With the popularity of Facebook and LinkedIn, the curriculum vitae might seem an anachronism. However, the proliferation of recruitment websites and online business networks means your CV may be widely available already. Potential employers could even be reading it even if you are not looking for a job. That, and the relative brevity and insecurity of modern jobs, means your CV has to work harder than ever.

It's just my career history in reverse order isn't it?

Not any more. CVs have become much more about where you are going and what you have to offer than where you have come from. “It needs to be a shop window on who you are and show people what you have to offer,” says James Phillips, a senior consultant at The Fuller CV, a CV-writing service.