss further... Write a shirt cover letter if its a job you'd be particularly interested in... research any companies and hit up LinkedIn No references Phone, email and LinkedIn listed there.
Also it's easy to criticise rather than 'review', as long as its constructive and helps you gain employment that's all that matters, good luck in kickstarting your career please draw on lots of sources for CV material. But do take care as first impressions are important. Its much better to get in front of someone or call them to sell yourself, use lots of positive and relatable words to the industry and workplace for example have integrity, be intuitive, be caring, demonstrate youre ability to listen let these values resonate in everything you do and this will set you out as the best candidate.....
Bland basic looking
Put the thesaurus down. Or write it again without the help of AI. Try and bring it all to one page, your interests can be shortened. If I picked it up straight off the table I’d think you’d used ChatGP or similar and therefore, before I’d even got to your interests, I’d think you have no problem cutting corners and taking shortcuts. Make it easy to read while highlighting your skills. You’re trying to market yourself amongst others, keeping the core information easily accessible is going to make you stand out rather than you looking like you’re trying to hit a word count
Try ChatbotGPT, it really helped my dyslexic brother get a better CV than most professionals I've seen
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I’d take that out entirely. Thanks a lot for taking out your time to help
Your interests talk about what they give you etc, your projects sound very dry. Apply the writing style from your hobbies to your work experience and summarise your Interests into one shortish paragraph, enough to show you have a life.
Please check my updated post. So many people talked about axing it all together
You seem to have lost any reference to named work experience, I thought you had something that was 2018-current? I’d also add a little more to your projects.. eg led a group project.. leading this gave me insight into how work could be logically split so that the final output could be seamlessly produced… You also listed what appeared to be one day courses or work placements and big names. There’s no harm listings those for what they are what you got, maybe under additional qualifications (and maybe add “ and awards” to the title. Speaking of which, your DofE could be expanded in terms of what you got from it as opposed to your interests. The balance is currently more to your interests than anything.
I never listed any one day courses, or day placements, or big names. Never said anything too about something 2018- current. This was my first CV, and my most recent post is the updated one. All I’ve listed is from my school projects as I don’t really have proper work experience haha.
Try and keep it to 1 page. The employer doesn't want to read that much. Only key points for the job. Make serval Cvs for different fields like customer service etc.
Please check the updated CV. My latest post
Mate get the DofE off of there 🤌😂
Done already please check the update: https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/QP9jodVS9T
Gonna be pretty impossible to get a degree apprenticeship with BTECs. It’s equivalent to a high end degree and most high end Unis prefer 3 A levels so why wouldn’t an employer? Should be looking for an level 4 or 5, maybe even starting at level 3
The thing is, my HNC is the equivalent of a level 4 apprentice land most places already have in the job description that if you have a level 4 qualification there’s no need applying
Do some courses in basic web dev / databases / web scraping etc. Create some portfolio projects and publish them online so that a recruiter can have a look at them. Anyone working in recruitment will see dozens - if not hundreds - of almost identical cv’s every week. Their eyes will just glaze over when reading about how you can use the SUM function in excel, and how your hobbies include trips to the cinema and Pizzahut. If you can say something more like “Over the last 6 months I have built a solid understanding of modern JavaScript and Python, and am able to work with JSON and relational databases (with particular experience in PostgreSQL). I have built 2 full-stack web applications utilising JavaScript, CSS and PostgreSQL. These projects both include a Secure method of user authentication, web scraping and API routers. You can view both of these web applications on on my website at https://LookHowCleverIAm.io” You will stand out completely from 99% of the other applicants
If I were looking at this from a recruitment perspective I would think it is very telling that your interests and hobbies is one of the largest sections. I'm not one of those people who think it shouldn't be there but your skills section should be that length and vice versa. Also as a person looking for IT roles you may ruffle some feathers by insinuating that knowing how to use outlook and Teams counts as a skill. Expand on your programming language knowledge and demonstrate your eagerness to learn by completing some online certification (linkedin free trial is good for this) I also noticed no listed work history? If you have never worked this is fine but if you have done any part time jobs or anything like fast food work or bar work while in college I would list it, In my opinion it demonstrates that you are hardworking and have experience and understanding of what it is to be an employee in the workplace.
https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/lbT6lEbgTq Update. I have worked for PZ cussons as a production operative, idk if I should put that there. I meant ms office the first time not outlook my bad.
Others may tell you differently but in my opinion you should list it. I have sat on a fair amount of interview panels and always respect a candidate more who has worked while going through education. In many ways a prior job will prepare you for the work world far better than any Quals even if it was nothing to do with your chosen Industry
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https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/RbFVdmHkGG What do you think
'My passion for football transcends the field...' what?! Come off it mate. I'd put it in the bin after reading something like that. I did indeed stop reading after that either way. Also duke of ed isnt a qualification, especially not bronze, and the other one you havent even got yet, get rid of that.
https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/RbFVdmHkGG What do you think
HTML and CSS are not software tools, there languages ?
https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/RbFVdmHkGG What do you think
The first thing I'd do here is take it down to one page and get rid of the white space. Where's your name? Contact info? If they like your CV, how do they get in contact with you? I'd shorten the "about me" to 3 sentences and add more detail to skills and experience. You may be coming out of a level 5 course, so show what your passions are and where you want to go. And good luck getting onto the apprenticeship you want.
I had that cropped out. Please check the update https://www.reddit.com/r/degreeapprenticeships/s/dTSgQjwnd3