First impressions count

If your CV does not attract the reader’s attention in the first 10-30 seconds then your chances of getting an interview are greatly reduced. An employer may be looking at over a hundred CVs in any one afternoon, it is important to make the first page count, unless you’re a school leaver, don’t waste space with details about your primary education or whether or not you used to play for the school football team.


What an employer really wants to know is why he should invite you for an interview, a short summary can be useful – but be careful not to oversell yourself.

This is perhaps the most essential piece of advice one should regard whilst writing their CV. REMEMBER!! Your CV is your own personal marketing tool, if it fails to tell the employer the benefits of employing you, it has simply failed to market you correctly. It is essential to mention how your achievements and personal qualities make you better suited to the job than other applicants.

Your wording should be concise and to the point, try and use professional but flowing language that makes the employer want to read on – but don’t overdo it, remember, it’s a CV not a life story.

The visual layout is just as important as the wording of your CV, if the employer can’t find the details he or she is looking for, they’ll probably just move on to the next CV. Space your CV out, clear bold headings can be useful. Be sure to use good quality paper, preferably 100gram for both your CV and cover letter.

Unless requested otherwise, you should try and limit your CV to two, or at the very most, three pages. If you're writing anymore than that you probably haven’t understood what the employer is looking for, they do not need to know your life history – just enough to decide whether they should interview you or not.

An unorganized chaotic CV will not leave the employer wanting to meet you, REMEMBER!! the reader will only spend a few minutes looking at your CV before deciding to interview you or not – if they cannot find what they’re looking for quickly, they probably won’t find it at all.

Whist your CV should be concise and to the point, it is important that it encompasses all of the relevant information about you to the employer.

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The object of your CV is to make sure that you secure an interview of your choice. It also serves as a prompting tool during the interview.

A CV in the commercial world needs to do the business quickly and to the point - but you need depth too. Sure, it must be possible to skim over the document to get a flavour - but it must also be possible to read into some detail.
Did you know that around 80% of CVs, don't do the job of conveying exactly what roles the candidate is suitable for? Take a long hard look at your CV and turn it into a document that works. Make sure that it says exactly what you do on the tin.

Are you capable of more than one role in the industry? Have 2 x CVs! Don't lie, but be specific on your CV. One CV could be for your technical skills and one CV for your management experience. Apply for roles with the most appropriate CV.

Tell the story from today - and go backwards. This is reverse chronological order. Use employer names, dates and the functional title that you accomplished along with the skills, methods and skills you utilised. You may have been called the "Global Administaration Manager", but if your job was actually doing Sales Support for a single branch, 20-man business - make up a title that's appropriate.

Structure your CV with plenty of white space. Don't use 5mm margins and tiny font sizes. Think about business documents - they have plenty of headings, bullet points and white space. Copy what works.

If you have any doubts, check out our sample CV from the download section. Use this as a template.

Good luck!

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