CV Writing Tips

1. Use a clear font.
   There is nothing worse than an employer or recruiter trying to decipher a fancy font. Simple and plain is best, leave the fancy fonts to invitations, etc.
   Fonts you could use are: Arial, Helvetica, Palatino or Times New Roman.
   
2. Have your name and contact details easily accessible on the first page.
   A recruiter doesn't want to have to sift through your CV and find it on the last page in order to contact you. Make it easy for them.
3. Contact Details:
   If you have a non-English name, rather than stating female or male, put in Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.
   Include your full name, address, telephone numbers (work, residence, and mobile), and email addresses.
4. Add a career objective.
   This determines what sort of role you are wanting and what industry. It targets the CV. Don't make it too long, and don't embellish it with purple prose (i.e. pompous language).
5. Add your personal attributes here.
   The best way is for someone else to sing your praises for you, so take 'pull quotes' from any written reference, performance appraisal, testimonial or even a well done written assignment. It is a way of adding value and credibility to your document.
   
6. Make a list of your key skills and strengths.
   Don't over do it and have a whole page about how great you are. Employers/recruiters do not have time to read all that, and after awhile it looks like you are trying to hard to convince them.
7. If you have recently come out of school or university you can add in your qualifications section.
   Start with your most recent and highest qualification.
8. If you have already established your career in some area, then start with your career profile.
   Outline your key achievements, and then responsibilities.
   Refer to your performance appraisal for key achievements or special projects you may have worked on.
   Refer to your job description to get your responsibilities. But remember to convert the language to resume style.
9. Then add in your qualifications.
   If you have had substantial work experience then just your degree level will do. Don't forget to add in your most professional development, i.e. courses, workshops or seminars you have recently attended.
10. Finally add in your referees.
    The usual practice is to proffer two or three.
    If you do not wish to include your referees, then simply state available on request.
    By not including your referees it gives you some bide time to think who would be more appropriate to use for specific jobs in mind, and also it lets you know when they are looking at your CV, as they will need to ring you to get your referees.

These are general tips to help make the process of writing your CV more successful.