7 Items You Should NEVER Include On Your Military CV (Military or Civvy, actually) – Tip Series, Day 1 . . . .
Here’s a quick 7-day series of tips to dramatically improve your chances of getting to interview. I’ll give you one tip per day over the next week that tells you what you need to leave out (or take off) your military CV, because they will almost certainly encourage the reader to dump it.
I say ‘almost’, because there will always be exceptions. But from our experience we KNOW that these subjective little snippets of information – which appear on MANY CVs we review – can create a negative reaction from the reader. For each one listed, I will explain why it should be left off your CV.
DAY 1. Here’s the first:
Your date of birth or age.
This is one of the items we come across most often. Why take it out? Simply because it can be used against you, or even disqualify you from an interview.
Not by reason of the actual date, but simply because the selector (or agency, or initial reviewer, or automated filters constantly being applied) considers you too young or too old. It is subjective and can be highly discriminatory.
I know, I know age discrimination is outlawed, but the reality is that people have inbuilt prejudices that are almost impossible to change and in any event can’t be policed. It’s a well-known fact that some companies and some roles exclude certain age groups, regardless of legislation.
Very few vacancy ads ask for age, indeed in most Western societies today – UK and USA included – it is not permitted to ask; “between the ages of 18 and 65” about the most specific employers are allowed to get. If asked and you want to give it, then do so at the interview, but ONLY if you feel it relevant.
Another aspect that sadly needs to be considered today, is that of personal security. Obviously, giving your actual date of birth in any publicly-accessible way is something to avoid.
As you’ll see as we progress through these tips, providing any subjective information on the face of the CV is usually a mistake. Why give any information on your CV that could result in deselection or disqualification? You might as well not bother sending it out at all…..
Click here for CV Writing Tip No 2….Click here for CV Writing Tip No 2….