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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Alison White

Live Q&A: CV and covering letter clinic

 Pupils collect their GCSE results at Morpeth school in Bow, east London
Should you include your GCSE results? Ask our experts about making the most of your CV. Photograph: David Levene

Who saw the news this week about the unprecedented demand for BT's apprenticeship scheme?

For those who missed it — BT had nearly 24,000 applications for the 221 places on the scheme — or to put in in even more impressive terms there were more than 100 applications for each available position.

Although BT is considering extending the scheme to accommodate more of these keen hopefuls, the story highlights just how important it is to stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs as the competition gets ever tougher.

Key to this is a good CV and covering letter — and our experts are constantly keen to press home how important it is to look good on paper in order to catch an employer's eye.

Distinguishing yourself from the rest means giving employers a reason to meet you, says Rowan Manahan, author of The Ultimate CV — he urged job hunters to consider what three things would identify you as worth interviewing out of a large pile of CVs.

And even your choice of words can be key to making sure your CV survives an initial screening — our very own JobsGoddess Clare Whitmell recently wrote on a Guardian Careers blog how it's not just what you say, but how you say it which makes a difference.

So to ensure your CV will shine out of a tower of applications — whether you are starting a CV from scratch, rewriting one in order to change career or just keen to improve your previous draft — our experts will be on hand with tips and techniques to help you.

Join them at 1pm on 25 August.

Steve Szita is director of Dazzling CVs, a professional CV writing service with a commitment to striking and unique CVs and covering letters. Steve offers regular CV tips and advice on Twitter via @dazzlingcvs

Elizabeth Bacchus is a career coach, change management consultant and founder of The Successful CV Company, providing interview winning CVs, cover letters and career coaching to clients at all stages of their careers.

Clare Whitmell is a qualified business communication trainer who specialises in writing and presentation skills coaching. She also blogs CV writing and job hunting tips on JobMarketSuccess.com.

Michael Buchan is content and solutions director for MyWorkSearch — a resource website for job seekers. After spending more than 20 years in the HR industry, Michael is responsible for all of the career development and webinars content on MyWorkSearch.co.uk, covering all aspects of job hunting.

Scott Davidson is the marketing manager for MyJobGroup.co.uk — a UK network of regional job sites. Having been in the post for for more than five years, Scott has a wealth of experience in online recruitment.

Rowan Manahan is founder of career management consultancy Fortify Services and author of The Ultimate CV.

Ravi Soni is a careers coach for Next Step, the adult careers service.

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