Search Results for 'CVs'

Q: I started work with a company two months ago. Very early in my time there, I realised the job I was being asked to do wasn’t the job I felt I had been hired for – it didn’t really use my skills (I am a computer programmer) and was very underwhelming in terms of challenging me. I had given up a good job to take on this role, so, as you can appreciate, I was very angry. However, rather than sit around become more and more bitter, I left the role two weeks ago. I am now back on the job-searching trail. On my CV, should I mention the six-week stint at this company? (Valerie, email)

NUI Galway has announced an additional date to the Summer Boot Camp diary, Thursday June 14, for graduates seeking to gain employment.

Q: I haven’t written a CV in 20 years – not since I left school. I understand that everything has changed since back them. For a start, I have 20 years of work underneath my belt now. Not to mention three children and less hair! Plus it is obvious that communications have undergone a revolution in the interim. Can you give me a few quick pointers for my CV? (EH, email)

Q: One from slightly left-of-field here – I have been asked to write a reference for someone who worked with me almost 20 years ago. I remember her very well – she was an excellent employee – but it was a different time. We only had one PC in the office and this woman did not even use it. I know she has developed her IT skills in the meantime, but I cannot vouch for those. She is going for a job as a personal assistant, which is similar to the role she did for us back then. With all the changes that have taken place in technology and work practices in the intervening 20 years, is it feasible for me to even write a reference for her? (MK, email)

An actor was asked what he thought about acting.

Winning language, er, wins. Many people use self-deprecating language. It can be a quite endearing trait in casual company, but when chasing a job, it could well be injurious to your chances.

Q: As the song nearly says, ‘my boss didn’t like me anyway.’ My last job finished up badly last month because I felt the boss was a bully, but that’s a story for another day. In the end, I left – jumped before I was pushed, so to speak. Ironically, I got on exceptionally well with virtually everyone else in the management team, most notably with the number two woman in the company. I feel pretty sure she would speak well of me in a reference. Is it appropriate to put her down on my Curriculum Vitae as the person to contact, rather than the bosss? I have seen a job advertised that I think I can get. (TT, email)

Q: I I have been successful all my life, but the company for which I worked at middle management level has just closed down. I feel as if the rug has been pulled from under me. I can’t even begin to contemplate searching for a new job. I feel like I have lost all sense of my worth – as if the past 25 years of work and success has been for nothing. Do you have any suggestions? (JR, 46, email)

Patricia Maloney, who 22 years ago founded the first private college to provide a repeat Leaving Certificate programme in the west of Ireland, has teamed up with a leading career training company to establish its first Galway city office.

With competition becoming more and more intense – not just for securing employment, but even getting called to interview – it is critical to have a first-rate CV.