CV Essential Information

There are various things that are optional in a CV, and for instance the layout and whether you have a one or two page CV are examples of this.

However, there are some elements that are essential and you should always include on your CV:

• The most obvious are the personal contact details, yet amazingly recruiters report a steady percentage of applicants forget to put this, presumably because they are so busy focussing on what they've done! So be sure to include your name, address, phone and email.

• Your main skills. Recruiters recommend listing at the top of the CV some of your key skills just as bullet points. If you have more than five or six key skills then pick ones that are relevant to the job - again slightly tweaking your CV for the job you are applying to is not only perfectly fine but actively recommended

• Career history: do this in reverse chronological order, so start with your most recent job, and include more information about your most recent jobs. If you've had lots and lots of jobs then list information for the last 3-5 jobs and then you can just summarise other jobs/positions underneath.

• If you have any education or qualifications to speak of then do include these. That doesn't mean to list every GCSE or O-level you have; just summarise those - but for instance if you have a degree do state this even if it's not directly related to your chosen career subject/path.

So that's information on what you should ensure that you put in the CV - the next article will look, sure enough, at the sorts of things you can leave out.