Your CV is a very important document; Of course, with it rest your hopes and dreams for that special Scuba diving job, first role as a diving instructor or Dive Centre Internship which will lead you to a career in diving. Even if you are already a seasoned Diving Instructor or experienced Diving professional in search of a better position, change of location, more money, new challenges, your CV has to reflect the very best you have to offer …..you do not want to miss out on that 'perfect' dive job.

These days, dive centres receive a lot of CVs for each advertised position - jobs advertised on the web can often attract hundreds of applicants. So your CV has to be just that little bit special to stand out if you want to be noticed and obtain interviews. The good news (for you) is that most people do not know how to write a CV and only spend a short time preparing , even though this is such a key document. The CV is the way you make a first impression on, and represent yourself to, someone who could be instrumental in helping you achieve your future aims and objectives.

There are lots of resources which can help you with the construction, content and relevance of your CV.......for example, try CV Masterclass Do some research up front and help yourself to make the best of your chances.

Of course, your CV can continue to work in your favour even after it has obtained an interview for you. It can help you at an interview by carefully focusing the interviewer's mind on your good points and on your achievements. Once you have left the interview it may continue to work in your favour, as the interviewer will probably re-read it before making a decision, either on who should be invited to the second interview stage or who the job should immediately be offered to.

When it comes to salary negotiations a well written CV can actually help. If your CV conveys your full worth you are more likely to get a higher salary offer than you might with a poorer CV. So do not skimp on the time you spend on creating a CV - it will probably be a false economy.

Research the company you are applying to work with and make sure you know their type of operation and customers. Not all dive centres want the carefree hippy look and image (although some do) for their staff. Many diving operations actually cater for sophisticated image and quality conscious couples and families who expect the dive centre staff to reflect their expectations in terms of appearance, behaviour and levels of service. Diving demographics these days are across such a broad spectrum that most of the old stereotypes no longer apply. This may mean that you, as a diving professional, are either dealing with clients substantially older than yourself or that you are in a position of great trust with divers of a very tender age, you need to show you are versatile and capable of these demands.

Location and regional differences should also be taken into account, a dive centre on a remote Caribbean island may have far different requirements to a Dive centre in a busy tourist resort in Europe.

Most dive centres obtain their business from multiple sources and have varied clientele. The client who actually goes out diving or attends a course is just one type of “customer”.Most dive centres will have contracts with various hotels, tour operators and holiday companies - these people too are customers and it’s important to understand these relationships. Attributes which could help in these areas of the business are also very valuable to a potential employer, sales, marketing and “soft” people skills should therefore be included in your CV and supported with good information and evidence.

We would always recommend that a photograph be included with your CV .…..and not just any old snapshot either! Take care, a picture says a thousand words and bad picture is a thousand bad words.

If you can’t find a decent photograph then have one taken for the purpose, with today’s technology there is no excuse for a bad photograph. It does not necessarily have to be dive related either, as long as it is clear, you look clean, presentable and friendly then a basic head shot will suffice. Do not send shots where you are drinking, smoking or draped over someone else, or in “porn star” pose, as these clearly give a negative impression ( you would be surprised how many are received each year!). If you have facial piercings we would suggest you remove them for your photograph as you may not be aware of the policy or dress code of the prospective employer at the time of application and you can always consider your options and priorities later. Photographs should be easy to open ,view and print in a standard format such as PDF.

It goes without saying, but we will say it anyway, SPELL CHECK YOUR CV and also have it proof read by someone else........in addition, if you are including multi lingual copies try to have them checked by a native speaker, especially if the language in question is a key job requirement.

Don’t Lie! If you can teach in Mandarin then by all means say so, but if you can only mutter a few words or are merely a keen learner who picks things up quickly be up front about it, in reality that may be all that is needed, but don’t say you can teach in a language if you can't.It's the same rule for all other skills, explain truthfully about your level, experience and ability though it is always valid, by all means, to stress your eagerness to learn and improve.