Why CVs are shit

Why CVs are shit

We hate everything about CVs. There, we've said it. That feels better.

Written by Dave Greasley on 23.07.2020

We hate everything about CVs. There, we've said it. That feels better.

Written by Dave Greasley on 23.07.2020

sidebyside_why_cvs_are_shit_

Why are CV’s so shit?

I’m going to keep this article short, because honestly – I’m struggling to find the desire to even write about them. To us, CV’s are a relic from the past that keep hanging around, refusing to either modernise or die gracefully. They were once used by people who cared about what GSCE results you got, or that you had a Summer job in River Island.

WHY? When I was 16 I got all C’s and I worked in Morrisons eating their ice creams & nursing hangovers. It didn’t mean I was a bad designer, I just didn’t care about that job or learning French.

Now I can see the point in CV’s for some industries, they serve a point of relaying information. But designers seem to have taken this to the extreme. Why are all CVs so over-designed? Is there a free online template you guys keep using? Seriously?

Every single CV we open looks like this:

sidebyside_why_cvs_are_shit_template

Why? Please stop it.

EITHER.

Design your CV to RELAY INFORMATION. This means a clean layout, nice typography choices, easy to read, no Shutterstock icons or cheesy vector portraits. And for fuck sake STOP using those BAR CHARTS! You cannot possibly be 94% great at Photoshop. I’ve been using it for 16 years and I’m still at about 20%.

OR

Do something really crazy. Go mow it into a field or project it onto a whale. Whatever, just stop doing the same as everyone else.

If you want be different, consider what you’re actually saying about yourself. If your interests are Netflix and Socialising with Friends do you really think that’s going to make you stand out? Go get some hobbies yo!

Written by Dave Greasley on 23.07.2020
Follow the studio on Instagram and Twitter

Written by Dave Greasley on 23.07.2020
Follow the studio on Instagram and Twitter

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