If you use Microsoft Word there are some templates which are good, under resumes.

It needs to be less than two pages and you need a personal statement/summary at the top these days. Concise and easy to read is what they want.

I have to look at lots, brevity but all the info!

Have a look at jobsites like Monster. A lot of them have advice on how to write CVs.

and don't mention that 3 week spell as a Big Brother contestant...

Thanks for your suggestions AOTN I thought personal statements were separate but I'm obviously behind the times

I think the lay out of the CV depends on if you are a recent school/college/Uni leaver or someone with a long term record of employment.

If you have recently finished education then after the basic details of name, address, age etc, follow this by a "Personal Statement" where you can detail your qualities.

Follow this by a list of your educational qualifications.  Along with any work experience you  did whilst at school/sixth form or Uni including voluntary work and/or saturday jobs.

Then list references like Head of School/Tutor group.

If on the other hand your have been in employment for a long time I would put the educational bit towards the end of the CV. 

If you want I can send you a template of my CV if you want to.

Depends what its for Charli..    I have different ones depending on where they are going.

Mr Ditty (cos he is still a recruiter at heart) likes very very concise CV's...  very boring concise CV's  

public sector jobs like you to have everything possible on your cv.

If its just a CV to keep on your pooter... so its there & ready..    do one with EVERYTHING on it..  so you have every date, qualification grade etc on hand.    & then do a minimal one from that.

I have a 6 page one on my pooter that I copy & paste bits from depending on what is needed.

oh... & don't put "socialising" down a a hobby 

How about knitting?

Smarting Buttocks, thanks for your advice and I already have a CV template but thanks for offering

Ditty you too thanks for your advice though can I add you must be super amazing to have a CV running six pages

nah!   just old & a job hopper! 

nope!

cinema & reading are no no's too apparently!

I remember back when I was at school the look of horror on everyone's face when the teacher told us we had to put down hobbies that were not reading, going out and going to the cinema.

^ would like to be there one day!
Sorry my browser's f*cking up so I'll say night night everyone

*deletes entire "Interests" section*

yeah... me too PC! 

I hate having this conversation with hubby...   its all a contrived load of bull!  He thinks we should go around doing things just so that we have stuff to put our CV in the hobbies/interests section that show what leaders amongst men we all are!

Personally..  I'd have more faith in someone with a bit of worklife balance... that used their free time to see friends, have a few beers, go to the flicks...  than someone who was medal winning member of a rowing team (recently discovered how dull this can make a person... my brother has recently started rowing... his FB status's are soooo dull), or who was lead role in the amateur dramatics society!

but ... hey ho!

I'm agreeing that it's a load of bull. Actually, I wouldn't want to work for someone who thinks you have to be doing something like that in your spare time. Had one experience working for a company like that and it nearly drove me to a sodding breakdown. They can stuff it!

I have no education details on my CV (cos I got kicked out left by mutual agreement at 14, but it hasn't harmed me one bit tbh, maybe cos I went into my career as a trainee and worked for a very low wage and have built up my experience from there. (I only did it initially for the company car) . These days with recession I can understand why it may be harder to impress an Employer, but from my knowledge of working in recruitment and having to employ people in the past most ultimately look for a hunger to do well, a passion for the role/company and a good attitude, CV's with personal statements that can show a bit of the candidate's personality are an eye-catcher too. (But I wouldn't recommend putting that your interests are train spotting, watching dead people or that you enjoy researching the mind and motives of Harold Shipman)

The best advice I can give is to sell yourself, and keep the CV interesting. If the CV stands out, the person that reads it is likely to remember it. There seems to be far too much emphasis on "the standard" these days. Standard isn't interesting. Standard doesn't stand out. Try and mix it up a little. Crack a subtle one-liner in there somewhere. Nothing over the top, but enough so that the person reading it thinks "This person has got character, unlike the rest of these CV's"

*rips up "Interests" section again*

It's the same for pretty much all fitness/exercise fanatics... they are sooo bloody boring, all they talk about is the gym etc an ex on fb is now dead into gym stuff, trained at a Personal Trainer and is looking to open his own gym, which is great... but 90% of his status updates are about what exercise equipment he wants to buy, what exercises he's just been doing etc

Charlie are you still in the US? Just a Resume and a CV are laid out really differently and they look for different things...

his status updates are all "new PB"  or   "shoulders burning from skulling"  blah de blah blah!

Gawd Ditty The latest status is now he;s off to a fitness training camp for a couple of days