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.