The "Do's" of Writing a CV

Over the 32 years I have been in recruitment, I have seen thousands of CV's and candidates often ask me how they should write a "perfect" CV. The simple answer is that there is no perfect way to do a CV as different readers have different perceptions of what makes a good CV but over a series of blogs I thought I'd share of my own observations with you.

DO:

• Write in clear English. By this, I mean, please don't write corporate gobbledegook with abbreviations no-one outside your company understands and use good grammar. 
• Spell correctly. This sounds very basic but I have lost count of the number of times I have come across "professional" spelt "proffesional" and "accrual" spelt in all manner of ways. Bad spelling where finance people are concerned automatically tells the reader that this person lacks attention to detail - which is not what they want from a finance person
• Use bullet points for each aspect of your roles. This makes it much easier for the reader to scan read your CV and pick up what they want to see.
• Read the advert you are applying to and make sure that the most relevant bullet points are moved to the top of the list of aspects of your job. It makes it easy for the reader to spot them and you are more likely to get an interview
• Do make sure that you have put your contact details on your CV. There is nothing more frustrating than a good CV and no contact details or contact details, which are out of date - it does happen!