If you are writing a CV here's a tip from somebody who has spent all day reading them.

DON'T LIE

If I had a quid for everybody who claims to make "Strategic Management Decisions" whilst having next to no documented experience I would have enough money for a new waste paper bin.

Honesty will get you everywhere.

My head hurts. Time for a drink.

Ooh, is there a job goin' @ Voith?

Yes. To somebody who tells the truth.

Damn.

…also. We can tell if you've applied on-line without bothering to read the job description.

Double damn.

I'm exceedingly handsome, utterly clever and fluent in 12 languages including swahili – can I have the job?

Oh and by the way, waht is teh job ?

I didn't apply.

We've been recruting lately and some of the CV are blatant lies. It's really easy to check these days too. The missing stuff is also fairly obvious.

They weren't all massive fibbers. But the good CVs make the dodgy ones stand out.

I'm recruiting for a role for the first time, things I've discovered:
– Using a 6 point font size to squeeze everything onto 2 pages (forcing me to zoom to 150% in Word to read it) is annoying
– Hobbies really are pointless to list, I might care if you were a base-jumper (it would count against you…) but I really couldn't care if you play the guitar, read books or like walking with your wife
– Skills summary should cover things you've got experience in, not something you went on a training course for 5 years ago but don't seem to have used since
– You aren't an active directory expert if you only seem to have done user account management (I could train a monkey to reset user passwords…)
– I don't care what GCSEs you have (at least not enough I want them all listed with grades taking up a third of a page)
– I don't buy contractors applying for permanent positions for 'better job security' or 'the opportunity to progress in an organisation', lets be honest you're screwed at the moment for decent contracts and you'll be off contracting again as soon as the market picks up…