CV mistakes that cost you interviews

• A career objective instead of a profile. "To work in a challenging environment..." says nothing. Write what you've done and what you want.
• Duties instead of achievements. "Responsible for sales" becomes "Delivered 112% of sales target across 160 outlets".
• Personal details nobody needs: age, religion, marital status, state of origin, LGA, next of kin.
• One CV for every job. Tailor the profile and the order of your bullets for each application.
• Unexplained gaps. A short honest line ("Career break: caring for a family member", "Full-time professional exams") is better than silence.
• Exaggerated or invented claims. Recruiters check references and ask detailed questions.

• Four or five pages. One page for graduates, two for most others.
• Photos, graphics and skill bars that screening software can't read.
• Hard-to-read fonts, tiny text or too many colours.
• Sending a Word file that opens with broken formatting. Use PDF.

• A file called "CV.pdf" or "New Document (3).pdf". Use "Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf".
• An email with no message, or one that says only "Please find attached". Write two or three lines about the role and why you fit.

Before you send, read your CV aloud once, check the company name and job title in your email, and open the PDF on your phone to make sure it looks right.