Amusing CV Blunders

Since finding a new job is such an important activity, it’s surprising just how many weird ideas and silly mistakes creep into CVs. Recruiters see some candidates make CV blunders which are highly amusing; we can only hope that they’ve not made it through to any potential employers before we’ve had a chance to stop chuckling and help candidates submit a CV that will stand out for all the right reasons. 

Here are some things candidates have done with their CVs which have made us smile for all the wrong reasons. 

In your face photo

Putting a photo on a CV can be a good way to show you’re an open and approachable candidate. However, go too far with that train of thought and you could be like the woman who thought a full page photo of her wearing a skimpy evening dress would capture someone’s attention even if the rest of her rather lacklustre CV did not. 

Overstatement 

“The wait is over”. “Simply the best”. “Look no further”. Bold statements like these at the top of anyone’s CV leaves them wide open for a bit of prodding and interrogation. And if they’re paired with experience that’s not entirely relevant to the job advertised or a lack of demonstrable success in previous roles, these overstatements are set to irritate a potential employer after their initial chuckle at a job hunter’s bravura. 

Silly email address

Including an email address on your CV is essential, but make sure it’s a professional address, not your “naughtyboy69@” address or anything that could make people laugh at you rather than take you seriously. 

Unusual interests

In your own time you can enjoy doing whatever you want, but do you need a potential new employer to know that you are a skilled welly wangler or that you enjoy ferreting? If you’re a witch looking for a sideline job, don’t put “being a witch” under previous experience or other interests. 

Spelling bloopers

Don’t just let your word processing package do the spell check. Make sure you’ve not made a blunder that’s spelt correctly but isn’t what you’d meant to use. You want to be good with the public, not the “pubic” and prove that you do in fact speak fluent English as well as “Spinach” or Spanish as you may have meant to say. 

Explicit information

It can be good to showcase your work by including links to a website in your CV. But beware about including links to another website if you’re working in an industry which might be considered a tad "alternative" or risque. We don’t any of us want to be surprised by explicit pictures on what we thought was going to be an artistic photography website. No one wants to know kinky personal details or your distinguishing physical characteristics either. No matter how much “fun” you might think you’ll convey if you list “drawing join the dots with the 1million freckles on my legs” as an extracurricular activity, it isn’t going to get you any brownie points for creativity with a recruiter. 

Bad references

It’s not OK to joke about why you left previous jobs or include cutting remarks about your old boss when listing them as a reference contact. It just makes recruiters laugh because we’re cringing.

Not learning from your mistakes

We’ve all seen a fair few CVs where candidates say they have great self-awareness and that they realise when they’ve made mistakes and have always learnt from them. They tend to be the same CVs which include lots of short term jobs in similar roles for different companies. This contradicts any plea that the candidate has learnt anything, demonstrating that they have been unable to make it work for more than a few weeks in any role in the past. 

No experience 

While changing careers and trying to find a new path in a different industry isn’t something to be laughed at, it is laughable to see CVs from candidates who’ve had no experience (other than liking something all their lives) in a particular industry. If you’re going to cut it in fashion, you’ll need to have volunteered or at least tried to find work in a lower level fashion role before you can cut it applying to work for a fashion brand.

Contact us about your next career move and we'll make sure none of these amusing CV blunders affect your chances of securing an interesting and rewarding new role.