Does your CV measure up?

 Is your CV up to date?

Odd thing to start off a job search with perhaps, but it is important. If you "had" to look for a job today - because you had just been made redundant, would you be able to submit your CV in time for the closing date if that date was today?

Tip: Always keep your CV up to date - even in your current position, because we forget what we have done in the spur of trying to get something completed. Your CV should be a working document, not something carved into stone.

What should your CV contain?

All the highlights and significant achievements. Don't down play your role and what you have achieved. Don't make people guess about what you are good at .... tell them.

What should you not tell them?

Age, religion, sexual preferences, no of kids, etc. We do not want to give a prospective employer any chance for turning us down.

When I was studying for my degree I listened in amazement as my lecturer told us that she had been asked how many children she had - of course the assumption is - as a woman, you are going to be taking time off work to give birth and when kids fall sick you are usually the one to take time off (well it was in "my day"). My lecturer said - I have a dozen children and plan to have more.... Of course in today's political society prospective employers should never ask you those kinds of questions, or if they do - they should ask everyone who they interview .... including men and people who it can be deemed may be rather too old to be thinking about babies....but - do you answer? Up to you - I'd be tempted to answer as my lecturer did.

Spell check and proof read (not the same thing).

Homonyms - "correct" word, wrong context - boot (could mean a pair of boots or the boot (trunk) of a car... Then you have the usual grammatical errors - It's, its ... They, their, they're - all mean very different things, and if used incorrectly can prove you
a) do not have good eye for detail
b) do not have good written communication skills
c) makes you appear lazy with regards to your writing. 

So - Read everything out loud before sending things through - as this one technique can highlight errors like nothing else can. And really that goes for any piece of written correspondence and not just your CV.