Standing out on your CV can be tricky. Follow these tried and tested tips, based on years of career coaching and personal experience, to guarantee job success:

Know yourself to sell yourself

1. Sell yourself by the first half of the CV - recruiters spend as little as 10 seconds scanning CVs so make every word count. Depressing as it sounds, recruiters are reading to reject rather than interview, so give them what they want

2. Scrap the bland, large paragraph profile - write five bullet points summarising your career and key skills

3. Tailor your CV to each separate role - match what the company is looking for with skills and experience. Two pages maximum.

4. Be specific - a CV is not a list of job descriptions. In doing your job what do you achieve, how do you make a difference to the product, people, the bottom line?

5. Use keywords - borrow from the job specification, to help recruiters' CV word search software find you

6. Step away from your job - it's very difficult to sell yourself if you are immersed in a role or dislike your job. Seek help from a career coach to clarify which companies, sectors or roles you want to target with your CV

Get professional help with your CV

I'd love to meet you, whether by Skype, or in person at my office in Pangbourne (near Reading) in Berkshire. Let's make a CV you can be proud of!

Email: helen.slingsby@careerbreakthrough.co.uk