There’s nothing more disappointing than putting your heart and soul into your CV and not getting invited for an interview.

Opening up and email or letter saying you’ve not been successful can get to the best of us and lead us to question why we didn’t get through to the interview stage.

Instead of being disheartened and losing confidence, take an objective look at possible reasons why you didn’t get selected for an interview and make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes in the future.

Your CV’s too long
It’s all too tempting to try and cram in every little achievement or skill you have into your CV, but try to remember that the person who’ll be reading your CV only has a limited time to spend on each application.

Make each line count and remove any unnecessary text or items that don’t directly relate to the role you’re applying for. This will make your relevant skills and experience easier for the reader to pick out and make your application easier to digest.

Your CV’s too generic
If your applying for several jobs at the same time, chances are that you’ve taken a generic approach to your skills and experience. What employers are looking for when they pick up your CV is evidence that you’re a good fit for the role and have the skills and experience that directly relates to the position they’re looking to fill.

If you’re not specific enough, then it’s likely that your CV will find its way to the bottom of the pile. A good tip to ensuring that your CV directly applies to the role is to take a look at the job description and mark off each required element once you’ve briefly discussed it on your CV.

Although this is a little more time consuming, it really shows the employer that you’ve taken the time and effort to prepare your CV and that you have everything they’re looking for.

Formatting and mistakes
With spell checker and a wide range of freely available CV templates, there really is not excuse for poor formatting or errors in any CV. Take the time to make sure that your CV is easy to read, properly spell checked and that each sentence and paragraph make perfect sense.

Attention to detail is crucial for almost all jobs, so you need to make sure that your CV shows you’re able to provide well written and accurate information.

If you’d like a professional recruitment consultant to give your CV the once over and provide expert tips and getting that next interview, then register for our free CV Surgery! Click here to find out more.