Is there really a perfect CV? The answer is yes: the one that wins you the interview. Yet very few CVs stand out, either in terms of design or content, or stand out for all the wrong reasons - too garish, too cluttered, too general or too light. Here we take a look at some common CV presentation problems, and suggest some basic ways to put them right.

• Lack of focus: lists of disjointed information, not following any particular order, with each section apparently unconnected from each other. This can result in the most important information being lost at the bottom of the page. As a result, the information has no overall plan, showing poor decisions have been taken in terms of prioritising information. This suggests to the reader that you do not think clearly.
• Suggestion: the information about you that is most relevant to the job should come first. Work out what is the most important requirement for this job. Technical skills? Education? Key professional qualities or skills? Whatever it is, it demands prominence. Psychologist Max Eggert, in his book The Perfect CV, suggests that order of information will also change according to the stage a person has reached in their career. For example, a career starter may only have education and interests to work with, so will want to promote these aspects of their profile, whereas an older manager may actually want to play down their education if it could be seen as not relevant to the current day job requirements.
• Length: too short, and it runs the risk of being too general; too long, and the reader will give up wading through pages of detail that is irrelevant to the job required.
• Suggestion; you normally need about two pages plus a one-page covering letter. Use short sentences, which show facts and results.

The five most typical sections covered by a CV are key skills, career history, education and training, introduction or profile and personal interests. The best CVs usually follow one of two basic models:

• The chronological CV is best used to show your progression up the ladder in the same industry sector. It lists jobs in chronological order, starting with the most recent and highlights your progression through your career (eg moving from assistant manager to manager). Its focus is on job titles and dates
• The functional CV is best used when you want to achieve sectors. It plays down actual roles you've had and focuses instead on the skills and achievements you have made - actual details of dates and names

• Fancy fonts: you may have found a special font that gives the look you want, but consider whether it is a font that recipients are likely to have installed. The golden rule is to keep it simple and easy to read. Use standard universal typefaces (eg Tahoma - because this is the only totally universal font that also reads on Mac systems and because it looks quite reasonable - Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica) and sizes (a 10-12 point font size is typical).
• Graphic gimmicks: can create the impression that you feel design is more important than content; that what you have to say is not as important to you as how you say it. Remember that design must not overwhelm content, so avoid shading, lines, boxes and use graphics or artwork sparingly.

• No corroboration: you state what you did, or what your job title was, and give no evidence to show your level of responsibility; or you give a long description of what you did, but with no result. Suggestion: apply the FAB factor:
  • Feature: what did you do?
  
  
  • Analysis: what was the scope? For example, how large was your team or budget or sales territory?
  
  
  • Benefit: so what? What was the benefit to the company?
• For each of the jobs that you are describing:
  • avoid negatives: do not show the problems you encountered, but how you turned the problems around
  
  
  • illustrate your involvement: roles, levels, structures, visions, plans, implementations, initiatives, very briefly described
  
  
  • offer your results and achievements, which can go beyond targets and figures, for example: you gave a not-for-profit organisation a national profile, you reduced staff turnover
  
  
  • target your reader: consider the role and the industry you are applying for, especially if you are applying for a job in a different field or industry; what does the likely reader need from the successful candidate, and how will you fulfil that need?
• Never forget spellchecker - have someone else read it before you send it.

• quantify results


• cut the comedy - be funny in person, not on paper


• be selective with your interests - your hobbies are give-aways about you for better or worse


• less is more - the more you write, the more ammunition you give the interviewer


• sell your skills, not just your job title - what you did, and what it says about you

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