No more than 2 pages.
Use the full width of the page.
Keep it simple with font/colours, nothing fancy ever.

Straight to the point, dont waffle.  That is what a covering letter is for thats your chance to sell yourself, the CV carries the details.

Example Layout

Personal Details (including contact details)
Education (You most advanced qualification at the very least)
Employment History
Skills & Experiance (Short Paragraph/Sentace)  
Memberships
Other Hobbies & Interests (Short, If Room)
References

Play around with the order.  But make the most of the 2 pages to show the best of you.

seems to get asked regularly

my tip is sort of obvious

if youve got lots of relevant experience then stick that first (after personal details) - if you havent then stick your educational stuff first and leave your mention of your part time tesco job while at uni to the second page as they really dont give a flying f**k about it

also dont bother with references on a CV they are a waste of space and completely pointless to include them

General Rules.

1. Dont shove Curriculum Vitae at the top as a title.
2. Dont include references!
3. Write a personal statement/profile/summary at the top of your CV after your personal information.
4. Education should be listed most recent first, with GCSEs condensed down to a set such that: "10 A - C grades, including Maths, English and Science" or similar.

5. Work experience in school doesnt count as work experience unless your 16 and its your first ever job. (one of the ones Ive done tonight is 36 and gave his schools work experience)

6. Only put most recent employer, plus 1 previous employer unless the 2nd previous employer would have extra relevance, or your 1st previous employment was incredibly short.

7. Dont write essays!

8. Dont put everything in bullet points - Explain what needs to be explained, relate skills to how they were acquired, be that in interests, employment history, or education.

9. Use the full width and height of a page (make margins smaller). No point in wasting it on whitespace if the aim is to get the most important stuff on the first page.

10. Dont split a section over a page.

It was one year.

back in 2000 - 2001.

Gaps can be explained in interviews, but putting a negative point on your CV is almost asking for a "So why did you quit uni?" negative question to be said.

Its better to let them see your positive points and skills, rather than offer them a negative point to start on.

You completely miss the point about references.

The reason its poor practice to put references on your CV is because of the fact you mention. It is inviting companies to contact those referees before your interview.

Its more sensible to be asked to supply them, this way you get to pick and choose amongst your various sources for a reference to suit the task. In addition its not brilliant if a job your applying for, contacts your current boss asking for a reference, if youve not even mentioned to your current employer your thinking of leaving.... is it now.

CV at the top of your CV is a waste of space.

Once again, a CV is intended to be concise and to the point, people reading CVs read the front page and scan for the important requirements for the job.... Having a heading in 18pt fonts saying "Curriculum Vitae" at the top with another double line break underneath, wastes paper with a pointless heading. Meaning that more important information could have been fitted onto the all important front page.

It also looks rubbish.

Why would you put your current job as a reference. :shock:

Because providing your leaving on amicable terms, then its rather good to have it listed. Means the employer can get an honest appraisal of your current work ethic.

I certainly would choose someone who has their current employer as a reference over someone who is still using their university tutor as a reference 6 years after leaving uni... makes me wonder why that person is not putting their current employer as a reference, if it was a person not happy with the job problem, then there would be no reason to hide it, but if it was a person pissed off his boss, then there would be, to which Id think "what happened?"

There are a good majority of companies that will check your references before they offer an interview.  Some never use them. Yes they are not essesntial if you dont have room, but they speed up the process if required and show you have references.

what complete rubbish - "shows you have references" - if youve listed any work experience or attended any educational establishment then that shows you have references. Putting references on a CV is about as logical as attaching original copies of all the educational certificates youve been awarded - they can read about your academic qualifications and work experience on your CV - they only need to verify it with proof when youve been offered the job.

as if some HR bod in a big firm is going to waste his time sending off emails or phoning up 2 references for each of the say 150 candidates they might invite to a 1st round interview

tis pointless firstly you dont know what sort of references they require and secondly some companies require a reference from your last employer which isnt going to be any good if youre still working there and havent told them youre thinking about moving

another point to consider - if you were correct in your assumption that the majority of companies require them before an interview (you are wrong but lets just assume youre right for the sake of argument) how do you think your referee would feel if you apply for say 6-7 positions and a recruitment consultant picks up your CV and forwards it to another 6 and your referees get e-mailed/phoned to provide a reference for you 12+ times in the space of a week.