CV Writing Guide - How to write a perfect CV?

Leave your cover letter until last. Begin your CV with the basic information (name, date of birth, contact address, telephone number). If you want to include school qualifications at this stage, be brief and, remember, nobody except your parents cares which primary school you attended a decade ago. Next, deal with your vocational training - which drama school you attended (if you've reached this stage), which courses you studied, plus what skills you have acquired.

Get to your work experience as soon as possible. Start at the present day and work backwards. After all, if you are applying for the post of front of house manager, your work in theatre administration last year is going to count for more than your first Saturday job in 1992. But you must be prepared to adapt your material for each application. The first job you mention must be clearly relevant to the one you are seeking, so you need to outline the similarities between the two and not leave the task to your potential employer.

In addition to listing what was involved in each post, you also need to make it clear how you personally made a difference in the job. If you were responsible for your theatre group or entertainment agency branching out into new areas, say so.

Actors face a particular problem with their shorter periods of employment. This can leave applications looking like little more than extended lists, in which performing work is interspersed with seemingly irrelevant jobs which merit only a single line. If that is the case, then organise the CV in themes. For example, group together your performing work, other work in the industry (theatre admin, entertainment agency, etc), then those jobs which obviously draw on your experience as an artist (demonstrating, telesales).

Then you should include a separate section on any skills not previously mentioned, such as horse riding, HGV licence, etc. Also, a short list of your interests to demonstrate in a few lines that you have a life and a personality. Lastly, you need the names of two people (preferably ex-employers or if you are younger, teachers) who can provide a reliable reference.

Plain English works best every time. Long-winded jargon suggests you have something to hide. Always get someone else to proof-read your CV for mistakes and don't rely on spellcheckers which use American rather than British spellings.

Take the same approach with the lay-out. Use one font (Times is particularly good), don't underline every second word and keep italics and quote marks to a minimum or you will distract the reader.

An increasing number of CVs include so-called 'personality profiles' written in the third person ("Johnnie Walker is a highly intelligent, motivated self-starter and natural leader, etc"). Don't do this. Two good and reasonably objective referees provide the best endorsement, together with a good cover letter.

If you know the title of the person who will read your application, don't refer to them as "Dear Sir/Madam". That suggests you can't be bothered to find out who you should be addressing. And always use surnames, not first names. Explain why you want that particular job and why you are the ideal candidate. Again, brevity is the watchword. State your case in no more than a few short paragraphs on one sheet of paper. Treat the letter like a script and cut out the repetition.

Of course, a good application does not ensure you an interview or audition, let alone the job itself. However, it does boost your chances considerably of getting that face to face encounter and leaving 90 per cent of the competition behind.