Common mistakes on application forms.....

[Jessica Booker]

CV:

Try not to have one entry (eg work experience) split over two pages (if you can). It will be better if the entry sits on one page only. Sometimes this isn’t possible, but it’s something to aim for if you can.

 

[Jessica Booker]

No one needs more than a two page CV.

If it is over two pages cut down the content and play with the format to get it to 2.

Don’t get worried if your CV is a page and a half. No one will mind that and will prefer a concise 1.5 pages rather than 2 pages of ramble. Where it will look odd is if your CV is only just over a page. If that’s the case, take the same approach as the above to get it down to 1.

 

[SarahB3]

General rule with numbers:

When writing numbers, the general rule is that whole numbers below 10 should always be spelled out. You would assert that there are "three cars" or "eight baseballs."

Numbers 10 and above should be written in numeral form: "21 bugs," "52 cards."

When a number below 10 is grouped with a number above 10, the rule for the higher number takes precedence: "8 to 12 weeks."

Thanks for this info Jess- Very useful !

 

[Lumree]

No one needs more than a two page CV.

If it is over two pages cut down the content and play with the format to get it to 2.

Don’t get worried if your CV is a page and a half. No one will mind that and will prefer a concise 1.5 pages rather than 2 pages of ramble. Where it will look odd is if your CV is only just over a page. If that’s the case, take the same approach as the above to get it down to 1.

What are some common mistakes or gripes you find with CVs?

 

[Jessica Booker]

What are some common mistakes or gripes you find with CVs?

very long personal profiles that repeat information in the CV, and claim a very long list of skills of aptitudes. A personal profile isn’t needed at all if you are applying with a cover letter.

Not back dating entries - always put your academic and work experience sections in the most recent entry first

bolding random words in work experience descriptions to suggest that word in more important than the rest

over-crowding sections to make it fit a page or two pages. You need to make it easy for the reader to read and if it just looks like a crowded block of text, it won’t encourage the person to do so.

Font sizes below 10 (also difficult to read)

Over use of italics (also difficult to read)

Repeating headings - eg saying “As an Intern at Joe Bloggs LLP, worked in the Litigation team for four weeks” directly after the heading says

Litigation Intern, Joe Bloggs LLP, 1 - 28 July 2019

Putting your contact details in a heading or footing format on the word document, and then repeating it on the second page

Headings like “Non-relevant work experience” (if it’s non-relevant, don’t include it - but really a better heading is just “Other work experience” or “Part-time work & volunteering”)

University or School addresses (not needed)

 

[wwood]

very long personal profiles that repeat information in the CV, and claim a very long list of skills of aptitudes. A personal profile isn’t needed at all if you are applying with a cover letter.

Not back dating entries - always put your academic and work experience sections in the most recent entry first

bolding random words in work experience descriptions to suggest that word in more important than the rest

over-crowding sections to make it fit a page or two pages. You need to make it easy for the reader to read and if it just looks like a crowded block of text, it won’t encourage the person to do so.

Font sizes below 10 (also difficult to read)

Over use of italics (also difficult to read)

Repeating headings - eg saying “As an Intern at Joe Bloggs LLP, worked in the Litigation team for four weeks” directly after the heading says

Litigation Intern, Joe Bloggs LLP, 1 - 28 July 2019

Putting your contact details in a heading or footing format on the word document, and then repeating it on the second page

Headings like “Non-relevant work experience” (if it’s non-relevant, don’t include it - but really a better heading is just “Other work experience” or “Part-time work & volunteering”)

University or School addresses (not needed)

Thanks Jessica this is incredibly useful! I have a litigation experience at a regulatory body that is not very well-known (as the area of law is quite new). Also, my job title may sound confusing to the HR staff (as I was confused at first as well). Is it better to include a short description about that body and its department? If so, how should I approach it?

Is it appropriate to only include a short description for one work experience but not the others? Thanks so much!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks Jessica this is incredibly useful! I have a litigation experience at a regulatory body that is not very well-known (as the area of law is quite new). Also, my job title may sound confusing to the HR staff (as I was confused at first as well). Is it better to include a short description about that body and its department? If so, how should I approach it?

Is it appropriate to only include a short description for one work experience but not the others? Thanks so much!

I suspect it will be more obvious in your description of the responsibilities you had and therefore the description isn’t necessary.

At best saying something like “Working in Litigation at this regulatory body” is likely to to all that is needed

 

[wwood]

I suspect it will be more obvious in your description of the responsibilities you had and therefore the description isn’t necessary.

At best saying something like “Working in Litigation at this regulatory body” is likely to to all that is needed

Thanks so much!

 

[Giovanni Figa]

Hi Jessica

I have about 15 years worth of work and other relevant experiences. I won't be able to detail this on my CV the way I would on a standard application form. My question is should I focus on the most recent experience with more detail; then simply list the older work experience? Or should I focus on including the most relevant experience (for example I have some legal experience but that was after I graduated 15 years ago so chronologically is less relevant).

Thanks
Giovanni

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica

I have about 15 years worth of work and other relevant experiences. I won't be able to detail this on my CV the way I would on a standard application form. My question is should I focus on the most recent experience with more detail; then simply list the older work experience? Or should I focus on including the most relevant experience (for example I have some legal experience but that was after I graduated 15 years ago so chronologically is less relevant).

Thanks
Giovanni

A mixture of both.

Try to cut down or cut out anything that is superseded by other entries.

I have over 15 years experience on my CV, with a crazy number of entries and it’s still feasible getting it on 2 pages.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Reviving this thread (hopefully) as a few more have come to mind...

It is GCSEs not GCSE's - nothing belongs to the GCSEs

 

[Jaysen]

A few words I would recommend not including in an application form because they are vague and overused:

• sparked
• holistically
• client solutions
• multifaceted
• intellectually challenging

 

[Alice G]

This is one of the best threads I think @Jessica Booker - very glad to see its revival!!

To add -
Remember to properly pluralise two weeks' experience
Check the rules when showing possession of an 's' ending word - business's is an example.
Make sure you use clients' when speaking about clients as a collective group and you want to show possession, e.g. 'Clients' concerns can range from'. If you said 'Client's concerns range from' you would be speaking about a singular client and need an 'A' at the start of the sentence.
Another pluralisation to be aware of is 'it's' and 'its'
Be mindful of overly long sentences
Check you are using; correctly! if you are not confident with them (and it is more than fine not to be) then probably best to avoid to be safe.

Check you are using the correct words - common errors:
allude/elude
affect/effect
advice/advise - very important to get this one correct!
inquire/enquire
complement/compliment

 

[Jessica Booker]

Talking about plurals

I am useless at this....

I change/reword a sentence and something then becomes a plural, but I don’t change the is to an are (or vice versa).

Classic Jess example from earlier today:

And then there is all the other application sections that are undoubtedly more important than academics

 

[Alice G]

Talking about plurals

I am useless at this....

I change/reword a sentence and something then becomes a plural, but I don’t change the is to an are (or vice versa).

Classic Jess example from earlier today:

And then there is all the other application sections that are undoubtedly more important than academics

On one of my apps, myself and at least three other people couldn't decide on the is/are debate (it was quite unique and just none of us could see which grammar rule applied) and so I honestly reworded the entire sentence

(also terrified I have made a mistake in my post above - it has been a long week )

 

[Jessica Booker]

Overly long sentences - usually anything more than 40 words.

This article is a good read to explain clarity of writing and short(er) sentences:

https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2014/08/04/sentence-length-why-25-words-is-our-limit/

The advice I was given by two highly accomplished writers (one was a partner, another was a copywriter for law firms’ marketing departments) was to think about the flow of sentences - lots of short sentences back to back will sound too abrupt, too many long sentences and you’ll lose your reader - so weave different sentence lengths in for variety and impact.

Realise I could have taken my own advice with that last sentence of 61 words

 

[Alice G]

Overly long sentences - usually anything more than 40 words.

This article is a good read to explain clarity of writing and short(er) sentences:

https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2014/08/04/sentence-length-why-25-words-is-our-limit/

The advice I was given by two highly accomplished writers (one was a partner, another was a copywriter for law firms’ marketing departments) was to think about the flow of sentences - lots of short sentences back to back will sound too abrupt, too many long sentences and you’ll lose your reader - so weave different sentence lengths in for variety and impact.

Yes - agree! A short sentence, by breaking the flow, can be really effective for emphasis!

 

[Jessica Booker]

On one of my apps, myself and at least three other people couldn't decide on the is/are debate (it was quite unique and just none of us could see which grammar rule applied) and so I honestly reworded the entire sentence

(also terrified I have made a mistake in my post above - it has been a long week )

I am unsure of things ALL the time when it comes to writing. For instance I often google definitions (always have to do that for compliment/complement) but if I can’t find an answer or Google doesn’t help, I’ll always rework the sentence so I can be sure of it.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Another language/clarity point:

Try to avoid using a word more than once in a sentence.

On some occasions you will either have to or it will make sense to, but you can often reword sentences to ensure the repetition isn’t there. The sentence then becomes a little less clunky.

 

[Camilla]

Practice/Practise - I confused these until this year.

To help with proofreading apps, I found it really helpful to highlight the text and click "speech" so that the computer actually reads the writing back to you. My computer sounds horribly boring and monotonous, but it helps me notice typos that my eyes have glossed over as the computer isn't able to pronounce the word properly.

It's also really obvious when there is a lack of punctuation as it sounds even more monotonous than usual!