David Wilson investigates which key qualities impress hirers most.

Your suit is pressed, your sharp shoes gleam and your CV is just right, you reckon. Nonetheless, to your despair, you fail to land the job. Why?

Try to absorb all the job search advice splashed over the web and you may become a neurotic wreck incapable even of performing a handshake, which is trickier than you think -- technically, your thumb should be pointed directly at the ceiling.

Relax and discover the vital secrets of producing a killer CV and acing that interview. Also learn about recruitment professionals' bugbears -- the key turn-offs that derail applicants. The tips tap the wisdom of executive recruiter Bruce Hurwitz and strategist Barry Maher.
 
10 hot tips to win a hirer's heart

1. When applying for a job, address the hirer by first name or title (Mr or Dr, say). Because it looks clunky and fuzzy, avoid the standard ''Dear Sir or Madam'' address.
Clearly state the position for which you are applying. And never dream of using a form letter. Some candidates slackly send out template cover letters containing gaps, as in ''I wish to apply for the advertised role of —————————''. Lame.
 
2. Don't insult the hirer's intelligence by singing your praises. Offer facts instead of superlatives. Nobody is ''the best''. Saying that you had ''unprecedented success'' or ''exceeded all goals'' means nothing and may do your candidacy irreparable harm because nobody likes a braggart. Across the board, recruiters say that they despise empty boasts.
 
3. Avoid spelling mistakes, typos, and dud grammar at all costs because, again, recruiters hate this. Remember that your CV is your ID. Slip-ups make you look sloppy and guarantee that your effort will hit the trash in a flash, however impressive the credentials that you painstakingly earned. Given the availability of digital grammar checkers and spellcheckers, there is no excuse for lousy proofing. Still, recruiters complain that they routinely receive slipshod CVs.
 
4. Keep your CV snappy: no more than two pages. If you cannot explain what you offer in that space, the overshoot suggests that you are incapable of thinking succinctly.
What's more, a long list of jobs suggests a feckless lack of focus -- the inclination to resign on a whim. Instead of entering life story mode and waffling about every job you have held, showcase recent accomplishments. Recruiters only care about your last five to 10 years. When describing what your select list of jobs involved, rather than dwelling on copious specifics, pick highlights. Less is more.
 
5. Understand the company's problems. To grasp the big picture, learn as much as possible about the firm in your sights and the hurdles it faces. To understand the ''small picture'', learn as much as possible about the issues which your future immediate superiors face -- in particular the issues you will need to address once hired. If in a convincing way you can show how you would successfully attack the issues, you are well on your way to landing the job. Just do not claim that you know how to solve every woe. Acting like an oracle only makes you look nave.
 
6. Be flexible and available for interview at a moment's notice. Dress smartly but simply and ensure that you arrive at the meeting early, without overdoing it -- being half an hour early creates pressure and suggests that you think the interviewer has downtime to burn.
 
7. Show a keen interest in the company, the position and the people -- including the interviewer. Ask informed, intelligent questions. Displaying curiosity shows that you are keen to learn, and raises the interviewer's opinion of you. Nothing is so persuasive or flattering as listening. Likewise, nothing is more likely to kill your candidacy than the reverse: droning on.
 
8. Answer questions succinctly and directly, but never badmouth your previous boss. The lapse will suggest that you might bag future ones, too.
 
9. Shake hands firmly and thank the interviewer for inviting you. Then supply any requested information sooner than expected. Look ''switched-on''.
 
10. When writing an interview thank-you note -- especially an e-mail one that you may be inclined to dash off -- revise carefully. How well you communicate on the page or the screen shapes the reader's view of your intelligence. Eleventh hour typos and the like can sabotage the effect of your polished CV, even cause you to forfeit a job offer. So be a detail freak: pore over every word three times.