1. DON’T tell us your life story. We don’t rely on keyword searches to decide whom we interview… we look at every single resume. Thus you have about 30 seconds to make a good first impression and we want to be able to see only the important stuff, at a glance, without having to search for it. Keep the detail for your interview.

2. DON’T get clever with pictures, logos, fancy setting out and lots of tables. Particularly don’t fill your resume with white space. And please DON’T create a full cover page with nothing but your name on it! These things make your resume stand out for all the wrong reasons. They waste paper and take ages to download. The resumes we love are ones that are brief (maximum 4 pages), specific, relevant, and have no spelling or grammatical errors. We have included some of our favourites as templates which you might like to download and use yourself.

3. DON’T try to mask your age or experience by leaving off the dates in your work history. We need to provide our client with a verified timeline and also to confirm that you have the amount of experience relevant to a particular role.

4. DO include referee details or at least have them ready to submit at interview. These must be business-related and of relevance to the role you have applied for. By preference we like to speak with someone to whom you have reported, someone who has reported to you, and somebody you consider a business colleague or peer. This allows us to gain a 360 degree picture of you for our report.