First and foremost, clarity. Black ink on a plain background (white or beige) works best. Think of the effect that outrageous paint schemes has on a house buyer- the same thing goes for your CV

Content in a CV as well as on the web is king. Basic details like your name, postal address, telephone numbers and email address comes first. Make sure that you don’t use a work email, use a free service like gmail and also make sure that you have a plain email address. Check this email account regularly- you don’t want to miss an important email do you?

Your career profile is the first thing that a recruiter will look at on your CV. They will skip past your name and address right to your profile. 20 seconds is all you have to get your profile read and make a sufficient impression on your reader to want them to read more. This is a short paragraph of text showing what you can do, in which industries, and which geographical area that you wish to work in

Your career history is the meat in the sandwich. This must show what you have achieved, i.e. be achievement focused rather that responsibility focused. Employers are looking to see what you can do for them. There simply is no better way to demonstrate this that by describing quantified achievements. Avoid describing responsibilities- they are far less important and employers expect you to have carried out your responsibilities anyway

By separating out your professional and your educational qualifications, you separate your CV from many of the others that the recruiter will read. This is one of the fingerprints of the professional CV writer. They understand that this is important to a personnel professional and will make it easy for them to get the information that they require from your CV

Finalise the CV with a brief section covering your interests- make sure that they are factual- you never know who will be interviewing you! The very last thing you want is to have a detailed discussion on bee keeping at an interview if you haven’t the faintest clue about bees!

Gaps in your career stand out like the proverbial sore thumb. Recruiters are trained to look out for them and almost above everything else on your CV, having a gap will at least ask a question in the employers mind. Your job with your CV is to answer questions before the need for the question to be raised. Don’t be a rookie, be professional and explain your career gaps

About the author: Mr. Hughes is the managing director and director of a cv writing services business located in Wales. A cv writer can really improve your chances of getting interviews