Curriculum Vitae (CV) means 'The story of my life'. Your future employer will see your CV before they see you, so it must represent the best you have to offer. Your CV should change for every job you apply for, adapting it to include relevant information required for the position.

You will never be the only person applying for the job, often there will be hundreds of other applicants. The short listing of the CVs may not be done by your future employer, but instead someone who may not know much about the job, and has merely been given a list of key words to look for. Reading through CVs can become very tiresome so the faster the person is able to find the relevant information and keywords, the better.

A good sequence for your CV is Personal Information, Education, Work Experience, Personal Skills and Previous Responsibilities, Hobbies/Interests and finally your referees.

Here are some tips to improve your CV:

• Adapt your CV for the position you're applying to

• Aim to keep your CV to 2 pages

• Use short punchy sentences

• Expand on previous work experience

• Use bullet points, they help keep sentences shorter

• Don't bind your CV, it's not a book!

• Word process your CV, using the spell check

• Use quality paper, white or cream

Always remember to include a covering letter, which is relevant to the job. Don't repeat your CV, instead try to incorporate key words from the job ad into your covering letter. At a glance the person checking the CVs will see that you have the skills necessary, and will hopefully give you the chance to have an interview.