CVs and cover letters

There are literally hundreds of sites across the web offering advice on how to present your CV or cover letter.Here are some that we have found that offer some key insights.


Your cover letter should be the place you lay out your personal brand.

The basics that your CV (called a resume in the USA) should include are fairly straightforward. But there are essential items that are important to include, particularly anything the job advert or specification mentions, and there are key mistakes to avoid.

Modern CVs though, need to be creative and stand out from hundreds of others so how can you ensure the HR staff or manager chooses your CV for the INTERVIEW pile?

If you want to start afresh, think about how you can rewrite

Whether you include your online links in your resume or not, employers may look for you on various social websites so be sure your profiles won't embarrass you. If your brand has a great online presence perhaps recruiters will come to you.

Your CV has to stand out.

Does your CV and cover letter stand out? If they were separated in someone's file would they be able to find the different pages and easily identify them? It's not usually advisable to make your CV look outlandish, but consider something that will tie all the pages together. If you have a well defined online presence, is there a theme you can apply to your stationary that will help tie it all together? It could be as simply a a plain blue line along the bottom of every page, or having your Twitter handle at the top. Think of something personal to you, but you might a want to avoid rainbows and kittens unless you are planning to work in a field they relate to.