Tips on writing a cracking C.V.

Personnel agencies and potential employers need to get to the vital information on your CV quickly, however while some CV's are well constructed, others are riddled with inconsistencies and ambiguities. Many are too detailed or contain unnecessary facts.

Your CV is your initial sales platform, it tells a potential employer why he or she should interview you. It must be professional, to the point and written in plain English. Don't assume that people understand abbreviations and buzz words and don't go into great technical details about specific projects.

Many CV's that we receive are riddled with spelling mistakes and a hand written CV is definitely 'bin' material. Don't elevate yourself above your station or over estimate your achievements. Irritations are tinted paper, gimmicky type styles, photo's and 'funny' comments. Personal interests like 'going to the pub' or 'meeting people' are irrelevant.

Remember this, an employer with several CV's, particularly for one job is looking for a reason to reject most of them!

• No more than 2 single sided A4 sheets
• Use an easy-to-read typeface
• Don't mix more than 2 typefaces
• Make the layout clear, simple and uncluttered
• Don't try to be 'clever' or humorous
• State your job title and engineering discipline in a brief summary, giving your core skills and work profile
• If you post your CV make sure it is clearly printed on, preferably, 100gsm white paper. Try and avoid sending a photocopy
• Don't use borders, fancy edging, coloured paper or grey blocks, (consider how it will fax)
• Don't state the obvious
• Don't mix upper/lower case type in a disorganised way. Headings are unnecessary i.e. 'Name' or 'Age', also don't underline words
• Put your most recent job first
• State your date of birth or age, not both
• There is no need to say why you left your last job and don't mention 'personality clashes'!
• Don't leave gaps in dates between jobs
• Don't give details of primary education
• If you wish to state hobbies and interests, keep them brief, employers are not really interested in your golf handicap
• While you are proud of your wife and children their names and ages are not relevant to your CV
• Don't use etc. etc.
• Try and avoid abbreviations and buzz words even though they seem obvious to you
• Agencies today prefer CV's to be emailed to them
• Enclose an enthusiastic letter