h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1) Do not print your CV on purple paper, print in comic sans MS or write in calligraphy. It does not make you look big or clever, or even creative, it looks like you are still at school.

2) Summarise and clarify. Not every employer knows the industry your past employer was in, what your job entails or if you are very good at it - so spell it out to them. List the skills and tasks if necessary - sometimes this really helps people to understand that you have skills that are valuable, even if your experience in certain areas falls short.

3) In large companies the person who sees your CV will most likely be in HR, and have the job of ticking a few boxes, and getting rid of as many CVs as possible - make sure there is nothing that gives you an immediate black mark, such as spelling mistakes, bad layout, hard to follow chronology etc.

4) Don't lie. Just don't. Do not pretend you worked somewhere, give a false reference or claim something that is untrue - if you are unlucky the person who sees the CV may actually know the person involved. A friend of mine had a classic experience where she was insulting a past employer at an interview who was the husband of the new interviewer. Bad. Very bad.

5) In business - always "show me the money". Stress the value of the business you have done, the size of the deals, the seniority of the people you deal with regularly, how much responsibility you have had.

6) Tell the good news. Maintaining stability is still success if it is in the face of industry changes & recession. How about zero staff turnover, how about helping other people with on the job training, how about helping old people fill in pension forms - everything has a value.

7) Look at your CV, know it intimately. Everything you write is fair game for questions from the interviewer, so think about the worst thing they could ask about each point, and prepare a good response for it.