CVs

I am 57 years old.  I have spent my whole life doing a variety of jobs. 

Since the age of 13 years old;  I have been a paper delivery girl, a catering assistant, a table clearing assistant, a chambermaid, a waitress, an usherette, a barmaid, an ice cream seller, a café assistant, a bakery shop assistant, a switchboard operator, a clerical assistant, a typist, a data entry clerk, a primary teacher, an aerobics instructor, a video shop assistant, an educational holidays organiser, a charity worker, a general assistant in a hotel, a hotel assistant manager, a landlady of a pub, a self employed secretary for a surveyor, a receptionist/auditor for a holiday letting company, and an office administrator/PA.  .........................And have had numerous jobs in each of these areas over the years.

I have lived in England, Scotland, Guernsey, Canada, America & Spain.

I can't really remember what GCSEs they weren't called that in the 1970s I got because it was more than 40 years ago but needless to say I got enough qualifications to get into 'teacher training college'.

Over the years I have done umpteen courses - RSA typing & shorthand (the most useful courses I have ever done in my whole life and don't like to boast but I reached level 3 in both).  First Aid courses.  Food & Hygiene courses, SKFA (Scottish Keep Fit Association) courses. Open University courses - Sociology, Psychology, Photography.  Landlady licensee course.  I have got a whole folder full of certificates that I have amassed over the years - the first of which I think was for coming third in the 'scooter race' at my Junior School Sports day.

.....................And now at the grand old age of 57 years old, I am trying to write a CV.  I'm not trying to write a CV for a high flying career job.  I'm trying to write a CV for a 'minimum wage' job which at the end of the day requires little more than a bit of common sense to be able to do it.

...............And here starts my RANT!

I don't think I've ever written a CV in my life, although to be fair, when I was applying for my first teaching job I must have had a CV or said something right at the interview 'cos I got the job out of 250 applicants.  OK boast over.

BUT why do 'minimum wage' jobs need you to hand in a CV?  They're 'minimum wage' and by default it is the lowest wage you can get. 

Why does everything have to be so 'academic' these days?

......................For example - in the tourist town where I live there has been huge problems this year finding people to clean the public toilets.  On the 'jobs website' it says, 'drop your CV down to us.'  'The powers that be', have been going a little bit mad all summer thinking that nobody wants to work??  .................But just how many people are going to 'drop their CV down' for a job cleaning toilets?  And to be honest; if you were an employer would you really want to plough your way through a load of CVs stating how many academic qualifications people had when all you really want to know is............... can they clean toilets????

The world has gone crazy!!!  Everything is just too 'politically correct' these days and it's doing my head in!!

It's the end of summer now but the touristy town that I live in has found it really hard to find seasonal staff this year.  From the beginning of June practically every shop and restaurant has had signs in their windows saying, 'Staff wanted, drop in your CV'.  That surely will put off a lot of the non academic, but very practical kids.  It puts off me and I'm 57 years old with a lot of life experience.

I have been the position where I've had to employ seasonal staff and I really couldn't care less about their academic qualifications.  To me, if you're working with the general public, your charm, wit and dazzling personality, common sense and ability to interact with your colleagues, bosses and customers is far more important than whether or not you have 10 A star GSCEs, a fabulous CV, and have done the 'Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme or a load of charity work.

A lot of the kids in the town that I work in just need a job.  Life is NOT all about academic achievements.  It's not all about fabulous CVs.  I live in a small town in the SW where most of the jobs are in the tourism industry and most of the jobs are only paying minimum wage.  The town where I work needs seasonal waiting staff/bar staff/shop assistants/lifeguards/kitchen porters/chefs/cleaners/chambermaids, etc, etc, etc.

Putting an advert in a window saying, 'Drop in your CV', is not exactly going to attract a lot of kids!  And it certainly wouldn't attract me either!  I'm sure an advert saying send us a text or a FB/twitter/Instagram/snapchat message would attract a load more kids who just want a job for the summer.

'Minimum wage jobs' - you don't need to have zillions of GCSEs to do them.  You don't need a fabulous CV.  - You just need a bit of common-sense, practicality & personality??!!

I'm 57 years old - I'm trying to apply for a 'minimum wage' job and I have to send in my CV.  I've just goggled, 'how to write a CV' and apparently it should only be two pages long.  I'm not allowed to put my age, or my marital status or whether I have children, or my nationality, or attach a photo????

Seriously???.................................

No wonder the town that I live in can't find any seasonal workers????