Examples of good and bad CVs

There are several examples of good and bad CVs on our website. On this web page you will find the original 'bad' CV written by Helen Shaw.

We reviewed this CV for the Guardian's Graduate CV clinic and then produced an excellent example CV to show you how Bradley CVs' professional CV writers can rewrite a CV.

If you would like our FREE Report: Is your CV letting you down?: How to dramatically improve your CV (please click here now).

Please note that Helen's personal details, including her name, address, telephone number, email address and date of birth have all been changed to protect her identity.
 

Helen's Original CV
 
examples of good and bad CVs / resumes by Bradley CVs
 

Critique of Helen's CV by Bradley CVs

Brief:

  • Helen was seeking a job in the music industry, preferably within the alternative music genre (indie / rock music) and required a CV that reflected the good experience that she had already obtained within the music industry.

Overall:

  • The CV just fails to grab the reader's attention, as a professional CV writing service we see CVs like this all the time.
  • Competition for jobs in the music industry is intense, which explains why Helen’s CV wasn't having any impact.
  • Helen has plenty of relevant music industry experience, but she doesn't get this across on the very 1st page of her CV.
  • There are quite a few really basic mistakes on Helen's CV, these are the sort of mistakes that quite a number of people make on their CV, mistakes that cost interviews.
  • It's not all bad news though, because Helen's CV layout is crisp and clear and she has used a modern easy to read font, which is good.

Profile:

  • The profile doesn't say a lot about Helen's experience in the music industry, which is bad as this sort of information is crucial.
  • Her Profile needs to be much more dynamic and must engage the reader, encouraging them to ask Helen to that vitally important job interview that she craves.
  • The profile must tell an employer about the skills and experience that you have, which are relevant to the job vacancy that you are applying for - in this case Helen must make far more of the really good experience that she has gained in the music industry.

Major Achievements:

  • Helen's CV lacks a major achievements section - this is a crucial part of any CV and should come just after the profile.
  • Even when you are just starting your career, it is still important to focus on what you have already achieved.
  • In this case Helen already has a fair amount of music industry experience – it is therefore important that she brings out this experience on the 1st page of her CV within a newly created major achievements section.

Education:

  • Helen has left out her degree classification - this was a good 2:1, which is a pretty serious omission - she must therefore add back in her 2:1 into her CV.

Work Experience:

  • The sentences within the work experience section have not been bullet pointed, which makes this section difficult to read - Helen should bullet point each sentence to break up the text, making it easier for people to read her CV.
  • Helen has lots of good music industry experience, which she needs to cover in much greater depth on her CV by including a much better description of each job.
  • Relevant and interesting facts have been left off Helen's CV - things that would make it far more interesting and more likely to entice an employer to want to meet her.
Click here to see Helen's new CV produced by Bradley CVs or please click on one of the links below:

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