Most job candidates fail to make an impact, and most CVs fail to open doors. A recruiter friend told me that of the six candidates he interviews a day, he can rarely remember more than two by the time he drives home. Being remembered isn’t a chance event. It’s something you need to organise from day one of your job search.

To persuade unadvertised roles to float in your direction, it’s vital you manage the things people say about you when you are not in the room. Ask yourself which two or three items of information emerge when your name crops up in conversation.

We’re not talking about novelty or gimmicks here, but about simple things such as strong examples, clarity, originality, unusual connections or backgrounds and, most of all, the right kind of energy. You may not have the right track record yet, but your enthusiasm for a new sector is often enough to get you remembered.

How much of your CV is chopped up job descriptions and how much is about you? Review what you say in a social context when somebody says “tell us about you”. How long does it take to get your message across? Look at the first 30 words of your CV – do they match your verbal summary?

Think carefully about any documents you send out and entries on social networking sites. Are you being pigeon-holed in a way that drags you back?

Look for face-to-face encounters. An email can be ignored or forgotten in five minutes, and we can forget a telephone call in an hour or two. A good meeting, ideally followed up with a thank-you note, can be remembered for six months. You do the maths.