When is a Funny CV Not a Funny CV?

by A Guest Author

This article looks at the funny things people write on CV’s, and why humour is best avoided in this document more than any other.

Being Professional

In the business world there is often a lot of time given to things such as e-mail etiquette and how to talk with clients or other important contacts. Way before then, you need to ensure that you have a winning CV that will enable you to get a job at all. Many educational institutions spend a lot of time telling you what to put on a CV.

Perhaps they would be better off advising what not to write on a CV, given some of the horrors that make their way into recruitment agencies and job centres around the world.

We looked at some of the classic examples of things not to write on a CV that often appear.

Social Life

“In my spare time I enjoy going out with friends and enjoying myself. I am always up for a good time and I am the life and soul of every party. If you don’t believe me check out my Facebook page.”

The amount of people who write something like that on their CV is frightening. It is almost as if they want to sabotage their opportunity of getting the job. If you must mention your social life in the “Hobbies and Interests” section, keep it to enjoying spending time with friends and family, and no more. You do not need to connect on a personal level with a potential employer to have the best chance of getting the job, in fact stay as far away from anything personal as possible!

As an additional tip, if your social media feeds are all public, it might be best to moderate them – employers will look at these!

Telling Jokes

There is a train of thought in the world that says you need to be funny to get noticed. The fact that people believe this is relevant when it comes to writing a professional document is astounding. If you want to be noticed you need to talk about work achievements and your strengths – tastefully.

If you need a pointer of what you should not write on a CV, watch any “interviews” episode of The Apprentice and see some of the nonsense that is written on there.

Pictures

Another common thing is the picture. People even send in pictures of themselves on holiday or on an evening out. There is a simple way to look at this. Do not send in pictures unless you are specifically asked to, although this is very rare now as employers are potentially opening themselves up to discrimination accusations for not liking the look of someone. And if you do send a picture, nothing other than a passport photo.

Videojug is a website that has various tutorials on how to write a CV and getting a job.

This post was written by A Guest Author

This post was written by a guest author. If you have high quality, useful information to share with students, send us an email or click Write For Us to learn more. And in case you're wondering - yes, you can promote yourself in this fancy author byline.

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