Your CV, or resume, is a marketing document. Before you send it out, check and double check the spelling, grammar and ease of reading.

Recruiters will often use your CV to fill out a standard application form supplied by the employer. With this in mind, here is a some advice on writing a great CV:

• Your CV should be one or two A4 pages long, no longer than three
• The title of the CV should be your name, not Curriculum Vitae, or just CV
• Tailor the CV to the role
• Avoid using graphic elements, like logos, especially in PDFs (OCR reading software can’t read them)
• If you send a Word document, please put the contents of the CV in the main body of the Word document, rather than in the header or footer
• Try to avoid cliches, over-used words and statements, like “solution focussed”, “highly motivated” and “I’m passionate about…”
• Writing about your experience, use action words such as developed, planned and organised
• Show how you applied the skill the employer is looking for, not just that you have the skill
• Avoid gaps in your employment history
• If there are any gaps, explain why in the work experience section or in your cover letter