A friend of mine in the recruitment industry was talking to me the other day about how hard people are working at the business of job hunting;  registering with agencies, doing up their CVs and following up every lead and half lead they possibly can. We all know how tough it is out there, and people have to do what they can.

But he cautioned against the over written  CV, full of the kind of language that gets your wonderful effort thrown in the bin, and fails dismally to do what you want it to do – get you called in for interview.

He blames the recent phenomenon of talking up personal skills, way beyond any approximation of reality, on programmes like The Apprentice and The Dragons’ Den, where everyone has to convince everyone else how absolutely fantastic they are.  So recruiters and employers are getting more and more CVs from people who are brilliant at networking, have amazing people skills, are absolutely passionate about making a difference; and that is before they get near the blue sky thinkers and the profit prophets!

My friend reads hundreds of CVs a week for a living, and believe me he knows the phrases that make him clench his teeth, and look longingly at the shredder in the corner.   So, here is a word to the wise, in order that your CV is not the one being minced by the machine.

Remember your ABCs – Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity. In other words, don’t exaggerate, keep it short, and keep it easy to understand.

Read it back before you pop it in the post, or hit send on the email, and if anything in there sounds like it might have been said by a contestant on The Apprentice ,or a pitcher on The Dragons’ Den, take it out.