Most of us will have to produce a CV two or three times in our professional lifetime.

If your ambition is to compete for the best positions and approach companies speculatively, even those who are not currently recruiting, then you have to produce a winning document.

This life story represents your responsibilities, demonstrates your achievements and potentially answers the "buying motives" of the company you have sent it to, in a clear, simple and thorough way.

Your CV should be a living document. It should be updated as, and when, you are promoted or you have a new responsibility/achievement to write about and be reviewed at least twice a year.

As headhunters we receive hundreds of CV's throughout the year. Some we ask for and some arrive speculatively, but 95% of them all share the same common faults.

Our general principle when helping candidates with their CV is that you end up with a template from which you can produce your own CV. The template can be used to create an individual CV for each and every application you make but ensure the general content is solid, factual and above all TRUE.

It is true to say that you will never get a new job without first meeting your prospective employer. That will inevitably mean at least one, probably two or even three interviews. Each one of these will be different.

We aim to approach interviews and meetings from a position of strength. Follow our 'golden rules':

• Arrive on time or early - NEVER late.
• Greet the interviewer with a smile and a firm handshake.
• Do not relax in the interview - especially if the interviewer suggests you do so. One of the main reasons for failing interviews is to mimic the interviewers body language.
• Look the interviewer(s) in the eye at all times.
• Avoid answering questions with a "yes" or "no" answer. Always relate your experience to the question being asked
• Don't lie, always answer truthfully and frankly
• Avoid discussing political or religious subjects

Always remember that the reason for an interview is that the client wants to recruit someone to fill in their organisation not because they want to embarrass you.

Be warned however - complacency and a lack of attention to detail will cost you the opportunity. No one can afford to do it off the cuff.

Try to be open-minded if you receive a call from a head hunter.

Developing long term relationships with headhunters will help you. We are in a perfect position to monitor and advise on your career and its long term development. We can help each other and you will reach your career goals faster than you would on your own.

A headhunter should only contact you as part of a search assignment that they are conducting. These assignments are by their nature looking for the difficult-to-find candidates, and would normally happen as a result of :-

• Failed advertised campaigns
• Extreme urgency, generally caused by a critical resignation
• A need for discretion, either to avoid any bad publicity or to protect expansion plans and new market direction
• Insufficient or non-existent HR resource
• A desire to cover all possible recruitment options

If contacted by any headhunter our advice to you is :-

• Listen and take full contact details
• Arrange a telephone appointment at a mutually convenient time
• Pre-plan your questions
• Allow yourself at least 24 hours to think about the proposition
• If you follow it up then ensure that you follow the agreed time scales and you maintain contact with the consultant.