The idea of a CV is to get you an interview and your foot in the door, not to get you the job . Your CV should reflect your occupational and educational life and be relevant to the position you are applying for. Think of it as a personal marketing platform to sell/promote yourself to a prospective employer. When constructing your CV bear in mind that potential employers will only spend a mere 30 - 60 seconds reading your life history.
 
CV Structure and Format                                                       
Keeping your CV concise and to the point is a difficult task. Selecting a comprehensive structure and format will help you to achieve this. There are many layouts to choose from, and they vary from country to country; Below is a common structure for a CV.
 
Name and contact details: display a permanent address, home phone, email and mobile.  (Note: if a graduate remember to give a permanent address of a family member and your term time address) Include your Date of Birth, Nationality and Marital status. (Can be placed at the beginning or end of the document.)                                                                                                                                                        
A descriptive profile: highly recommended to grab the reader’s attention, it is a key selling point. Ideally this should be punchy, precise and no more than three, 15-word sentences.

Education: we recommend you list higher education only if already working. Include details on your final year project, i.e. dissertation, thesis. List any other major projects, field studies, training courses etc. (Can be placed after Work Experience.)

Work experience: List in reverse chronological order. Include dates, job title/position and company name. As well as writing a brief overview of your job, try and incorporate your responsibilities and achievements.

Key skills: These should be listed as headings. Four headings are usually sufficient, with a couple of sentences of explanation. Make sure that the headings are relevant to the particular position and concisely written. (e.g computing, communication, teamwork.)                                                                                           
Other skills: Include here any skills which you feel are relevant and worth mentioning but not covered as key skills, such as IT and driving skills.

Other achievements/interests: While you should not forget school/university interests and achievements, keep it fairly brief. It is an important section since it helps personalise your CV. Remember an employer’s attention (for good or bad) can be caught by an interest that he/she also shares. Consider what it says about you... e.g. are you a team player or an individual?

References: Optional, use 3 maximum. Ensure at least one is an existing or previous manger - provide details on company name, job title and telephone/email/contact details. Graduates should list at least one academic referee.

CV Presentation
The quality and presentation of your CV is vital when selling yourself. The appearance of your CV is an indication to a prospective employer of the type of person that may be working in their environment. There is no exact format for compiling a CV, but the following guideline is a sure fire way to avoid yours being rejected.

The Good CV...
•  Is no more than 2 pages max - long CV’s are regarded as time wasting. (If you have an extensive work history, use no more than a  maximum of 4 pages.)                                                                             
•  Clearly states who you are, where you have been and what you have got to offer. Don’t hide your name with your personal information, put it in bold at the top of your CV and in a minimum of 12-14pt.           
•  Looks attractive - is well laid out, structured and easy to read.
•  Include a catchy Personal Profile to grab the reader’s attention .
•  Try to print on good quality paper - it may be circulated around several departments. Also remember to     print on one side of the paper only.
•  Use bulleted lists - short and concise points are clean and informative.
•  All relevant work experience listed - make sure its written in reverse chronological order

The Bad CV...
•  Avoid excessive references to “I, he or she” - Alternatively write “Employed as a Seismic Interpreter with     6 months practical experience in .....”
•  Check for common spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors. Have someone read your CV, spouses and     colleagues know your strengths and weakness and are often more than willing to criticise.
•  Don’t draw attention to any  negative descriptions - the idea of a CV is to sell yourself .
•  Try not to highlight gaps in your work history - this might cause the reader to have doubts/questions about        you. It is easier to discuss these details face to face at an interview.
•  Avoid listing too many interests and personal information - think about what it is relaying to the reader.

And The Ugly CV!
•  Avoid excessive use of CAPITALS, underlining, bold and italics, large fonts - NOT VERY USER FRIENDLY
•  Don’t write long sentences, paragraphs or ramble - aim for concise information, less text is easier to read.
•  Make sure it’s not disorganised and unstructured - don’t make the reader switch back and forth between pages.
•  Avoid too many graphics, colours, rigid formatting
•  Embedding photos - different software might distort your appearance - so be careful