With so much in the way of conflicting advice on the Internet with regard to what should be included in a CV, it often isn’t as easy as it seems.
Having created a CV that I thought was adequate – having it checked by my previous employer and a couple of recruitment companies, they thought it fine.
After discussing with another recruitment company, more suggestions arose, along with the comment ‘limiting it to 2 pages is just rubbish, especially for technical positions’. Further revisions followed and further job applications. From here, a free CV checking company had some suggestions for improvement – causing an entire rewrite of my job history – this time focussing on the benefits I had given to my employer and how I had done this.
At this point I thought I had a far superior version, and submitted my CV to another CV company for a free check. Further suggestions came out of this – with encouragement of focussing on what I gave to my previous employer beyond my job description. I asked ‘do I include all the extra hours I did to make sure our CRM project went according to plan?’ but didn’t really get a response.
The suggestion was taken on board, and I rewrote my CV, this time making it easier to read by separating responsibilities and achievements.
I guess my point is that there are numerous ways to structure a CV as well as many approaches that can be taken – some great and others less so. A CV is never finished – it is always a work in progress and the best thing is to get advice and feedback from friends, family, recruiters and your employer – but at the end of the day you have to follow your heart as to what works for you and prospective employers. This can take some time to discover but keep at it and don’t get disheartened!

Hi Elaine,
Advice can come from many areas. I used Fuller CV first and then CV Checker. However, upon further investigation they seem to be the same company (or perhaps owned by the same company). Obviously they are pushing for you to use their paid for service, but they will give you some free advice through a telephone consultation – make the best of the 10 minutes or so you get with them!
Other avenues include your current employer (of course, this depends on your relationship with them!), friends, family, your partner, people you have met in the industry, people you may have connected with on Linked In and finally in forums or on blogs. If you ask people for help, the worst they are going to say is ‘no’! :-)

Ugh, I liked! So clear and positively.