Today Daniel did one-to-one CV & Cover Letter feedback. This took place online and was held for roughly 15 minutes each. This gave me a good opportunity to interact with Daniel to gain crucial feedback on my CV.
Daniels Critique
- Too much on-screen – having to look from on side to the other can become confusing.
- A two-column simple structure is more preferable, organize headings to the left and content to the right.
- Limit GCSE’s, don’t have to be shown besides English and Maths. Takes up too much space.
- Less flair more practicality.
- Work Experience should be working backwards.
Daniels Critique
- Fix heading
- Ensure content is sized appropriately
- Ensure that the page is A4
Making Improvements
Taking into account everything that Daniel said, I decided to reevaluate and redesign my CV. I went over all my corrections in a checkbox-type manner. I decided to go with Daniel’s suggestion and create a two-column layout with the main headings on the left and information on the right. Right away I saw a noticeable difference, everything looked sharper, easier to read and ultimately cleaner. I confined the education section down dramatically as this was taking up too much space. Additionally, I concluded my GCSEs to only Maths & English that way the employer can easily skim through the CV and notice it. I also made everything aligned (including the top heading) which just made everything just flow in a structurally sound manner. Additionally, I concluded my work experience to work backward.
Firstly, both the original CV & Cover letter were both designed on illustrator, although this can work it’s hard to properly space and manage all the elements on the screen. So I took Daniel’s advice and began creating my products on Adobe Indesign. Instantly I saw a difference in how structurally sound everything felt.
For my cover letter, I decided to take a few steps. I decided to write to a company that I felt was more practical (also helps me prepare for this job). I fixed many of the cosmetic and sizing issues that were presented in the first one and gave a more practical look.
What have I learned?
As this is my first time properly creating a CV tailored to my intended job industry I wanted to ensure that it was properly done. Daniel’s feedback was crucial to me in developing both my CV and cover letter to create a more practical and easy-to-read CV & Coverletter.