Mistake 1: Writing too much

"Length is the biggest problem, with most CVs often being a minimum of three pages. I once received a CV that was 11 pages long," says Purvi Seth, vice president of Shilputsi Consultants, a human resources development firm.

More often than not, literary aspirations come tend to the fore when one is writing a CV; people end up filling pages and pages of details. Those who can't find enough details to fill the pages write the same thing over and over again, in different styles, words and jargon.

A prospective employer faces two choices when he or she takes the first look at such a CV -- hit the delete button or hire a professional copyeditor to cut the chaff and find relevant matter.

BTW, even though copyeditors come cheap these days, employers prefer the former. So:

i. Keep it short; ideally, a CV should not go beyond two pages at most.

However, if your achievements are really great, one extra page is negotiable.

ii. Keep it sweet, i e relevant.

Anything more than that and your CV will make a beeline for the paper shredder.