Your CV
How to write a CV (or resume): a step-by-step guide
A good CV doesn’t take writing talent or fancy software: it takes order. Gather your information, fill in the sections in the right order, describe what you achieved rather than what you were supposed to do, then tailor it to the job you want.
Before you write: gather your information
Most weak CVs go wrong before the first line: written from memory, with a missing date or a vague description of a job you left years ago. Take a few minutes first to collect:
- Your jobs: exact title, employer, town or city, start and end month and year. An old contract or payslip helps with dates.
- Your qualifications: name, school or university, year, grade or specialism.
- Your achievements: what you improved, delivered or organised — and, where a number exists, one you could explain in an interview.
- Your tools and languages: software you have really used, your level in each language.
- A job advert you like: it tells you what to put first.
1. Contact details: the essentials only
At the top: your full name, phone number, a professional email address and where you live. Prospects, the UK graduate careers site, lists full name, home address, mobile number and email; your town or city is enough if you’d rather not share your address. A link to your LinkedIn profile or portfolio helps if it is up to date and relevant.
Leave the rest out. In the UK, Prospects says your date of birth is irrelevant and that you don’t need a photo unless you’re applying for acting or modelling work. In Canada, the government’s Job Bank advises leaving out age, marital status and similar personal details, and never including your Social Insurance Number.
2. A headline and a personal profile
Under your name, a short headline states the role you’re after: “Accounts Payable Clerk”, “Front-end Developer”, “Graduate Marketing Assistant”. Use the job advert’s wording when it matches what you do.
Then a personal profile of two or three lines: your field, your experience and one or two concrete strengths for this role. Skip the adjectives everyone uses (“hard-working”, “motivated”) — a fact does more.
Office administrator with six years in a manufacturing SME: invoicing, credit control and supplier order tracking. Looking for an accounts payable role, with an AAT Level 3 qualification completed through evening study in 2025.
3. Work experience: what you did, not your job description
List your jobs in reverse chronological order, most recent first. Prospects recommends it so the recruiter sees your latest work first, and MIT’s careers office says the same for US resumes. For each job: title, employer, location, dates, then a few bullet points on what you did there.
Start each bullet with an action verb and say what your work produced. MIT advises against the first person (“I”, “we”) and suggests quantifying results whenever possible. The XYZ formula helps: what you accomplished, measured by what, by doing what.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Responsible for invoicing | Invoiced 120 clients a month; set up a reminder process that cut late payments within a year. |
| In charge of communications | Redesigned the charity’s monthly newsletter and website, working with two volunteers. |
| Team leader | Managed five sales assistants: rotas, training for new starters and weekly target tracking. |
A number is only worth including if it is true and you can explain it. Older or unrelated jobs can take a single line; Job Bank suggests cutting or minimising experience more than 15 years old. A gap is best explained simply, see explaining a gap in your CV.
4. Education
List qualifications most recent first, with the name, institution and year. For a qualification from another country, add its local equivalent if you know it.
- With experience, education goes after work history and takes a few lines.
- Early in your career, it goes first, with modules, projects or placements related to the role: see CV with no experience.
- Short courses (certifications, online courses, licences) deserve a line if they support the role.
5. Skills, languages and interests
Your skills section lists what can be checked: software, methods, techniques of the trade. Reuse the advert’s keywords when you really have those skills, and show them in your work experience too, where you used them. Our skills by job pages give examples for several job families.
- Languages: a clear level for each, ideally on the CEFR scale (A1 to C2).
- Personal qualities (soft skills): only those an experience proves.
- Licences and certifications useful for the role, such as a driving licence.
- Interests: optional; keep the ones that say something (a sport at competition level, a volunteering role, a side project).
- References: Prospects says you don’t need to give referees’ names at this stage; MIT and Job Bank say they are requested separately.
6. Layout, length and file format
A plain layout reads better than a creative one: a readable font, standard section headings (“Work experience”, “Education”, “Skills”), regular margins and no text inside images. It is also what lets applicant tracking systems (ATS) read your CV properly.
- Length: Prospects recommends no more than two A4 pages in the UK; MIT says one or two pages for a US resume, and Job Bank two pages in Canada. One is enough early on. Country details are in how long should a CV be.
- Format: Prospects warns that not every ATS reads PDFs, so check which file format the employer asks for; otherwise a PDF keeps your layout intact. Give it a clear name: “Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf”.
- Consistency: the same date format everywhere, the same tense, no empty sections.
Our free CV builder follows exactly these steps: you fill in each section, a score shows what’s missing, and you download a clean PDF with no sign-up.
7. Tailor it to every job, then proofread
One CV sent everywhere rarely convinces. Prospects puts it plainly: everything you include must be relevant to the company and role. For each application, reread the advert and adjust your headline, profile, the order of your experience and the skills you highlight: see how to tailor your CV to a job. Our CV and job match checker shows what the advert asks for and what your CV already says.
Then proofread with fresh eyes, and, as Job Bank advises, have someone else read it too: typos, inconsistent dates and vague sentences stand out to another reader. Add a cover letter when the advert asks for one.
CV or resume: what changes by country
The sections are much the same everywhere; the habits around them change. Here is what the official sources at the bottom of the page say:
| Country | What changes |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Called a CV; no photo (except acting or modelling), no date of birth; two A4 pages at most; referees later. |
| United States | Called a resume; one or two pages; references usually requested separately. |
| Canada | Called a resume; no photo, no age or marital status, never your SIN; two pages at most; references on request. |
| Germany | Reverse chronological, two pages at most; a photo is still common; CV dated and signed; copies of certificates attached. |
| Spain | Two A4 pages at most; a photo is not essential; no copies of certificates unless asked. |
| Italy | The CV includes consent to the processing of personal data; no photo unless asked. |
In Europe, the Europass template offers a common format, but a CV in the local style, tailored to the job, stands out more.
Mistakes to avoid
- Inventing or inflating: a false title, qualification or figure comes out at interview or in reference checks.
- Listing duties instead of results: “responsible for…” says nothing about what you actually did.
- A cluttered layout: several columns, icons instead of headings, skill bars that mean nothing.
- An odd email address or a phone number nobody answers.
- Sending the same version everywhere, without rereading the advert.
Frequently asked questions
What sections should a CV have?
Contact details, a headline and personal profile, work experience, education, and skills and languages. Interests are optional. Early in your career, education comes before work experience.
Should I put a photo on my CV?
Not in the UK, the US or Canada: Prospects says you don’t need one unless you’re applying for acting or modelling work, and Job Bank says it is not the norm in Canada. Some countries, such as Germany, still commonly use one.
How long should a CV be?
One page early in your career, two at most with long experience. Prospects recommends no more than two A4 pages. A full, tailored page reads better than two stretched ones.
What is the difference between a CV and a resume?
In the UK, Ireland and much of Europe, “CV” is the usual word for the document you send with a job application. In the US and Canada it is called a resume, and “CV” usually means a longer academic document.
Should I send my CV as a PDF or Word file?
Check the advert first: Prospects notes that not every applicant tracking system reads PDFs. If nothing is specified, a PDF keeps your layout identical on every screen. Keep an editable version to tailor for each job.