How to ensure your CV doesn’t go straight into the bin

Today’s Metro (UK) in Ireland includes a feature on ensuring your CV won’t go straight in the bin, with tips from CPA Ireland, one of the main Irish accountancy bodies, with more than 5,000 members and students in Ireland. Top tips which match the advice you’ll find on Example CV’s guide to writing CVs include:

First impressions – check your spelling, grammar and punctuation in both your CV and covering letter. The newspaper cites a survey by financial recruitment agency Robert Half that found 84 per cent of executives said it takes just one or two mistakes in a CV to remove a candidate from consideration.

Keep it professional – avoid unusual typefaces, illustrations or anything else that makes your CV look unprofessional. Click here for some clean, professional free CV templates.

Keep it short: CVs need to be concise, clear and laid out in a logical order. A CV shouldn’t be more than 2 pages unless you’re applying for a post where you need to list publications, presentations etc (such as a clinical job application).

Avoid unnecessary personal information: Don’t bother with your age, marital status or photo, and make sure you only include hobbies that reflect well on you – sports and fitness related activities are a positive as it shows you look after yourself and are less likely to be a sick employee! Use a professional email address too – so if yours is ‘bigbums@hotmail.com’, set yourself up a new gmail account to use for your job applications that uses just your name.

Enjoy the rest of the article in the Metro today.