CV Clinic Does your CV need an MOT? Give your CV a full check up, by Fellow REC Member & MD of Alexander Associates, Akile Alexander. With 18 years industry experience to share, Akile will work with you to ensure that your CV represents you in the best possible way highlighting all your skills and experience in an appealing format. Your CV is one of the most important documents you have; can you afford to not be shortlisted for the next vacancy? This service costs £15 per CV and will include a telephone consultation and a hard copy of your CV? We will also email you a copy and for and additional £2 will be posted to you on a CD. What makes a good CV? There is no single correct way to write and present a CV but the following general rules apply: It is targeted on the specific job or career area for which you are applying and brings out the relevant skills you have to offer. It is informative but conscise It is accurate in content, spelling and grammar How long should a CV be? There are no absolute rules but, in general, a new graduate's CV should cover no more than two, maximum three sides of A4 paper If you can summarise your career history comfortably on a single side, this is fine and has advantages when you are making speculative applications and need to put yourself across concisely. However, you should not leave out important items, or crowd your text too closely together in order to fit it onto that single side. Academic and technical CVs may be much longer: up to 4 or 5 sides. Tips on presentation Your CV should be carefully and clearly laid out - not too cramped but not with large empty spaces either. Use bold and italic typefaces for headings and important information. Never back a CV - each page should be on a separate sheet of paper. It's a good idea to put your name in the footer area so that it appears on each sheet. Be concise - a CV is an appetiser and should not give the reader indigestion. Don't feel that you have to list every exam you have ever taken, or every activity you have ever been involved in - consider which are the most relevant and/or impressive. Be positive - put yourself over confidently and highlight your strong points. For example, when listing your A-levels, put your highest grade first. Be honest - although a CV does allow you to omit details (such as exam resits) which you would prefer the employer not to know about, you should never give inaccurate or misleading information. The sweet spot of a CV is the area selectors tend to pay most attention to: this is typically around the upper middle of the first page, so make sure that this area contains essential information. If you are posting your CV, don't fold it - put it in a full-size A4 envelope so that it doesn't arrive creased. Research says Applicants sending CVs and letters without spelling mistakes are 61% more likely to get a reply and 26% more likely to get an interview. "In the age of the spell checker, there is no excuse for spelling mistakes". The most common mistakes to not show up in a spell check were: fro instead of for, grate instead of great, liased instead of liaised and stationary instead of stationery. Other turnoffs include: - misspelling the name of the company or the addressee - not having a reply address on the CV - trying to be amusing Topics: first impressions count : getting over interview jitters : top interview tips closing the interview : top 10 interview fashion blunders : what kind of employee are you? :