I hope we can all help
Much good advice above, the most important being to get as much help as you can - don't just sweat it out on your own - there is a lot of wisdom out there which you can usually tap into for the price of a pint or two. If your CV works it will get you an interview; as mine did when I applied for my first job after retiring from the RAF. The rest of this post doesn't include advice just shared experience.
The position was advertised as "Project Manager", it was based in a large NHS hospital within walking distance of my home and when I read the job description I thought "I could eat that". The pay wasn't much but I didn't need much and I felt it would be a really pleasant "quality of life" job to take me into my dotage.
So I went bxlls out to prepare for the interview - I even produced 3 pamphlets (The interview boards in the NHS usually include a clinical person, an HR person and a union rep) with professional graphics showing how I would approach the project. I handed these to the interviewers and they seemed impressed, we talked at length and it seemed to go swimmingly.
The next day I received an e-mail informing me I hadn't got the job and (as usual) thanking me for attending the interview. I was mildly surprised and so I called the HR director (one small bit of advice: if you get turned down - ask why) and asked why I hadn't been selected. She replied "Mr SOSL we were all very impressed with your interview but we felt that you would become bored with the job within 6 months and you would probably resign, which would involve us in a another recruitment process with the associated costs.
They didn't want a project manager; they wanted a "policeman" to make sure things were being done but I hadn't NB'd that.
The lesson is - try to find out exactly what the employer wants, not just what they say they want. Bit of an unanswerable question really!
Since then I have worked for myself - easier to get through the interviews!