What sort of letter would you write with your cv? ( Archived) (34)

No I'm not a lover of bullet points, I tend to list my
skills with each job I have done.

But maybe I should try bullets at top and cut
back on each job description.

It depends, on the age of a person.

I would not entertain a CV of three pages from a 21 one year old.

Depends on how long the description of each job was, obviously your recent five years would be what any prospective employer would be interested in and that your objective is interesting.

A CV, whilst it should be informative, should not have more than a few sentences of a job that you did when you were 20, also depends on what sort of position you are applying for, a strong salesperson will list their targets and hopefully prove their track record, it is hard without knowing what you are applying for.

Ah now I know.

Is this for a qualified accounts position?

I may be out of the loop on this but I worked as an Employment Liasion Officer for 4 years, during that time I would have recommended that a CV should have key skills listed at the top and employment history simply state dates of employment and job title, if you have room a brief discription of duties.

Great advice from sommer and also be sure to express your keen interest and make your letter like yourself interesting.

But absolutely critical is for neat handwriting and correct spelling is so very important.
Remember you need to stand out from the crowd.

Just think of it like a headline and that you need to catch their attention very quickly. In advertising it is well known that the headline is the key and when writing advertising it is wise to spend 95% of time to just decide the headline as you only have a few seconds to win them over and get them to read more.

Hope that helps and good luck.

Qualified as in experienced up to trial balance double
entry bookeeping when we ran a business years ago.
Just got made redundant from a sales ledger job I
really enjoyed.

Thank you very much for replying,

that's the difficulty these days you have to grab them
in writing!

yes it all helps

I am sorry.

Are they asking for double entry book keeping?

I would bullet point each responsibility from previous jobs, I like bullet points, with a brief description prior to the bullet points about the company.

Your covering letter, I would suggest that you write that from your CV, they will see that your skills will suit their requirements.

One that I received from a woman, who I thought was wonderful, just straight to the point.

'Dear Madam

I am writing to introduce myself, also enclosing my CV for your consideration for the post advertised (insert, position, date of publication and which publication)

As you will see from my CV, I have the relevant skills that you require.

If there are any areas that you need clarification on, or I can answer any questions, then I may be contacted on ......

I look forward to hearing from you soon.'

In a covering letter you do not need to repeat what is in your CV, I hired this woman as I liked her straight forward approach.


It was short sharp, to the point and I wanted her immediately.

yeah whatever you do dont listen

I have a short CV where all my experience and gained qualities are listed in a compact format

I enclose a brief cover letter, (That's a single page face side only), making clear what post I apply for and why I could be of use for the company in that position - with reference to the former position I've held supporting my statement.

In the foot note of the cover letter I ask them to require the full CV with details if they find me suitable for further interview.

My CV (Stage 1) is three pages.

1. Cover letter
2. Qualities and Experience
3. Education, References and Relations

No more.

It is very effective and saves the day for the HR department.

My full CV is 12 pages...