Online CV workshop for journalists - share your thoughts!

JournoDannyAsia

And just for the record, I never used InDesign for this (although I wanted to), I used Microsoft Word. At first it was painstaking, now its simple and easy to update.

Frost_J

1 Like

@maverick Absolutely sans-serif. Helvetica is a very good choice, don't know why you'd be mocked.I think the colour on this CV is a little too light - if it was printed and photocopied it might not work out. Go for something darker imo.

charlotte.e.hawkins

I really like the one page format. And I like the use of the blue colour to break it up; the format is easy to read and eye-catching.

I would suggest putting the work experience in chronological order (admittedly difficult when there are many things are still presently going on, but I feel the most recently started project should be at the top, and the last two swapped around).

Also I would suggest getting rid of A-Level grades unless they are outstanding. Does anyone really care about A-Levels these days?

Just my opinion and I am no expert at all :)

MattieTK

@charlotte.e.hawkins Agreed that I would remove A level and GCSE grades (really get rid of those). Your university will speak for what you got, and the subjects probably matter more. A C in Chemistry is more valuable than an A in Media Studies in my opinion. And with that much experience, your education pre-university is starting to lose value in comparison anyway.

maverick

1 Like

I recently got some major hatin' for using a typeface I'm now too ashamed to admit to using (Helvetica). What are people's thoughts on fonts?

MattieTK

1 Like

@maverick whoever told you off for using Helvetica has no sense of style.

maverick

Sadly, it was my graphic designer flatmates. Such SCORN. They've subsequently put something far more traditional in place. Not convinced. Currently enjoying Calibri... @MattieTK

rbsfeatures

@maverick calibri is what I use too. I have no idea how I stumbled across it, but it's fairly formal without being times new roman.@JournoDannyAsia danny - re: your cv - I like the style of it very much - it looks brilliant. but as somebody else has pointed out though, the objective bit doesn't really make much sense.

a point regarding layout - where is the reader meant to start from? it seems a little odd to begin from the 'relevant experience' section, because I'd imagine most editors (/ recruiters) would like to create a little profile of you in their head before reading about all the things you've done. so if they start reading from the objective, the next thing to do would be to read downwards, to the key skills section. and that mentions things like the LEP without saying what the LEP is. I know you've written what it is in the experience section, but they won't have read that yet. I know it might seem a little bit 'traditional' to do things in that way, but it becomes tradition for a reason. and although the layout shows you are creative, at the end of the day, newspapers have to be easy to read.

one other point - this is a point a journalist made to me about my CV - I mentioned places like the Richmond and Twickenham Times and the Southern Daily Echo, as if anybody reading would instantly know what they were, like you do with the Dover Express and pinkpaper.com. But a little sentences about what each is (i.e. whether it's a daily or a weekly etc.) would be good. However I fear if you did that for all of the places you've been, you'd find it hard to keep the CV to one page. As much as I like the idea of a one page CV I don't think I've seen one which fully conveys the extent of a person's experience and everything they can offer. And until I do, I remain convinced that either they're selling themselves short or they haven't gained enough skills yet. Obviously you would fall into the former category, not the latter. All just my opinion by the way, I'm certainly no authority on the subject.

MattieTK

@maverick ah they would, they'll be sick of it :) If you're looking for something for a title (probably not suitable for body text) and free, the League of Movable Type is a really good place to go, lots of high quality open source fonts http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/

mattyc123 moderator

@maverick Applying to too many East-London mags were we?? Think something simple and professional works best, surely? Sans-serifs I reckon would suit, like Verdana, Tahoma or even Arial??

maverick

Arial also got a hammering :( @mattyc123

MattieTK

@maverick @mattyc123 Arial is just trying to be Helvetica. Design students hate it.

mattyc123 moderator

2 Like

I'm going to pose a questions!! What do people think about the one-page standard?? I've always been advised to keep it short and one page is an ideal amount of paper to thrust into an editor's hand, BUT, does it make it too "dense" and complicated, like @MattieTK says?? Thoughts??

MattieTK

1 Like

@mattyc123 I think a single page with perhaps a link to extended information online (at a URL where you can put some sneaky tracking software) could be a good move, the moment something runs over two pages, you either have white space (which looks trashy), or something that looks like a mountain to read. It's certainly something I'll be doing with the aforementioned renovation!

MattieTK

2 Like

Well if anything this has inspired me to renovate my CV from scratch now I've actually started applying for things. Danny's is really good from my perspective: dense but concise and easy to navigate, and shows a bit of design flair :)

JournoDannyAsia

1 Like

@MattieTK I love this comment.

On the wider discussion of my CV: remove A-level and GCSE grades, long discussion over font (who would have font it!), colour and the final and most critical point: where we all stand in the profession on one-page CVs.

bentleyjjomec

1 Like

@JournoDannyAsia Hi Danny,

I'm always looking at students' CVs, so here's a few pointers I've handed out over the years. The layout and design elements here are nice on the eye. I have some suggestions for the content though: apols if this comes across as a torrent of crit, it's hopefully meant to be constructive! I honestly think your objective is a bit blah - what is your focus? What kind of job are you looking for? Plus, the 'multimedia platform' that you talk about isn't obviously proved in your CV - where's the online skillset here? CMS, SEO etc etc. Related to the above why not include html links to examples of your work? Related to that point, I think you need to get more work experience under your belt. The media experience you have is fine, but tons of undergraduates will have that volume of experience to draw on, you should think about how you can stand out in a competitive market and when you're up against professionally skilled postgrads too.

Going back to the focus point, tailor the CV for whatever you're applying for - as it stands it looks like you've done a little bit of everything when ideally people will want to see a bit of specialism and passion too.

There's a tiny typo too - editorial people will notice. I would always include at least one reference - make it easy for whoever is reading it.

Best of luck to you!

JournoDannyAsia

@bentleyjjomec Thank you for the detailed response - there certainly is a lot of feedback to think and implement in my next CV. It is much appreciated.

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