How you write your CV will determine how far you get in the job application process. You will want to make the best impression you can and improve your chances of getting those opportunities. Here are our top tips to help you write a great CV.

Sending an employer your CV is the only contact you will have with them unless they decide they want to speak with you. It could be a summer internship, a part-time job or a new career opportunity.

1. Your CV should have a skills summary including an objective statement, which includes your experience and your key skills relevant to the job opportunity.
2. Focus on responsibilities, accomplishments and not duties.
3. Emphasise with each employer section what skills were needed, how that improved the company and what was accomplished.
4. Organise your CV according to the specific job classification. Information technology employees should emphasise technical skills while marketing employees should emphasise employers.
5. Tailor your CV to the specific job – generic CVs are not informative.
6. Be creative when describing your work experience and don't repeat the same phrasing. Always include the top five to 10 responsibilities per employer.
7. Avoid using CV style templates.
8. Career change CVs should emphasise associated skills and not past job titles and experience.
9. Don't list your work experience beyond two pages. You could lose the interest of the employer.
10. Use bulleted lines formatted with each specific employer responsibilities and description.
11. Keep the formatting and design plain – use the same font, consistent style, some bold and no border.
12. Always include the month/year dates of employment with each employer.
13. The job position and name of each employer should be most prominent. Use bold to highlight these items.
14. Always select descriptive keywords for the skills and job responsibilities: managed, effective, top, designed, implemented, lead, documented, improved.
15. Proper sentence structure is a must. Have someone proof read your CV and use Microsoft Word or any word processor that tags grammar errors.
16. Don't put references on your CV. Unnecessary calls will annoy your references. You want control over what references are called and when, making sure they are available.
17. Avoid long rambling sentences.
18. Get the sentence tense correct when describing past and present work experience.
19. Do not add a lot of personal information. Keep it to your interests and career related.
20. Don't forget to spell check with your word processor.
21. Always provide two working contact numbers – home and mobile phone.
22. Have an email account with your proper name. Hotmail and Google email work well.
23. Have a copy of your CV online at a job board where a recruiter can go online and download. The standard Microsoft Word and .PDF formats should work with most employers. Microsoft Word 2007 documents must be saved as a .doc file. Older versions of Microsoft Word can not read the newer .docx file formats.
24. Include a link to any web site that has published your career based articles.

Shaun Hummel is an author of various technical books and has a website focused on information technology job search solutions and certifications. http://www.networkjobsolutions.com