Forward Planning

Many people do not think about their CV until they want to apply for a job. Sometimes it is not necessary even then, because the job requires an application form to be completed.

Why wait until you want to change direction? How many times have you felt frustrated because the information you need is filed all over the place, need to find my last application form, what have I been doing in the last five years? Maybe you didn't apply for that last job you were interested in because the deadline was too tight. A CV can sit beside you with all this information at the ready.

If you are still at School, College or University, start thinking about your achievements now. Start planning. No experience? Try voluntary work in an area you enjoy. Build a portfolio of projects you have worked on, this may be web designing, using HTML, PHP - a hobby forum?

Having a tailor made CV can also help you in your interview. Often when an application form is passed on, we have no necessary recollection of what was typed or printed in the obligatory boxes, but a CV identifies our skills as we see them, our key achievements, and we can confidently pass these back in our answers.

CVs can be formatted in many ways, on a variety of papers. They can be saved as a pdf file or a word doc that you can forward by email or update yourself. If urgent they can be faxed.

Don't leave it until the last minute to get yours organised. Start planning now.

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