Your CV is a gateway to getting an interview for that ideal job. It is your opportunity to provide a good first impression but you only have two sides of A4 paper in which to do it. It is not surprising then that most people have trouble getting started.

Firstly, you need to know what the employer is thinking.

The employer suddenly has a vacancy. Filling the vacancy is going to take up valuable time that he would rather spend doing his normal job.

He would love to find the perfect person immediately rather than plough through hundreds of CV's. It is often a dull, thankless task.

The employer has a job description in front of him. It includes experience or qualifications that are essential for the job and some attributes that are desirable but not absolutely necessary.

He starts going through the pile of CV's on his desk. He scans each one for about 30 seconds and makes a judgement.

He simply hasn't got time to read the CV that is more than two pages and all the relevant information is hidden in long paragraphs. - He files it in the bin.

Fancy formatting, coloured text or multiple fonts do not impress him. Is this person trying to hide their lack of experience for the job behind an artistic CV? - He files it in the bin.

He notices spelling mistakes and poor punctuation. This person is just sloppy! - He files the CV in the bin.

He breaths a sigh of relief, the pile on his desk is smaller already. He makes another coffee and then starts reading............................

This should tell you a few things about writing your CV.

Keep it concise and to the point. The employer needs to see your work experience, skills and achievements in the first 30 seconds of scanning your CV.

He knows what he is looking for. You have what he is looking for. Don't distract him from your relevant skills by adding in lots of unnecessary information.

Keep it simple. Plain formatting, simply laid out under headings. The employer wants to see exactly when, where and what you have done. Fancy formatting makes your CV difficult to read. It may make your CV stand out from the rest but for the wrong reasons.

Keep checking your english. Good spelling, punctuation and grammar are essential. It is the first step in your personal presentation to an employer. It says a lot about you. Also, poor english distracts the employer from reading the content of your CV.

Now the content:

Contact details should be displayed on the first page. When he decides to invite you to interview you want him to see immediately how to contact you before he changes his mind!

Personal details should be limited to those that are absolutely necessary. Most employers expect to see your nationality and date of birth but you can choose to leave these out if you think they may go against you.

Other personal details such as number of dependents, driving license and marital status can be included if it is not going to make your CV too long by including them. These can help employers to get a rounded picture of the person they are going to interview. Do not include names and ages of children or name of spouse. The employer is not interested at this stage.

Interests can be included but only in one or two lines. It may provide a starting point at interview for general conversation before getting down to serious questions about your work experience. It also gives a rounded picture of you without taking up too much space on the CV.

Profile is positioned prominently in your CV and should be used to sell yourself in one paragraph. It is an opportunity to sum up your skills, experience and general suitability for the job for which you are applying.

Career History or Work Experience. The heading you use depends on the length of time you have been in fulltime employment. If you have recently left school or university you should use the heading 'Work Experience' and include all placements, paid and unpaid work. If you have been in fulltime employment for the last two jobs this should be under the heading of 'Career History'. Do not use both headings in the CV. Whichever heading you use you must include dates, name and location of company and a brief description of what your job entailed including all the positive contributions you made to the company.

Education should be described in terms of selling yourself to the employer. Include all relevant courses, dates passed and name of school or college. But, leave out poor grades and failures. These will not help you get invited for interview.

If you have a university degree you can leave out all of your lower qualifications. Mature applicants may want to leave out 'Education' altogether, as your career history and skills are probably more important.

Skills can be described under three headings: Technical Skills, Professional Courses and Additional Skills. Technical skills are those related to a technical, mechanical or engineering job. You need to list your skills and how recently you have used them e.g. Java Programming used in the last 3 years. Professional Courses are those that you have attended specifically for a particular job e.g. sales courses, hairdressing. Additional skills are anything else that may be relevant e.g. languages, keyboard skills, health and safety courses.

Finally: Make it easy for him!

Remember, the employer has very little time. He doesn't know you yet and is only interested in what you can offer him and his company.

Make it easy for him to:

Scan your CV,

Identify that you have the skills he is looking for.

Pick up the phone to invite you in for an interview.

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A perfect CV layout has 2 objectives:
To illustrate your strengths and maximize your chances of getting through to interview and to put factual information, such as dates, places, names together in a presentable and readable form.

Focal Point
It is claimed that the human eyes are naturally drawn to a focal point one third down from the top of the page. Therefore, put your most useful information in this area. It might be your Profile, Key Skills, Professional Qualifications or details of your most recent employment. You can choose whichever you think is most important and relevant to your application. Always get a second opinion when you have put your CV together. It is difficult to be objective about oneself.

Presentation
It is often thought that a good CV should be fitted on to one side of A4 and a professional CV over two. This can be difficult if you are a mature applicant with a long employment history. If you need to go on to a second page make sure that the CV is spread out over 2 whole pages, not one and a half pages as this looks messy.
As a 'rule of thumb' there should be more white than black on a page to make it easier to read.
Always write a rough draft first. It can be as long as you like as you will edit it later. Always start with your Career History as this will highlight your Key Skills and help you write your Profile.

Once you have compiled your draft copy you must edit it
1. Take out anything that will not help you get where you want to be
2. Write in the 'third' person as much as possible keeping 'I' to a minimum
3. Never use the past tense e.g. use "supporting senior management" rather than "supported senior management"
4. Use short sharp sentences cutting out any waffle and jargon

Headings
Name
Print your name in bold type at the centre top of your CV. If there is any doubt as to which is your surname, e.g. James Martin, indicate by using capitals or underlining.
Address
Top left of CV. Full address including post code.
Telephone
Top Right of CV. Full dialing code and daytime and evening numbers if possible.
Date of birth
Put in full such as 13th December 1962. Do not put your age. Bearing in mind that you will be close to the Focal Point now, this might need to go at the end of the CV under 'Personal' along with other details such as marital status and children.
Marital status
You do not have to include this at all. If you choose to, make sure you use only "married" or "single". Do not use divorced or co-habiting. Put at the end of the CV under 'Personal'.
Children
Its up to you whether you include this information or not but if you include it put it at the end of the CV under
'Personal' Profile
This is an introductory statement about who you are and what you have to offer. You should complete this last although it is positioned prominently in the CV, possibly in the Focal Point. It should be no more than two sentences and include the most important facts about yourself. You can include skills, achievements, responsibility or personal qualities.

e.g. Highly motivated Account Manager with successful direct and telesales experience in hardware and software industries.
Key Skills
Several Key skills should be highlighted after you have analysed and edited your employment history.
Pick out no more than six.
Make sure they are relevant.
Do not include dates. A key skill can come from an earlier job or an outside interest.
If you are short on direct experience and qualifications you may have skills arising from your personality, i.e. Interpersonal skills, e.g. "the ability to relate and communicate with others". Some examples of descriptive words to use in key skills are:
Administering
Implementing
Budgeting
Leading
Reorganizing
Forecasting
Advising

Employment History
Always start with your most recent employment. Break down your job functions as much as possible. The job description on your contract might provide a starting point or, consider how your employer might advertise your job. You should have more to say about your most recent, and therefore most relevant, employment. Include successes and achievements especially if it saved the company money. Don't have any employment gaps. If these occur explain them briefly.

Qualifications
If you are a mature applicant you can leave these out as career history is more important. Put the highest qualification first with year achieved. If you have a degree you can leave out the lower qualifications altogether or include the basic information. Do not include poor grades or failures. Professional qualifications Only include those that are still current. Training Only include training that is relevant to the position for which you are applying.

Interests
Only include interests that are unusual or which indicate transferable skills, achievements or responsibilities. Reasons For Applying This finishes the CV off with a concluding statement and puts the application into context. Don't imply you are out to gain advantage to yourself such as "I would like to join the company to gain additional experience". Instead, concentrate on what you have to offer, "my experience at......would be useful to the company because............."

Finally
Your CV should be available soft copy or on good quality plain white A4 paper. Do not use double sides. Only fold once and enclose an SAE.

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Normally all CVs exclude any and all negative data from the CV. This is because the resume is actually a selling ticket, and the negative data would spoil the prospects to be called for an interview. Do you need to put in this information; first of all, you need to find out. Check out the policy of the company - many times the stand of the company on this aspect is very clear - like they will not employ people with record, and/ or if they have a record it should be clearly mentioned with details.

If there are no such clauses, then you may choose to keep quiet about you past. However, if you think that it is likely that they would discover about it sooner or later, it is better to make a clean breast of it right from the start. Then you will know exactly where you stand and will not need to hide anything. Actually whatever you need to hide, has a terrible habit of crawling out at the most inopportune moments completely embarrassing you in the least, or totally devastating you. Hence, as much as possible do not hide it. Inaccurate personal information will leave you open to firing if you are 'discovered' by the employer. Do not risk being discovered as it brings daily tension which will interfere with your efficiency at the job

Choose jobs where having a record is not a great minus point (however, do not kid yourself that this is not a minus point) - avoid applying for jobs such as accountant, bank operator, etc. Also avoid jobs which will offer you temptations as you might repeat the crime with horrible consequences.

In fact your choice of profession may give you a second lease of life - so choose wisely. Choose something which will definitely not put you in situations where you are tempted to repeat the last mistakes, and/or do new similar ones. Having a criminal history is not really an issue unless it is perceived as a danger to the job you are being hired for. For best results chose jobs which do not have bearing on your criminal record - and as far as possible, inform the employer right at beginning about this fact. Put it in your CV, but also be sure that you show that you have a changed a lot since the last time you were caught and today you are putting your best foot forward to start a new responsible and productive life.

Unless your record is for something drastic such as murder or rape, most people are willing to give young people a second chance to start their lives. Your CV however, should clearly reflect this fact and also take extra pains to match perfectly your own skills with the pre-requisite of the job.

It is not the end of the world if you have a record and want to apply for a job. You can always start your life again.

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There are many young people who are appearing for jobs world wide and the age is going down every day. This is because the children today need and love the financial independence that a job can give them. It is not necessary that you are at a disadvantage when you are young and apply for a job. Highlight for the benefit of the employer what value addition you can give the company and particularly the job:

Willing to work harder: Young people are associated to willingness to work, enthusiasm and long hours. Ensure that your CV says this clearly. Assure the employer in the CV summary that you are a hard-worker who is willing to put in long hours to prove your worth in the job.

• Willing to work for less remuneration: While mentioning your fit in the cover letter, you may like to mention that you would be willing to accept less remuneration for the honor to start your career in a leading company such as so-and-so (name of the company).Many employers love the saving offer, and they will try you out.
• Willing to work as an apprentice: Even if you have the right qualifications you will need good relevant experience to really be useful in an organization. Assure your would-be employer that you would love to take up the job of an apprentice till you pick up the tricks of the trade and prove really valuable to the company. An employer would be tempted to at least check you out if your offer is good enough.
• Present your skills and talents effectively: The young people who master the art of proper presentation of a CV will definitely get selected more often than those who do not know how to present. The skills and talents need to be highlighted both in context of achievement as well as job fit. Hence, the presentation should be brief, to the point (preferably in bullet points) and totally highlighting the professional and personal achievements.

You can have a brief paragraph at the top of the CV stating why you would think you are fit for the job, and how the company would benefit from hiring you. It should not exceed four lines.
Market your youth as the most desirable product you have - the prospective employer will always look for he best ways in which the company will benefit. Explain in the profile or cover letter how being young is actually an important plus point since the young can learn well and fast, cost the company less, and work longer hours.

• Be confident: Remember that you are competing against people who have higher qualifications and/or more experience. In order to show yourself as a confident and self-assured person, you need to have a highly concise professionally drawn-up CV. The CV should highlight first the skills, then the qualification and then he benefits of the company if he is offered a job.

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There will many times when some aspects in your CV will be less that the requirements of the job you would love to take up. So what would you do? Give it up? Absolutely not. Keep in mind this universal secret about a job: there is absolutely no perfect fit for anyone to any job. There is always a bit plus and minus and that is why the interviews usually take place to find out actually how much of the plus and minus is there, so they can make an informed decision.

So you have no degree. Okay. Let us focus on what you have. What do you have that can compensate for the lack of degree and which the company would count as a balancing benefit?

Additional skills: Do you have any additional skills that pertain to the job? Have you undergone any special skills training program? Are your talents pertaining to the overall goal of the company? Then by all means write them down in the CV first.

• Additional experience: Do you have a long and accentuated experience which has put you in the league of experts? Write and offer them references for the purpose. In many cases experience far supercedes qualifications; hence put your best foot forward and apply
• Special personal traits: Are you an artist by birth? Is acting a second nature to you? Are you a born leader? These all are personal traits that can stand you in good stead when you apply for those traits specific jobs. In that case, you will definitely get preference over people who are more qualified and more experienced than you. Be sure you highlight you traits properly and that those which are highlighted exactly match the requirements of the job (otherwise it will dilute you case still further labeling you as totally misfit for the job)
• Avoid the educational column altogether: A lot of people who are uncomfortable writing 'undergraduate' on their CVs, can simply omit the column of education altogether. However, this will not be questioned much in the CV only when the other skills and traits will be draw the attention of the employer away from the need to know the qualifications
• Half truths: Another way, but highly unadvisable, is to state that you have started the course but do not mention you have finished it or not. While this tactic may get to the interview table, it will not hold water when asked, and the trick is seldom seen kindly by the employer. Hence, the best policy is indeed to tell the truth

A degree is very important nowadays true - however, there are a lot of other qualities that can overshadow the need of the degree. Be confident when you state your special qualifications and skills and learn to draw away the attention of the interviewer from the need to know about your qualifications. This needs a lot of preparation both at personal level as well as company level.

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A normal CV should have high up on the first page your career objective (see also Resume Career Objective). All the rest - your experience, your skills, your everything in career will revolve around the career objective. What happens when you find yourself in the middle of a dilemma where you cannot make up your mind about what career objective you should adopt? This is an important issue, however not really critical for the CV.

You need to know your objective in order to get the right match between yourself and the dream job you want to land. In other words, if you do not get a clear picture of what you want to do in life, there is no way you can carve a proper and definite path for yourself professionally. Hence, it is good and important in the long run to know where you are going; then only you can choose the right stepping stones.

However, in case you are young and undecided you can still have a short-term objective instead of a long term. Your short-term objective should be anything except monetary benefit (which though it is high on everyone's mind looks very shallow on the CV). Hence, you could say that you want to gain experience in a particular field, or understand a particular industrial functioning and see the fit, etc

Your objective should be a close match to the overall objective of the job you are applying for, hence whenever you are applying for a job the objective should be slightly modified to exactly fit that particular job. Do not under any circumstance state that the objective is undecided. Such an answer will show complete immaturity and will definitely invite summary rejection.

The CV should always reflect that you are in control and I am sure you can understand how important is the objective to show that you are in control. Otherwise you will seem like a driver who is rearing to go, but has no exact destination. The company would feel threatened to use such talent as there is no guarantee that they would be satisfied and/or will stick to the job for a long period (or at least a reasonable period of time).

There are many other way to deflect the prospective employer from the lack of objective - i.e. by highlighting the skills match to that of the job. However, for a veteran employer such tricks would not hold much water. Hence, be prepared to answer a few long questions on this aspect when you make it for the interview.

It is best for those who have deep doubt of what exactly out of their professional life, not to mention it at all. There are CV formats which allow for this, but its absence from the CV may ensure that it would be asked during the interview for which you should be carefully prepared.

To summarize, state an objective only when you have totally internalized it; state short-term objective when you do not have long-term objectives; customize each objective to fit exactly each job you are applying for.

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It will so happen every now and then that people want to take up a job which is slightly below them due to certain benefits that they perceive the job will offer them. In fact being overqualified for a job and applying means that you are underselling yourself and if this is not done well, you will come across as a person who has low self-esteem or low value overall. The employer will feel the same as you would feel if you all of a sudden if something very valuable in the market were being sold at half the price. However good it would be, it would make highly suspicious and even if you would not find anything wrong with it, you would still not prefer to buy it for fear that there is a defect that will creep out later on.

In the same manner, when an employer sees he CV of somebody overqualified, will immediately think, 'what is wrong with this person?', 'why is he/she here?'. Your job is to allay the fears and suspicion that arise from this situation effectively through the CV itself.

The CV should in this case clearly contain your acceptance that you are aware that you qualification exceed the expectation of the job. Then, proceed to explain why inspite of this fact, you would still want to be considered for the opening.

• You could highlight you strongest skills and connecting them to the growth prospects in the company, imply that working for that company in question would actually make allowance for such a sacrifice on your part
• You could say that after having a gap in working (for legitimate reasons - such as child rearing, spouse career support, launching business in the family, etc) you are looking forward to work again in the industry which was and is your first and last love (this should match with your career objective)
• Put your willingness to work in a lesser position as a method for the company to test your abilities and attitude, highlighting the fact that you are a very hardworking person as well who would very soon be a highly valuable member of the said company
• Bring away the focus from your educational qualifications by putting high emphasis on your skills and achievements which should match (or made to match) perfectly with the job requisites

Use the cover letter as a gateway to prepare the employer for the discrepancy in the match by subtle flattery (you can say that the honor of working with so-and-so company far exceeds the little inconvenience of a lesser designation) and show confidence that you will prove as an asset to the company

It is possible to sell yourself for a lesser job, but this tactic is actually highly counter-productive and frustrating in the long run. Do not really consider this move unless you are really in a desperate situation and have no other choice.

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This drawback usually plagues the interview due to lack of experience to show on the resume. There are many things that can be improvised in this scenario:

• Bring the attention of the prospective employer away from the lack of experience by highlighting your match to the job in terms of skills and personal traits. Be sure you use those skills and traits that are best required by the job you are applying for

A skills CV (see also functional resume)will be the best bet for you - more so when you can highlight you willingness to work hard and long hours to gain valuable experience. Your willingness to work hard should come strong enough to attract the attention of the prospective employer, so it should not be written as an after-thought, rather as an emphasis after your description of skills.

• If you have an outstanding academic background, highlight this explaining that you are a fast learner who can in no time be a valuable member of the organization. Attract attention to the subjects and/or areas where the matters are supportive of the job's requirements.
• Do you have any extra-curricular activities that would boost your skills (with respect to the job you applied for). For example if you are applying for a PR or marketing position, your standing first in elocution and debate competition (proving the gift of the gab) would stand you in good stead.
• You can also use the experience gained in your summer projects or any other hands-on projects that you have done during your college days to show that you are aware of your match to the job and that the past experience, even not in a paid job, made you confident that you can be successful if given a chance to prove yourself.

Highlight the fact that you will be honored to start your career in an elite company such as X (name of the organization) and assure that you would be happy to work harder than anyone else to prove your abilities and become a valuable employee of the organization

• Be candid in your application and down-to-earth. People usually like young people because they have a nothing-is-impossible attitude. Try to project that attitude without sounding over confident or cocky. You can do that by repeating at different intervals that you are willing to learn and work hard so you can fit even better not only in the job, but also the goals of the company overall (do your homework and be specific here; vagueness will seem like boasting)
You indicate that you would be willing to travel, relocate and/or work late (even on weekends) so as to learn the ropes as fast as possible

It is rare that companies resist the enthusiasm of young people applying - and unless the job really needs a lot of experience, you will definitely reach the interview stage if you keep your CV crisp, focused and highlighting yourself as a go-getter.

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A fresher is a fresh graduate by definition. What should you do if you are a fresher who will compete for regular jobs where other more experienced people will apply:

Do not be intimidated about the competition. Apply highlighting your academic records (if it is good), your personal traits (for example extremely friendly, deadline oriented, a good organizer, a born leader, etc) which best match with those required for the job

• Mention specific courses or training programs which you might have attended and which might give you a good edge over those who have only the required qualification and work experience. Relate the achievements in such a way that ti should show you as a theoretical expert in certain angles
• You might also mention in your CV that you are self-taught person in terms of the latest technological trends and techniques; for example you can learn basic programming, software engineering and design and web designing (among million other such skills) by yourself with the help of the Internet and good book supplements. Be prepared to be asked in detail question at the interview though - so be careful that you write only what you really know well
• Highlight the fact that you are young, rearing to go and are ready to work hard to prove yourself; many employers love the enthusiasm of the young and the go-go approach which is very good for the company

Highlight the fact that you are a fast learner and that you are looking forward to start your career in a established and famous company such as X (the company you are applying for), and an excellent learning experience

• Offer to get additional training (naming the exact courses with their duration) if the job entails it without any interference to the job deliverables.

Overall ensure that you project:

• a positive attitude towards the application for the job
• a hard-working nature, ready and willing to upgrade and work hard for it
• a desire to be part of a leader in the industry (if not chose one of the best attributes of the company and mention that)
• a desire to start your career with one of the best in the market
• willingness to learn, and to work hard towards the company's goals
• high expectation and sincere wish to meet the interviewer for a further assessment of the fit to the job
• your skills set presented in the school and college are the promise of a good match for the job requirements
• have two good references who could back you up word for word in case it is necessary

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When you want to have a career change, it is of course, your prerogative. However, you will still have to satisfy the curiosity of the would-employer as he/she would be measuring you in terms of your performance, stay with the company and other capabilities. Hence, you will owe an explanation to him/her as to what prompted you to want to change careers. While speaking it is easy - with the right preparation, to say it objectively why a career change took place - however, in writing it is a bit difficult to explain so it comes out clearly.

What you need to do to make your point clear enough so that you would be called for an interview:

• write as concisely as possible about your educational qualifications and skills set; most people will concentrate on highlighting their skills sets as the best reason for switching careers; however your qualifications also could be a good direction pointer at times (for example you are an excellent office secretary/ personal assistant with a Master's degree in English and are good at PR work and communication training - you could make a good teacher for undergraduate students based on your high qualifications and excellent skills set)

highlight your career objectives so the career move would look obvious (for example, in the above example if you have a career objective as 'to be a good trainer and/or educator in communication' then a teaching profession would fall in line - and not really look a too far away jump

• highlight certain experiences in the past (during or outside the last job ) when you had experienced extreme satisfaction taking up different responsibilities, which actually had opened your eyes to your new talents - and these experiences motivated you to seek out jobs as the present one.

Ensure that you assure that you are confident that you will perform well in the new line of work and that a change in career based on the chosen reasons will actually help you grow professionally and personally, which in turn will make you a valuable addition to the company.

The above can be highlighted in the cover letter better than in the actual CV, while you carefully draw the attention of your prospective employer to the best attitudinal and technical skills set. The cover letter can also help you prepare the would-be employer to the difference in the experience and work history. Briefly explain in the cover letter why you think that a change in career would be good for you and why such a change would make you a valuable asset to the company.

Lastly, remember to highlight only those skills that will make you look as a good match for the present job. Do not dilute the fit, by adding all the irrelevant (to the present job) responsibilities and duties carried at the previous job, as this would actually show as a misfit. Highlight only what you need to make your candidature look as closely matched with the job applied for as possible.

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To answer this question bluntly, 'NO'. You really do need or owe it to anyone to own up information that you were fired from your last job. That is do not volunteer it. There are no rules that require you to write the reasons for leaving your last employment; it is usually understood that this people leave for better prospects.

However, some companies do have a column asking 'reasons for leaving previous job'. When you are faced with the direct question, tell the truth.

• Scenario no 1: You were fired because the company was downsizing. Write the truth - downsizing means people will lose their jobs and it is not necessarily because they were not worth it, but because they were more expendable than others. Be matter of fact when you say this, and keep the bitterness and sarcasm out of your language. End with maturity and show confidence that your skills and experience will add value to the future job

• Scenario 2: You were fired because of inter-personal conflict, you could explain the facts briefly - again, without any bitterness - that your boss and yourself did not agree on certain matters which made it difficult for you to continue. Be objective, and matter-of-fact explaining that the experience taught you better interpersonal relations and that in future you would handle such a situation differently.

• Scenario 3 - You were fired on grounds of negligence/ poor performance/ insubordination, etc. This is a very touchy situation, because most of the employers would ask for feedback from the last employer. Hence, you need to tell the truth and use the opportunity to tell 'your side of the story'. In order to make it as positive as possible, indicate the circumstances (such as difficult task or deadlines while multitasking; or communication gaps; or wrong reporting of facts by supervisor, etc) and be as matter of fact and brief as you can. Avoid the sordid details - just touch the important points and in the end highlight that you have learnt a lot from the lesson which has already cost you dearly, and that it made you a better person and employee as a consequence. Be candid and objective. Never badmouth anyone nor blame anyone. Show a positive outlook and the capacity to move on in the face of adversity.

Being fired is painful and it is even more painful to have to write or speak about it. However, no matter how much you are tempted you should abstain from telling lies. The employer will, 9 out 10, ask the last employer for some type of reference. You should not be found lying as it destroys the foundation of the working relationship. Rather be brave and face the situation squarely. As long as you stay focused on the future and show that you have learnt from the past experience, an employer would rather take your past experience as strength rather than weakness. When asked about the same in an interview, be careful about your body language - as many times the body language gives you away much faster that the words you speak.

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First of all, understand that having out-of-work gaps is not a big deal by itself. People are not comfortable with it because it looks that they were not productive for sometime, and that implies some sort of failure. Nothing could be further from truth - but the custom remains to hide or 'close' the gaps in the CV to have a continuous work-line. What can you do if you have gaps in your work line that you cannot really explain in lucrative terms. Easy - get them to lucrative terms:

You may like to say that you have been self-employed for some time, trying to set up a business for a friend, brother, father, etc - be prepared to answer some nitty-gritty's of the business you were self-employed at. Be careful to have a plausible explanation as to why you are seeking employment again. A good reply here would be that the business is now successfully handled by the friend, partner, father (or someone who could take over) and you are looking forward to pursue your main career goals

Another idea is to say you had volunteered to raising funds for some cause such as an orphan home, local community clean up, get a library fund, and so on. Here too be prepared for a lot of questions - so it will be good if you have some data and people to back you up on this.

You may also say that you are/ were in-between jobs and did some odd jobs to keep yourself afloat financially, till the right job came along. In this case, you will need to have the list of the odd jobs you worked at during the in-between period.

It is also possible and legitimate (as well as acceptable) to adjust against your spouse demanding career in order to support your children. Hence, you could always say that you had decided to stay with the children who were young, so your spouse could pursue his/her career. Now that the children are big, you are again looking to fulfil you career goals.

As a last resort - and not one that I would personally advise anyone to do - you could just fib saying that 'from the year so-and-so to present I was working in the following capacities' and enumerate you jobs without giving the years. It is possible that the employer assumes that your work is uninterrupted. However, such deceptions (however mild it may seem) can create a deep sense of mistrust when found out - hence it is advisable to always use the truth in your answers.

Look for normal, legitimate ways to bridge the gap. However, you should not worry too much if you cannot really carry it off. In that it is better to tell the truth directly (such as you could not get the right job) and highlight the fact the you would be a valuable asset to the company (do not be over eager when you say this - just act confident and sure of yourself).

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The CV is the basis on which the employer makes his/her first impression about you. We all know that. Hence, we always tend to put our best qualities in it so as to create the best possible impression. However, sometimes there will be some minor (and some major) hiccups. Are you able to sail through with poise and rationale? The commonest reaction is to bluff (or tell a white lie) but with an employer it is really not an advisable path to take because truth has the knack to come up at the most unfortunate moments of your life and create some major embarrassment, if not more. There are better ways to handle difficulties - with the truth put across plausibly:

• Scenario no 1: Suppose you have a two years gap in you CV between to jobs when you did not have any job. 'What happened in the gap period?' the employer will ask. In most cases, people leave their jobs to pursue higher studies - if that is the case with you, do let your employer know. In this context the gap will be seen as a benefit. If this is not the case, and you have just been in between jobs for a gap of more than one year - you might say that you have helped your father, uncle, bother, friend, etc to set up their business (be sure you have the details ready as you will be asked for it); you may also say that you have volunteered to work for some philanthropic cause that your family, community, or friends created (again be ready to give details); you can say you wanted to be with your family for sometime before you started working again (be sure you have plausible reasons - like grandmother sick or wife/husband having a too demanding career which neglected the children who were young at the time).

• Scenario no 2: Suppose you have a minor gap of a few months (less than a year). In that case nobody needs to know about it really. All you have to do is to write your CV with yearly gaps instead of giving the month and year. In this way, when you mention only the years it will not be visible that there is a gap of a few months in between. If the gap indicates the time period you took for having a child, then it is good to tell them so, without any qualms. Be ready however, to be asked whether you plan to have any more babies ( so they could judge whether you will drop out again in the near future) - answer truthfully - 'not in the near future' or better still, 'not anymore'.

The point is that you have to assuage the fears of the employer that you may not be dependable. They will be worried to see the unexplained gaps because they would picture you as an unreliable person. Hence, it is best to explain the gap in as simple and realistic situation as possible, which in all probability will not recur in the future.

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