It is quite probable the CV you are sending off for your dream job may land on a pile of about 100. The person who is looking through the CVs is firstly looking for reasons to cut the pile of CVs down and throw quite a few away to decrease their work load. Make sure that yours is not one of those that lands straight in the bin by reading the following CV rules.

A spacious, clear and concise layout

Make sure your CV is about two pages long (no more than two pages). The text must be well spaced out, divided up with headings and a font size of 10 or 12 so the information the reader is looking for is easy to find and almost jumps out at them. Remember the person looking at your CV may be skimming through 100. They will not want to wade through paragraphs of information and this could lead to your CV ending up in the bin.

Flawless spelling and grammar

My manager says to me if I see a CV with a spelling mistake in it, it goes straight in the bin. Harsh? Maybe but he is not alone. Bad spelling and grammmar shows lack of attention to detail and it shows that the position is not important enough to spend time checking your CV until it is perfect. If spelling and grammar is not you're strong point ask somebody else to check it for you.

Tailor your CV to the job description

Don't draft one CV and send it out to 100s of jobs. Tailor the CV to each job you apply for. Examine the job descrtiption. Make a list of the skills and experience each job requires and give examples of your work which match these skills in your CV.

Only list recent and relevant experience

Don't list every job you have done since your Saturday shop work when you were 16 unless you aren't much older than that. There isn't enough space and the person reading the CV won't be interested. They are looking for skills and experience that you can remember. As a general rule only list the last ten years experience.

Keep personal details to a minimum

Personally I would leave out your personal interests and hobbies unless they are relevant to the job you are applying. Your future employer isn't really interested if you Salsa dance on a Saturday evening, unless you want to be a dancer or a dance teacher.

Think about the vocabulary you use

Avoid bland phrases such as "I worked at" and "hardworking". Instead use phrases such as "I led", "I accomplished", "I am passionate" about" "I achieved". This gives the employer a sense of a high achiever and a person with potential.