Videoeezy from Tosh Lubek Productions

Usually my blog and 5TopTips videos are intended to help businesses however there are exceptions and this post is one of them. The subject of this post is How to write a CV or Curriculum Vitae, so if you need help with CV Writing read on or watch the video. Our expert on writing CVs is Certified Professional CV Writer Magda Tomaszewska from  CV-World  in Stirling so without further ado here are Magda’s 5TopTips. First Impressions Count Make sure you make the most of the headline in your curriculum Vitae. Use it to brand yourself and to convey very specific information about the value you can offer. You are crushing it if a business owner or HR manager will invite you for an interview just after seeing the start of your CV. Do not let it be a wasted opportunity, make that headline count. Does it read well Keep your writing simple, concise and to the point. Avoid cramming in too much information in any one section because the important detail will disappear

If you are doing a job search for graduate jobs, part time jobs or in fact any job you will more than likely have a CV. You may even have employed someone to write your CV or teach you how to write a CV but the question is, how useful is a CV in the 21 st century? I spoke to Nik Plevan, founder and Managing Director of e-Talent, an Edinburgh based software company that produces online recruitment screening systems for companies and online recruitment agencies. In Nik’s opinion the way employers have gone about recruiting for the last 50 years is no longer relevant. The use of the internet in the recruitment process and meant that it’s all change for the way companies choose their shortlisted candidates. Nik told me, “You should really stop taking paper applications because those invariably lead to huge amounts of work and effort which is ultimately fruitless because you’re working with data which is not particularly helpful. Whereas if you asked people to apply online you