When working at MTV I recieved a "funky" CV, baked into a giant fortune cookie.

sarah lear, ny, nyc

I once received an application letter, for an editorial position, which declared that the applicant had 'an excellent eye for detail', followed immediately by both a full stop and a comma.

Steve, Cambridge,

A school where I was teaching English in Italy received an application from a guy claiming to be an Oxbridge graduate with excellent knowledge of English written and spoken. It finished 'Your's sincerely'

Mia C, Manchester,

I love the tale of the cynic who wrote in her job application letter.... "I realise that I am considerably over-qualified for this job, but I promise that if I am appointed I will use only half my ability".
And, the interviewee who was complimented by his senior management interviewer who stated at the end of the interview, "I like you, Mr.Smith, you grovel with style".

Jimmy, Nottingham, England

At a job fair in Dubai a friend of mine who worked for British Aerospace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, received a CV from a (female) applicant for a male-only job. The CV was written on pink, scented paper and had a photograph of the applicant standing on a beach at sunset wearing a bikini.

Paul, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

I lived in London when doing an overseas study and I was stunned by the amount of people who believe Americans are very arrogant and have a "our country is better than yours" type of attitude. I have met very few people who feel that way. It's very unfortunate that those who do are the loudest and most noticed.

Colleen, US,

JL from Atlanta - no country is better than all the others. A lot of countries feel resentful to Americans because many have this arrogant attitude that they are better than everybody else because their country is powerful. I understand that most US citizens aren't so daft.

Sarah, Colchester, Essex, England

What Anti-American comments, Alice? Someone pointed out that Maul555, by being rude and offensive (e.g. name-calling: "jackass"), was only reinforcing a certain American stereo-type and wasn't being a very good advertisement for his country or fellow Americans. No one actually said that 'all Americans are 'rude, insular and ignorant'.

Alas, reading comprehension doesn't appear to be a skill at which either the British or Americans particularly excel.

Ephe, Hull,

Seems a bit daft to get all uppity about Latin and stuff with someone who's obviously fooling about, and the ant-American comments are distasteful and just as rude.

Alice, London,

Don't you feel foolish for letting Maul555 push your buttons?

Nan, Houston, USA

One applicant at a music retailer I worked for stated his desire to work in our receiving department because he was an excellent "stalker."

Seth, Atlanta, USA

Well said, Lynn of Salford! (re Maul555). As an American who has lived in the UK since 1989, this was cringe-making. Please know that not all Americans are as rude, ignorant and insular as Maul555. This was not a tough assignment (and certainly not something to get their knickers in a twist about) -- a quick check of Google (or any other resource) would have revealed the sameness (and very slight differences) between an CV and a resume. Nice one!

Sharon Hampton, Buckingham,

Americans rude? No. Insular? No. Ignorant about the rest of the world? Alot of us. Better than you? Absolutely.

J L, Atlanta, GA

Wow, I even share a state with that guy! I didnt know what a CV was either, but considering the topic and contents its easy to figure out that its the equivelant of a resume. Even a simple web search would of given you that answer. I love the evangelist.

Grace, Dallas, Texas

Maul555.... It really doesn't take a lot to work out that a Resume and a CV are the same thing. But you must have been on this list somewhere, spell checker?

Very good article, we receive many from people who have english as a second or third language and sometimes, although it shouldn't, the spelling or literal translations do make us laugh.

Tracy, London,

Maul555 - you're reading a British news site, not an American one. The article was written for an audience of British people, who all know what a CV is. What you call a resume, we call a CV. And I bet that everyone in the UK reading this article knows that Americans call it a resume. You have contributed greatly to reinforcing the US stereotype that Americans are rude, insular and ignorant about the rest of the world. Nice one!

Lynn, Salford, UK

I read one from a candidate which said 'I have a passion for accuracy'.
Unfortunately, he'd managed to spell incorrectly not only the job title but also the name of the company...

jessica, Birmingham, United Kingdom

I once ran a professional audio department for visiting bands at my University. We had an interview with a new hire who's CV blatantly stated that we should hire him "because he'd heard how crap we were at our job" and aimed to change that. Needless to say, he did not get hired. Unfortunately, the school was rather small, so I was constantly subjected to his cold stare for the next two years

Miles, San Francisco,

I received a CV from a gentleman that was 8 pages long, and included a synposis of all three books he had written (oddly enough, unpublished).

It was rather strange, considering the position was one in the financial industry.

J, Surrey, BC

I recall seeing a CV from a young man applying for a job in a guitar shop.

Interests included 'Michelle Gayle' , who was a popular singer and actress of the time, which might have been reasonable if the applicant hadn't gone on to clarify which parts of her body he liked the most and what he would most like to do with them.

Needless to say...etc

Mikey, Bromley, Kent