It’s important that you tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. You should stress the experience you have had in roles that are relevant to the one currently on your radar if you want to strike the right chord with your prospective employers.

Don’t include loads of retail and bar positions you held whilst you were studying, if the job you are after is in accounting, for instance, unless they demonstrate your accounting skills. There’s no harm in hamming up things you think will catch a recruiter’s eye, as long as you can follow it up at interview stage.

Your CV and covering letter very often represent your first point of contact with a prospective employer. When you draw up these documents, it is vital that you remember that they effectively constitute the first impression you make on the people responsible for accepting or rejecting your application.

This may seem a little daunting, but there is no escaping it. If you make basic grammatical and linguistic errors in your covering letter and CV, employers are less likely to look kindly on your application, especially when competition for jobs is so intense.

Make sure that you give yourself the best chance possible by ironing out all errors. Don’t just spell-check them; have your CV and covering letter proofread by someone with a firm grasp of grammar before you send it on its way.

Most people are well-aware of the importance of their CV when they apply for jobs. It is often the most influential factor in getting you on recruiters’ shortlists for interview. However, many people cram their CV full of detailed descriptions of their employment history in the misguided belief that a long CV is a good CV.

It’s far more important to slim your CV down and be concise about the previous positions you have held. Many employers are put off by protracted CVs that fail to get to the point. It is much better practice to tailor your CV to each employer, stressing any experience you have that is relevant to the post you are applying for.

Don’t put recruiters off by making them read page after page. Sell yourself in as clear and concise a way as possible.

If you’ve been struggling to find work, and have sent off application after application and posted what feels like hundreds of CVs, maybe it’s worth taking a look at that Curriculum Vitae, and giving it a fresh boost. After all, if it is your CV that is putting employers off, it can only help. And – if that has nothing to do with it – then it’s certainly not going to hurt!

Firstly – Headings
If you don’t have sub headings, like Employment History, Outside Interests, Personal Statement, Voluntary Work, Education etc. – put them in! Nobody wants to have to read through two pages of prose to find out the name of your university.

Secondly – Presentation
Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit of style in there, like a separating bar between headings, or at the top and bottom of each page. Just something to make it look a little more than a block of text.

Thirdly – Waffle
Cut it out! There is no need to know about your 20m swimming badge from primary school. Be concise, relevant and sharp. To the point. Employers want to know you can express yourself [properly and relevantly in the space provided. They don’t want three pages if you’ve only had 2 jobs and a paper round.

It’s the worst thing about applying for jobs, or looking to be accepted onto a programme of study, or training. Writing that ‘personal statement’ section. You’re supposed to say how amazing you are and how committed and how dedicated you are to the cause, company or client.

Yuck. No-one likes it. But, nonetheless, it has to be done. An employer is not going to look favourably on you if you can’t muster anything positive to say about yourself, because grades and work experience actually tells them very little about you as a person.

If it helps, write down a list of all the skills you think employers look for in a person. Then (just for yourself) put a tick next to any that you honestly think you have. There you have it: a list of your attributes. You can just list them in your letter – but do try to put them into sentences at least. You can be self-confident and self assured without being cocky or arrogant, and that’s what employers want. So go for it – blow that trumpet!

Your CV is the first step in any job you apply. It’s your chance to show the employer that you’ve got the skills they want and the experience to take the role on making you the right person for it. There are various rules of thumbs that a CV needs to follow – it needs to be clear and concise, well laid out, evidence given of the skills needed for that particular job and any qualifications that might help you secure it on the internet you can find many tips for formats to use as well as step by step guides to help you write a eye catching CV out.