A recent study by online CV service iProfile has revealed that candidates are being rejected before interview stage due to underselling' themselves on their CV. The study also showed that over 20% of employees could be missing out on the salary they deserve as they had submitted vague CVs, instead of detailing their specific achievements.

The survey, based on responses from 1,000 UK employees and 200 UK organisations, also showed that most CVs show little attention to detail - 71 per cent of applicants took two hours or less to write a CV and 79 per cent only write CVs when looking for a new role.

Karl Gregory, marketing director at iProfile, said: "32 per cent of workers could not recall useful achievements more than six months old, and 28 per cent could not remember achievements from more than 18 months ago. He advises applicants to add achievements as they happen so that your CV grows with you'".

He added that keeping track of professional training and qualifications was important so that "people can be in the strongest negotiating position possible when they apply for vacancies".

Information supplied by Anne Jagger Recruitment