Your CV is your marketing tool to that next role and as such needs to contain a good deal of information about you and your career experience – but are you giving too much away? I have addressed the necessity to leave out information such as date of birth due to identity fraud previously. But there are other pieces of information you should also ensure you are not putting in your CV such as:

1. References – most employers want to perform a reference check, however, this should only really be performed once you have begun the interview process and in an ideal world once you have been offered the role. By providing the contact details and names of your referees on your CV you are leaving yourself open to hiring managers contacting your current employer (who may or may not know you are looking to move on) and also leaving your referees open to unsolicited calls from recruiters who are looking for their next lead. Not only are you assisting unprofessional and unscrupulous recruiters in potentially gaining new work, you are also allowing your referees to be pestered. Not ideal when you are wanting them to provide a good reference for you later on down the line. It is perfectly acceptable to state; “references available on request” on your CV – it also frees up space on your CV for you to add more detail about yourself.
2. Have you ever checked the properties of your document? If you have utilised a CV template or had a professional CV writer work on your CV then it may well have their name in the properties. I have also seen company names in the properties which may not be creating the right impression if you have been updating your CV in your current workplace – a potential employer may not be too impressed to see how you spend your working day looking for another role and utilising their licences, time etc. to do so.

When putting together your CV you should treat it with as much care as you would a report for senior management – after all, at some point it is exactly that level who will be reading your CV. Take care and time to ensure you get it right the first time as first impressions last.

For advice on creating a professional CV get in touch: www.thecvrighter.co.uk