Applicants should make sure their job history shows that they clearly supported a business. For example, take time to list five ways in which your efforts have impacted on the bottom line, this may be difficult to do in the first instance, but it will ensure that your CV highlights your capabilities, as well as helping clarify your thought processes when it comes to interviews. It is recommended that applicants under the age of 25 include details of GCSE grades and it is essential for all candidates to list A-level grades. It is also very important to describe periods of study travelling or unemployment, since any unexplained periods will merely excite suspicion and would be covered in any event at an interview. The best length for a CV is said to be two pages although managing directors can indulge in three.
References can add to the length and so are best left off.
The worst CVs are too long and chatty, are not business-focused and contain irrelevant information about the applicant's personal life such as the names of partners and children. Quality white paper is a must. You have to remember that a CV is likely to be photocopied and circulated - trendy or dark paper can look splodgy after photocopying, as though it has coffee stains on it. CVs in plastic ring binders are also irritating if they have to be photocopied and someone has to spend hours taking them to pieces. For the same reason the use of folders should be avoided, and applicants should never enclose supporting material such as workbooks they have written unless the advert specifically requests such additions.