First and foremost, do not lie about anything on your CV. We use CV verifying tools to ensure our candidates have provided the correct employment dates, academic achievements, job roles, titles and experience. You will not fool anyone and it will not work to your favour. Be open, honest and realistic.

Make sure that you focus your CV towards the key skills mentioned on the job advertisement or specification. For example – should an advert list requirements such as good health and safety awareness or relevant industry experience – make sure these are clearly mentioned on the first page of your CV, if not the first paragraph.

Make sure you have ALL your contact details on the first page of your CV: e-mail address, home phone number and mobile. Recruitment can be a fast-moving business, so we may have to talk to you at short notice. E-mail is becoming ever popular, so ensure you regularly check your e-mail accounts and reply quickly and accurately.

List your most advanced qualifications such as a degree or A-Levels – this is more important than including extensive details about your schooling. As a general rule, employers are much more interested in any commercial experience you have. Organise work experience and qualifications by date order, with the most recent first, working backwards.

Personal profiles can be helpful, but make sure they are succinct and give an overview of your skills and aspirations, for example, “Accomplished and proficient in diverse environments, with excellent management, organisational, communication and computer skills”.

Try to be positive on your CV – avoid dwelling on failures or weaknesses. Employers are always more interested in what you do have to offer than what you do not.

Include any skills which may be useful in a business environment, such as linguistic skills, a current driving licence and anything that demonstrates business-friendly attributes, such as team work, leadership, literacy and numeracy skills.

Avoid leaving gaps in your CV; this only causes questions to be asked that can delay the recruitment process unnecessarily. Also, it is useful to put a reason for leaving a position, for example, Promotion or Redundancy.

If you are looking for your first job following University, school or A-Levels and you have no relevant work experience, detail your final year project and the modules you have covered in your education and highlight your strengths.

Finally keep consistancy of spacing, headings, fonts and sizes. Print in black ink and on white paper for a professional appearance.