Candidate Gives God As Reference

Giving God as a reference heads the list of CV gaffes as revealed by jobsite Careerbuilder.co.uk.

Other clangers include a candidate who listed lion taming as a hobby, another who wrote their CV in rhyme, one who used a photograph of somebody else and one applicant only gave their name and phone number with the phrase: “I want a job.”

Another jobseeker claimed to be a direct descendant of the Vikings, while one candidate listed ‘Master of Time and Universe’ under his experience.

Almost a third (32%) of 194 UK employers surveyed claimed they spend one minute or less reviewing a CV, while 14% per cent spend 30 seconds or less. Around a quarter (23%) also said they had uncovered a lie on a CV in the past year.

Employers also said they would be deterred by CVs containing the following:

• large blocks of text that are difficult to read (36%)
• exact text from the job ad pasted into the document – (36%)
• unaccompanied by cover letter – (26%)
• not customised to the role – (25%)
• that is more than three pages– (18%)
• listing an objective instead of a career summary – (17%)
• an unprofessional email address – (16%)

Source: recruiter.co.uk