This week I got myself into a terrible state trying to write up my CV for the Museum of English Rural Life. One of the difficulties with being self-employed is that it’s often necessary to take part time or seasonal work, to make sure you have some form of income during those quiet patches. Unfortunately, when you put that on your CV it looks as though you’re forever chopping and changing jobs, and it can be difficult to explain what you do all day in your own business.
The standard format of two sides of A4 paper detailing your education, employment and interests just wasn’t suitable for the way that I’ve been working for the past eight years. I received an offer of help from an old school friend who is now a Recruitment and HR Consultant (thank you Facebook!), and she advised me to emphasise my skills rather than my employment history, and to relate those skills to the context of the position I was applying for. But I was still trying to do that on two sides of paper, and it just wasn’t right.
So I thought about Havi, and everything she says about finding your “Right People”. And I remembered that I have a degree in Graphic Communication. So, why not communicate my CV in a more graphic way? That’s when the penny dropped, and I decided that the proper format for my new CV was actually a magazine.
It’s just 3 sheets of A4, folded in half to make a little 12 page A5 booklet. That sounds like a lot of CV, but all the important information (contact details, qualifications, job history etc) is on the first two pages, so if anybody really doesn’t want to read beyond that, they don’t have to. Following on, each page has a big photo at the top, and a little paragraph of text underneath. Kind of like this blog.
In each section I’ve tried to make the subject link back to the kinds of work I would be interested in doing for/with the museum, so they can understand clearly what I can do. (Interest in craft & costume history, self-directed research, that kind of thing.)
I wouldn’t say that this was the ideal solution to applying for any creative job – there’s no point in being quirky just for the sake of it. In my case, everything I’ve written in the CV is condensed from something I’ve written about on this blog, so there was no need to try and talk myself up, or make my interests seem relevant – it’s all there already. The magazine format simply presents the information in a handy package, which should hopefully be memorable.
And if it’s memorable, then hopefully I’ll be remembered when they’re looking for someone to give a lecture or teach a workshop or do some research.
Speaking of which… I’m going to be teaching a workshop in smocking, in September!
As someone who’s been on the other side of the table, I can say the normal page/2pages of CV is often not a lot of help; something this eye catching packed with information would have helped you get to the top of the pile (with me at least) although it’s still content that counts.
Good luck with the job hunt!