A CV is like a messenger you send ahead to big you up. To give you some guidance, our experts have assessed a number of real-life CVs and come up with these great tips.

Basic CV tips

• Keep your CV to two pages
• Make it functional – a CV is not a place to experiment with fancy paper, trendy fonts and all the colours of the rainbow
• Always include a brief synopsis (about three sentences) at the top introducing yourself and outlining your career objectives
• Unless you’re applying for an acting job, don’t add a picture
• Don’t just list your work experience. Make sure you include some bulletpoints about what you learned/ achieved through it
• Check spelling and grammar really carefully.

Covering letter

The purpose of a covering letter is to introduce yourself and communicate something of your personality. It can also be used to highlight the most important parts of your CV. A covering letter demonstrates that you can write in sentences and spell and use grammar – so make sure you look through it carefully (in fact, get someone else to double check it) before you send it off. It is not necessary to handwrite a covering letter these days, despite what your parents might tell you. But do take time to lay it out well – and make sure you include a contact phone number and email address.

Some other useful CV and letter writing advice sites:

• Connexions
• Great CVs
• Guardian jobs
• The Stage - How To… write a CV
• The Site