WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?

There are very few questions in life that succeed in inspiring such an uncomfortable series of involuntary actions –shifting in your seat, a rapid heart rate, sweaty palms –yet being faced with the question, “What’s your number?” is guaranteed to do the trick every time. In reference to the number of past employers you’ve had, of course. With UK unemployment figures currently clocking in at about 2.59 million (of which 1.02 million are young people between the ages of 16-24), it goes without saying that today’s employment market is extremely overcrowded and as a consequence, highly competitive. Potential candidates are pulling out all the stops and utilising all the tools they have at their disposal to ensure they stand out from the crowd and get the proverbial leg-up on their rivals.

Despite the continuously changing face of recruitment and a move towards less conventional candidate selection processes, there is still no tool more chief than the good old-fashioned CV. Not only does your CV offer potential employers a formal introduction to who you are, what you can do and what you have to offer their organization, it also provides you with an initial platform to sell yourself. So that’s why it’s imperative to present yourself in the best light you possibly can. Invariably, not everyone will possess the gleaming trail of references and past experiences necessary to parlay them seamlessly into their job of choice. A recent study by the insurance firm Aviva suggested 35 as the “golden age”: at which most people fulfill career and personal milestones. By inference, since it takes the majority of women until well into their thirties to establish themselves, it’s inevitable that they will have filled a variety of different positions before settling on the one that suits them best. And in this very fact is where the dilemma lies: how do you strike the balance between being honest about your past number of employers while also making yourself appear the best woman for the job? We spoke to Caroline Thorley, Careers Consultant at Birmingham City University to get some expert tips…

How much does the number of past employers affect your attractiveness as a job candidate?

 It depends on how you present the information. If you have a long and varied work history, recruiters will be asking themselves two questions: Are you someone who has developed a wide set of skills and can be considered flexible and adaptable? Or are you just someone with no career plan who leaves jobs because they can’t get along with others?

What’s considered too many or too few a number of past employers to have?

It depends. Some candidates worry about that but the employment market has changed a lot in recent years. Temporary and part-time jobs are on the up, meaning that many people will have held several roles within a short space of time. Career changes are increasingly common too as people diversify their skills and pursue new interests. Age is also a factor, recent graduates will obviously have a much shorter work history, whereas more mature candidates will have more experience.

How can you spin a patchy CV in your favour?

There are a number of ways you can make a lengthy or very short work history look positive. One option is to opt for a skills-based CV, where instead of listing all of your previous jobs and employers, you highlight several key skills that you have developed in work and study and provide evidence for these using recent examples. This can include voluntary work, positions of responsibility, or even raising a family. This is a particularly useful approach for career changers or people with little work history, as you can focus on the skills relevant to your new job without emphasising your lack of experience. The graduate prospects website prospects.ac.uk has some good examples of skills-based CVs to work from.

Is it ever ok to ‘edit’ in order to strengthen your application?

Stick with jobs you have done during the last 10 years unless a past job is directly relevant to the one you are applying for. Come clean and explain periods of inactivity such as a career break for family reasons or unemployment. Be careful when omitting certain odd jobs or temporary employment from your CV, as gaps can be construed negatively. A good strategy for people who have held different types of jobs is to divide them into sections of “Relevant Employment History” where you can list the jobs similar to the one you are applying for, and “Other Employment History”, which would include jobs in other industries or sectors. Spend longer describing these relevant jobs, focusing on what you did and achieved, and then briefly list the other jobs in the next section.

Is there such a thing as a ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ number of past employers to include on your CV?

There is no rule of thumb as every individual’s career path is different. Avoid the temptation to write lengthy explanations about career choices on your CV as employers will spend an average of around 30 seconds reading it, so a text-heavy CV is a turn-off. Use a covering letter to expand on your work history; state why you are interested in the role and to briefly highlight what makes you a suitable candidate. An employer’s main focus is whether you are a good match for the job ­not how many past employers you’ve had.