This is why your CV is getting dinged

If you're one of the many (many) people who appear to be applying for jobs and sending in CVs that elicit no response at all, this article is for you. For, it may be that your CV is fatally flawed.

If your CV is dying before it's even lived, this is probably why:

1) It's too long

Someone will have to read your CV. They will probably be a recruiter with many similar CVs to go through. If your CV is of biblical proportions they won't bother.

"I've seen CV's that are 12 pages long," says Ray Baptiste, former head of recruitment at SocGen and managing director of coaching company Interview Master.

Most gurus of the CV world recommend no more than two pages. "It's about brevity and making sure that everything you include counts for something," says Janet Moran of the CV House. "You need to include your top achievements and a summary of your academic and professional qualifications."

"Anything more than two pages is too long," says Claire Crichton of RésuméRebrand. "And banks (especially US banks like Goldman Sachs) tend to prefer 1-pagers, even at graduate/entry level."

2) It doesn't look pretty

Your CV doesn't need to be printed on frilly pink paper; it does need to look neat and professional.

"If a CV is hard to read, or looks unprofessional, it will be rejected," says Crichton. "This can include typographical/spelling/grammatical errors, or distracting fonts."

3) It's stacked with random information

You may have achieved a grade A in Home Economics 25 years ago, but your CV need not reflect this. If you have been in the industry more than five years, you do not need to mention your GCSE results. Nor do you need to mention your time as a waitress in the Hard Rock Cafe.

4) It has the wrong contact details

Baptiste says he's seen CVs with no contact details at all. Another CV specialist says he has seen CVs with rude and inappropriate email addresses (ragingsl*t@gmail.com).

Neither will get you a job.

5) It's full of clichéd waffle

Are you a 'Highly motivated team player with a passion for financial services"? Or have you, "Organised the resources of the firm and taken on additional analytical responsibilities that developed your leadership potential"?

Don't even think about saying so on your CV.

"You need to be talking about some of the definitive skills that you have instead of using a bunch of buzzwords," says Baptiste.

6) It talks about responsibilities rather than achievements

What have you actually achieved while you've been working? What were the measurable outcomes?

"People tend to write about what they were supposed to do, instead of the measurable things they did that actually made a difference to the organisation," says Moran.

7) It doesn't put things into context

Don't assume that everyone reading your CV will know that Bank X has been having a hard time and you did incredibly well to bring in 2m of business in the past four years.

"In investment banking, people tend to think that everyone will be aware of the background to their CV, but this isn't necessarily the case," says Moran. "It's important to give contextual information - if you were working on a new desk, or were trying to retrieve a situation that was going wrong, say so."

8) It's economical with the truth

If you spent six months playing Modern Warfare, it is not advisable to paper over this by fudging the departure dates from your last job.

"The worst mistake you can make on your CV is to be dishonest or disingenuous," says Moran. "Even after you've been hired, companies will take an extremely dim view if they find you have lied."

If you've had time out of the market, it may help to refer to it as a 'career break.'

9) You do not have the right experience for the job

This is probably the real reason why you're being rejected out of hand.

If your CV doesn't match the experience required, there's not much you can do about it says Peter Harrison of Harrison Careers. However, he says you can help mitigate this with a good covering letter. "For example, you can explain why you want to move from sales to corporate finance - say you're studying the Certificate in Corporate Finance, that you've spoken to three bankers at Nomura, Deutsche and Goldman and that you're absolutely committed to building a new career in IBD."

10) You do not have the right academics for the job

It's sad but true that if you have a 2.2 and no banking experience, you will not get a job. Nor will you get a job if you have a BTEC in management studies.