Top tips and advice on how to write a CV.

Looking to land your dream job but not sure if your CV is up to scratch? Knowing what to write in a CV to ensure it gets you an interview can be tough. But with the right information and advice at your fingertips, there's nothing to stop you from creating one that stands out from the crowd.

Read our CV writing tips below and learn how to compose a CV that excels. Visit our CV hub and download professional-quality, industry-specific CVs and cover letters – plus, get guidance on grabbing the attention of busy hiring managers. Lastly, to have your finalised CV matched to fresh job opportunities, submit it today.

Your CV (curriculum vitae, also known as a resume) is a means to market your skills and experience to employers and hiring managers.

It features your professional history, education, achievements, and skills – anything that will sell you as the candidate of choice.

A CV will often be accompanied by a formal application form, as well as a cover letter that aims to persuade the employer to give you an interview – learn how to write a cover letter here.

CVs can follow a wide range of structures depending on the industry, role, seniority and so forth, with the main difference being whether they are chronological or skills based. That said, there are some common sections everyone tends to write in their CV, detailed below.

Personal details

The most common thing to write in your CV is your personal information – your name, title, location, phone number and email address. Some people will also include a link to their LinkedIn profile, or if relevant, other social media profiles. 2019 research from ResumeGo found that listing a LinkedIn profile boosted the chances of a call-back by 71%.

This information is crucial and should be placed at the top of the CV, with your name forming the title of the document. If it’s not present, the hiring manager will instantly move on to the next CV; understandably, as they’ll have no idea who you are or how to contact you!
personal statement

Your personal statement comes next. Unsure what to write? Well, this is a brief paragraph of text that sets out who you are as a professional and why you deserve to be hired.

Also known as a personal profile, this section should only be a few lines and sentences long, noting what you do, what you can offer and what your broad career aims are.

Succinctness is key when writing your personal statement, so take some time to ensure every word is working its hardest.
employment history, skills and experience

The largest section of your CV should focus on your past roles, detailing what they were, the experiences they involved and the skills you developed.

List each employer in reverse chronological order, limited to the last decade, and omit roles that are completely irrelevant to the job you’re applying for.

If you’re unsure what to write in your CV, start by including the roles you had at that employer and the dates you were in each role. Under each job title, use a bulleted list to note down what your achievements, responsibilities and skills used were. Make sure to link each bullet with a point in the job description to keep things as relevant as possible.

A good CV writing tip is to avoid using personal pronouns (I, me, we, etc.) and instead start each line with an action verb (developed, analysed, designed, etc.). One study showed that beginning sentences with action verbs boosted the chances of securing an interview by 140%.

The same research found that adding in your key skills can boost your interview chances by up to 59%. That’s because adding in keywords related to skills will signpost your abilities to the reader as well as optimise your CV to Applicant Tracking Systems uses by businesses. These scan your CV for role-specific keywords to screen, score and rank against others.

A 2021 analysis of over 125,000 CVs by ResyMatch.io found that, on average, candidates only include 60% of the hard skills listed on the job description and just 28% of the soft skills. This underscores the benefit of tailoring your CV to each job description you apply for.

It’s also important to describe the tangible outcomes of your work when detailing your employment experiences.

Instead of simply writing that you conducted a project, note the uplift in sales, engagement or another key performance indicator metric. This allows the assessor to get a true grasp of your successes. ResyMatch’s data found only 26% of CVs included five or more of these metrics and 36% had none whatsoever.
education and qualifications

A shorter section, your education and qualifications should be listed in reverse chronological order. Note the name of the institution, the date range in which you studied there and what you studied. Next to each qualification, list your grade.

If you studied certain modules, projects or assignments that are particularly relevant to the role, consider listing these indented within the main qualification.

This section is also a good place to list any professional certifications or licences you have obtained too.
what else can you write in your CV?
There are plenty of other things you can write in your CV, depending on the role requirements:
- Languages – Even if the job doesn’t require proficiency in a foreign language, listing languages you have knowledge of, and your level of fluency, can set you apart from other applicants.
- Publications – If you've been published in academic periodicals, industry journals or authoritative publications, be sure to reference these, particularly if the role has close links to academia or is media-facing.
- Software proficiencies – If the role requires you to know a certain type of software, such as in coding or design, make sure to list these.
- Conference participation – Noting relevant conference attendance can be a valuable display of your industry knowledge.
- Interests and hobbies – If they're highly relevant to the industry or role, feel free to add any interests you have outside of work.
how to format your CV

CV formatting depends on several factors, including the type of CV and the role.

Generally, two pages is a good length. According to Zety’s 2019 analysis of 133,000 CVs, a two-page CV meant managers were 2.9x more likely to get a response than single-page CV submitters. Entry-level workers were 1.4x more likely.

Write your CV in a simple black font such as Arial. And use clear formatting, such as emboldened headers and orderly spacing to make your CV easy to digest.

To learn more about CV formatting, visit our CV hub to download different examples.