Almost half of recruitment professionals say that 50% of all the CVs they receive contain grammatical errors, according to a survey out by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation.

The survey found that the worst offenders were in the 21-25 year old age group. Men are much worse than women, with seven out of 10 recruiters surveyed saying that a CV from a man is more likely to contain errors.

It found Candidates looking for secretarial and clerical roles are most likely to include mistakes according to 27% of respondents.

Marcia Roberts, chief executive at the REC, says: “Feedback from our members reveals that they are having to spend more time with candidates to make sure their CVs are up to scratch. It’s frustrating that from the outset, candidates are not doing themselves any favours in preparation towards securing that crucial first interview.”