How long to find a job before you start to panic?

[ali777]

Curriculum vitae

Curriculum vitae is Latin meaning "course of life" and résumé is French meaning "summary".

You should have quoted the whole paragraph :whistle:

Curriculum vitae is Latin meaning "course of life" and résumé is French meaning "summary". In the business world, the word résumé (also spelled resumé and resume) is used especially in the United States and in English Canada. Curriculum vitae and "CV" are used in the United Kingdom in all contexts, with résumé having very little currency.

In North America, Australia, and India the terms "résumé" and "CV" may be used interchangeably. However, a résumé more often has a free-form organizational style and is used for seeking employment in the private sector, whereas a curriculum vitae (also called a vita, but not curriculum vita, see below) usually has a more standardized look and format for the purpose of seeking positions in academic or educational institutions. Another difference is that a résumé tends to be more descriptive and tailored for a specific purpose or target audience, whereas a curriculum vitae tends to be organized in a way that presents data about one's self in a compact fashion, with a clear chronology. For example, a résumé may begin with a statement about a personal goal, followed by a list of most significant accomplishments or characteristics in order of significance, while a curriculum vitae often includes complete and unembellished lists of data such as educational institutions attended, degrees received, positions held, professional affiliations, publications authored, etc. A résumé may or may not be represented by the person as a complete history of themselves without omission, whereas a curriculum vitae usually implies that there are no omissions, and in particular, no temporal gaps.

Actually, I'm gonna make a bold statement and claim that "CV" is the terminology used in all European languages. Older people may still tend to use "resume", but for our generation the short and precise description of our lives is a "CV". I can't remember the last time I heard "resume". The French are probably an exception to this rule, since resume is a French word. (I have this mental picture of two Parisians having a coffee and talking about CVs :innocent: )

Maybe I should rephrase the above paragraph. Most languages have their own word for it, but the new generation would refer to it as simply CV. Thus, making CV the de facto word.

 

[Sean68]

resume sounds poncey and french. those two words mean the same too. ho ho ho.

 

[BlahBlah12]

UPDATE:
So just for the hell of it, I messed around with my resume, sorry...CV, and changed a job description and title completely for one of the positions I had and applied to 2 jobs using the "enhanced" resume.
Guess what- today I woke up to a message on my voicemail from one of the 2 jobs I applied for.

The company whose job title I changed on my resume is owned by my mothers best friends' husband so technically, I could get away with it if they checked with the employer...however I dont think I could fake the job duties that I listed.

Haha, maybe I should just give my moms friend a call and ask him to sit me down and explain to me if I really had that job, what I would be doing. But I probably will just not call back. I dont want to lie but then again, I really need work here

 

[ali777]

There is a thin line between enhancing your CV and lying.

Polishing the CV, ie enhancing it, is a common practice and everyone who is looking to get a decent job does it. It's about marketing yourself. In a way you are a sales person and your first task is selling yourself.

Even if you worked as an unskilled cleaner, you could make your previous job sound impressive by describing the job title as "hygiene manager". Someone who is experienced enough to read between the lines will spot straight away that hygiene manager is actually a cleaner...

I'd prefer it if everyone was honest in their CVs, but no one is and we have to play the game as well. It's a game of throwing in as many buzzwords as possible.

I wouldn't be surprised if I saw the following lines in a CV:
Job Title: Hygiene manager
Duties: To implement the daily cleaning program as outlined in the corporate hygiene framework.

 

[BlahBlah12]

There is a thin line between enhancing your CV and lying.

Polishing the CV, ie enhancing it, is a common practice and everyone who is looking to get a decent job does it. It's about marketing yourself. In a way you are a sales person and your first task is selling yourself.

Even if you worked as an unskilled cleaner, you could make your previous job sound impressive by describing the job title as "hygiene manager". Someone who is experienced enough to read between the lines will spot straight away that hygiene manager is actually a cleaner...

I'd prefer it if everyone was honest in their CVs, but no one is and we have to play the game as well. It's a game of throwing in as many buzzwords as possible.

I wouldn't be surprised if I saw the following lines in a CV:
Job Title: Hygiene manager
Duties: To implement the daily cleaning program as outlined in the corporate hygiene framework.

Yea, i hear you. My other jobs arent enhanced but i do use technical sounding descriptions to make it sound polished so to speak. But this job that I "ehanced" is a friend of my moms. He owns the company and told me to use his business as a time gap filler since i havent been working reguarly since i started school.
Ive used him before as reference eventhough i never worked for him. The interviewers tend to gloss over it since the job title i used didnt have much to do with the job i was applying for. But now that I changed that job title to something far more important and related to the jobs I am applying for, I dont think an interviewer will gloss over. Im not going to be able really bullshit without knowing a good degree of what the job i wrote that i did actually entails.

that said, i do not have any ethical reservations regarding what i did. my only concern is myself and im worried to call this guy back because i dont know if i can bullshit this one without some practice. i have worked in this area before, my work background is in it so i do have an idea of what the job would entail had i really done it, but i never had as many responsibilities.
I could give a sh*t what opinion a company run by crooks who steal from the taxpayer bailing them out takes on lying on a resume. I just want to make sure, if im able to bullshit my way through this and I get the job- will they merely call my moms friend up to verify employment or actually seek out employment records.

If they merely call him, im set bec he will back me up.

 

[mulder]

We live in a Machiavellian age don't we :hump:

 

[BlahBlah12]

We live in a Machiavellian age don't we :hump:

its never been so true in todays society that the ends justifies the means.
a closed mouth dont get fed know what i mean?
i emailed the dude and hes calling me tomorrow which gives me some time to talk to my moms friend and write down some pointers he gives me on my pretend position. greedy CEO scumbags can kiss my *** while they give me my paycheck.

 

[optimus prime]

Many companies do not even check references. If they do, they usually do it when they have already employed you.

The only thing you should be worried about is can you do the job. Once you have got the job and if you do it well, they won't be that bothered about references. As long as they don't say you were violent or got sacked...etc.

 

[ali777]

Many companies do not even check references. If they do, they usually do it when they have already employed you.

I'm not so sure about that??

I don't work in HR, I actually don't know anyone that works in HR, but I always assumed references were one of the most important ingredients in job applications. In a 50-50 situation a good reference will be the deciding factor.

I suppose references are important in high end jobs where the applicant needs to prove to the potential employer that he/she is really capable of doing the job. In low-skilled or entry level positions references may not be as important.

I've actually cheated with some of my references. A close friend of mine was one of my referees in one particular job application, and I wrote the reference letter myself. There is another friend of mine who owns his own company, and I'm thinking of using his company as a reference in the future. Although, I say it's cheating, it's not exactly cheating. We all work in the same field and we talk about work. So, they know that I'm not talking absolute rubbish :whistle: