The employment market is tough at the moment and to be successful when applying for jobs you need to make your CV stand out from the crowd.

Below are our top 10 tips to help your CV stand out from the crowd:

1. Spelling. CV's are often rejected due to spelling or grammatical errors. To avoid this use spell and grammar check and get someone to proof read your CV for you before you send it.

2. Gaps. You may have gaps in your work experience where you were not working, explain these gaps and detail the skills gained during this time.

3. Length. A speculative CV should be a maximum of 2 sides of A4. Keep it short and snappy. Give enough information to gain the recruiters interest but avoid information over load.

4. Language. Keep it positive and enthusiastic, focus on your skills, strengths.

5. Target your CV to the job for which you are applying. This is not cheating. If you are applying for a specific job with specific requirements and skills, make sure your CV demonstrates how you meet these.

6. Structure. Have a clear structure, this will make it easy for recruiters to read. Do not be afraid of white space – a crowded page is harder to read. Have separate sections for 'Employment History' and 'Education' and list this in chronological order, with the most recent at the top.

7. Employment History. Keep it simple, give more details on the most recent and / or more relevant role, so you can demonstrate how you meet the requirements. They do not need to know full details of your job 15 years ago, unless it is particularly relevant; dates, position, employer and location should be sufficient.

8. Sell yourself. Remember your CV is your marketing tool, so make the best use of it, if you have precise skills, detail these under a section titled 'Skills', if you have significant achievements which are relevant to the job you are applying for detail these under 'Achievements'.

9. Covering letter. This is really important, it is your opportunity to gain their interest to read your CV. So set out why you are writing, what you can bring to them, how you are suitable for the job and why you are interested in working for them.

10. Proof read. When you have done all of the above and are happy with your CV proof read it and get someone else to proof read it to make sure there are no errors and that it reads well.