Your CV is your self marketing advertisement. So, it is vital to put the right details so as not to shortchange or de-market yourself from the first instance.

And circumstances differ too. Try to tailor or adapt your CV to suit the scenario. If your past experiences is of vital relevance to a role, emphasize more on them.

What to put in your CV?
An employer needs facts about your skills, experience, qualifications, and some personal insight. If they like what they read then they will require contact information to get in touch with you. The order in which these facts are documented is important. Convention states that contact details should be at the top underneath your name, then employment history, followed by qualifications. Some careers advisors tell you to write an introductory paragraph and section of your interests. Unless your hobbies are particularly relevant, this is unlikely to add to your application. If you are short of space, this should be the first thing to be removed. Introductory paragraphs can work if you are applying for a job in a very specific field, and it is clear that this job will help towards your future aims. However, if it is very clear that this is not the case, highlighting the fact that a job does not lead to where you really want to be is unlikely to get you far.

Contact details
Often CVs are kept on file for long periods so any contact details you give have to remain accurate in the long term. A daytime phone number is most important, include your mobile number if you have one. Include an e-mail address, a gmail address is good because you will have it for life, rather than a university one which may expire.

Previous employment
Write in reverse chronological order, including starting and leaving dates for each position. Include concise details of what the job entailed, your responsibilities and what you achieved in the role. If there are any time gaps between employment explain what you were doing in that time, for example travelling, at college, carrying out charity fund raising work. Use active verbs to describe your achievements: for example "has experience in”, “trained in”, “managed a project involving”, “developed”, “co-ordinated the development of” etc. Bullet point these at the start of a sentence for maximum impact. Try to avoid using “I” at the start of sentences.

Qualifications
There is no need to list all of your O-Level/GCSE subjects, simply write something like, 10 GCSEs A-C including Mathematics and English. A-Level and degree qualifications can be listed, the grades do not have to be included. List only the academic centres where a qualification was earned in reverse chronological order with dates. The more qualifications and experience you have, the less the older qualifications matter, and if you run out of room they can be omitted.

Hobbies and interests
If you do choose to include this section, it can be used to give an insight into your personality. Consider carefully what you are putting down and its implications. Team events indicate that you are a team player, other activities such as Scouting, CCF, Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme show commitment and the fact you are not adverse to a challenge. Be specific, and show what you learnt or gained from the activity (such as perseverance, teamwork, communication skills), and if you were on the society or helped organise anything emphasise this. Keep this section very brief, do not list ALL of your interests and hobbies. You do not want to give the employer the impression you would rather be doing your hobbies, or travelling around the world than doing the job you are being considered for.

References
Unless you have a reference that you are particularly proud of, for example a letter written by Richard Branson saying that you are the 'bees knees', then it is advisable not to include references in the CV. Instead simply write "References available on request".

Don't over play or under play your achievements

Things to not include in your CV
The words or heading curriculum vitae – it is obvious what the document is, so don’t waste the space

Your address at the top of the page – it is not necessary, and is a distraction if you place it there. It is unlikely employers will need to contact you by post.

Any mention of references – they are not needed at this stage and the employer will ask for them when they are required.

Anything more than a line or two about your interests and hobbies, unless you know that it will be especially relevant. If you are short of space this should be the first information to be taken out entirely.

Repetition of any information – this is both unnecessary and irritating to the reader.

Headers, footers and page numbers (or any other extraneous information such as document names or version numbers)

Page borders, title pages, binders, covers

Reasons for leaving previous jobs

Salary information

Irrelevant information

Negative information. There is no need to put yourself at a disadvantage from the beginning.

Photographs. You should not be judged on appearance, and frankly it just looks a bit weird to send one in if its not asked for

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