Good evening all,

 

I'm looking for a bit of advice/suggestions on what to include in my CV. This may sound like a dumb question so allow me to elaborate a little further.

 

 

For so long now I have wanted to work in the web industry but my current job isn't remotely similar to this, it's insurance work. Yep, I hear you, it IS duller than dish water! The role came at a time when I was desperate for work, so it was only sensible to take it.

The job was initially for a 3 month period, which turned into 6, 9, 12 months and is now a permanent position, it was guaranteed money so I wasn't just going to walk.

 

Well, it's the start of a brand new year, we all make resolutions and my one and only resolution for 2014 IS to break into the web industry.

I have a plan and know what I need to do

 

1. Get involved with as much design and coding as possible so I can . . . 2. Build a portfolio to show potential employers which will help in . . . 3. Getting me my first shot.

 

"So what's any of this got to do with CV advise?"

 

Well, I want to start applying for some jobs that I've seen and yeah, it maybe a waste of time as I don't have anything to show at the moment but I will have in a month or 2. The area I'm confused about and the reason for this post is the 'Employment History' section.

I'm not exactly young, I've been working for the last 14 years now and could list quite a bit of info but none of it is going to be relevant to the roles that I'll be applying for, surely employers won't be interested in 'Audio/Visual Installer' or 'Senior Team Leader' or 'Delivery Driver'? To me this would be a waste of time.

 

 

So, going back to the beginning of this post . . . if you were me what would you put in the 'Employment History' section?

 

 

Thoughts/advice/suggestions are all welcome and appreciated.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

 

 

James

 

 

I have never applied for a job in the web design world, so maybe I am way off on this, but my thought would be that it is never a mistake to show any and all work experience that you have had over the years. From an employer's point of view, they are looking for more things than just specific work experience. They could be looking at your loyalty, critical thinking skills, leadership, etc. So I think by listing previous work, you can show that you are a hard worker and maybe point out any skills you gained that would help you in future jobs. Hope that helps.

I'm 29 and got my first Web-Dev job in August last year. I'd been travelling for two years and previous to that had a series of dead end jobs, nothing related to the web. I just spent around 4-5 months studying everything I could find on web design & web development, built up a portfolio by doing free and relatively low paid websites for friends. Put up a load of code examples on Js Fiddle.

 

On my CV I very briefly mentioned my previous employment - no more than a few sentences - Most was not relevant to web design.

 

My employers said the reason I got the job is that they saw I had a real passion for learning and self improvement, my knowledge at the time had some gaps but they can easily be filled if somebody is wanting and willing to learn. Do your homework on the organisation you want to apply to and tailor your cv to them. - that should go without saying though really.

I'm 29 and got my first Web-Dev job in August last year. I'd been travelling for two years and previous to that had a series of dead end jobs, nothing related to the web. I just spent around 4-5 months studying everything I could find on web design & web development, built up a portfolio by doing free and relatively low paid websites for friends. Put up a load of code examples on Js Fiddle.

 

On my CV I very briefly mentioned my previous employment - no more than a few sentences - Most was not relevant to web design.

 

My employers said the reason I got the job is that they saw I had a real passion for learning and self improvement, my knowledge at the time had some gaps but they can easily be filled if somebody is wanting and willing to learn. Do your homework on the organisation you want to apply to and tailor your cv to them. - that should go without saying though really.

 

rbrtsmith - thank you so much, not only very useful reply but very inspiring. I was getting to the point where I was thinking, 'maybe I'm too old for this' but it just shows that I'm not the only person. I hope everything has worked out well for you.

I have never applied for a job in the web design world, so maybe I am way off on this, but my thought would be that it is never a mistake to show any and all work experience that you have had over the years. From an employer's point of view, they are looking for more things than just specific work experience. They could be looking at your loyalty, critical thinking skills, leadership, etc. So I think by listing previous work, you can show that you are a hard worker and maybe point out any skills you gained that would help you in future jobs. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the advice BrandableWeb - I think your right, I'm sure I can pick parts of my past experience and use it for roles that I will apply for.

If you want it bad enough you'll make it happen. I literally spent every spare hour I had geeking out and playing catch-up over that 4-5 months. It's still pretty much the same, but it's easy to do in a career you feel very motivated in. In my previous jobs I had little motivation. Guess I had it easy though, having a 2 yr holiday before finally deciding to focus on a career.

 

Job is going very well now. In a few weeks I will be developing the front end for Norway's equivalent to the 02 arena so I'm pretty excited (and a little) nervous to be working on a large project - Hopefully will lead to bigger projects.

 

Good luck with your job hunt, put in the hours and you'll find employment

 

If you want any CV help then PM me and I'll send you the CV I used to get my job, could give you an idea.

Edited January 9, 201412 yr by rbrtsmith

If you want it bad enough you'll make it happen. I literally spent every spare hour I had geeking out and playing catch-up over that 4-5 months. It's still pretty much the same, but it's easy to do in a career you feel very motivated in. In my previous jobs I had little motivation. Guess I had it easy though, having a 2 yr holiday before finally deciding to focus on a career.

 

Job is going very well now. In a few weeks I will be developing the front end for Norway's equivalent to the 02 arena so I'm pretty excited (and a little) nervous to be working on a large project - Hopefully will lead to bigger projects.

 

Good luck with your job hunt, put in the hours and you'll find employment

 

If you want any CV help then PM me and I'll send you the CV I used to get my job, could give you an idea.

 

I'm in the same boat, 29 now and spent the last 6 years doing a job a just 'ended up' in. I'm now spending as much of my free time as possible learning design/development. I really want to make the career change and get into it full time.

 

I've also been wondering about what i would put on a cv and how long it would take me to be ready, so It's definitely inspiring to hear your story!