Writing your own CV is one of the most difficult tasks to undertake. What do you say? Do you say how wonderful you are or remain modest and hope the potential employer will guess? Do you keep the CV to two pages?

Well, the basic rules to follow are:

Be honest, your sins will find you out.

Be brief but informative. Two pages are ideal but three pages are absolutely fine as long as they are easy to skim read and the type is pleasant to the eye.

Use bullet points rather than paragraphs

Do not hide personal details at the back - it seems fashionable but believe us it is so annoying to search for hobbies, languages, etc. on a CV (and by the way, don't quote hobbies you haven't done for ten years - or ones with strange names e.g. digitabulist (thimble collection) which will embarrass the potential interviewer because more likely or not they will not know what it is!

Provide a resume and retell what others have said about you. After all if you say "I am a dynamic individual" for example, your potential employer might expect you to "bounce" into the interview room.

Choose words carefully - neither too colloquial nor too pontificating! "can" "do" "handle" "tell" "carry out" are not the best words to use.

Do not send pretty paper, folders, humorous CVs - unless you are applying for a design job!

Highlight individual words if they are important.

With dates - put in months as well as years - you can easily lose a year and this makes potential employers suspicious. If you have been out of work for periods of time - explain why.