What not to put in your CV

There are several things that can be left out of your CV but that many include automatically, either because they think they need to or because the example CV they saw way back when had it in and they've never taken it out!

Here's a list of some things that don't need to be included in your CV:

• Date of birth - it's not needed in the CV, though do note that it may well be required by employers at some stage it is not necessary at all in your CV

• Personal information - don't include information such as whether you are single or married; it might be interesting for a nosey recruiter to see but should not be relevant to your application for a standard job

• Interests - some people list a huge long list of things that they like as interests or personal activities to show what they do outside of work. The reality is that this is only ever really glossed over and is not the main substance, so keep this short and don't worry about what to put; if you do have interests put ones that are appropriate given your application!

• Reference information. If an employer wants to contact referees then they will ask you; they take up space on the CV and should not be included there.