How to Write a CV That Gets You Noticed in 5 Easy Steps

How can I make my CV stand out to employers?

To make your CV stand out, focus on tailoring it to the job description by highlighting relevant skills and experiences. Use clear formatting, bullet points, and action verbs for easy readability. Additionally, include quantifiable achievements that showcase your contributions, helping you capture employers’ attention effectively.

Key Highlights

• Structure your CV with essential sections like a header, professional summary, work experience, and a skills section.
• Detail your work experience using compelling bullet points that start with powerful action verbs to describe your achievements.
• Strategically insert keywords from the job description to pass through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
• Quantify your impact with numbers and metrics to provide concrete evidence of your value.
• Choose professional formatting with a clean layout and a standard font for readability.
• Customize your CV for every application to highlight your most relevant qualifications.

Introduction

In today’s job market, your curriculum vitae, or CV, along with a well-crafted cover letter, gets only a few seconds to show a recruiter that you are the best candidate for a specific job. If you just write down your job duties, your CV might not stand out. You want to get noticed, so your CV should be made in a way that shows what you can bring and matches the job you want. This guide will walk you through adding your contact information and pointing out your biggest achievements, so you can give yourself the best chance to land the job.

Understanding the Purpose of a CV in the UK Job Market

A CV, or curriculum vitae, is your main way to show yourself in the UK job market. You use it to share the most relevant information about your education and work history. It lets the employer quickly know what you have done.

Your CV should match what is asked for in the job description. It needs to show how your skills and experiences fit with what the company wants. If you write your CV well, it helps the recruiter see that you have the qualifications for the job and might be good to interview. The CV works as the bridge between what you offer and what the job needs.

Key Differences Between a CV and a Resume

While the terms “CV” and “resume” are often used interchangeably in the UK and Europe, there are key distinctions, especially in American and academic contexts. For most professional jobs, the document you create is a 1-2 page summary of your relevant skills and qualifications, much like a standard resume. However, a traditional academic CV is a much longer, more detailed document.

Understanding the different types of resumes and CVs helps you choose the right format. An academic CV is a comprehensive record of your entire career, including publications, grants, and research, and can be many pages long. A standard professional CV is a concise, targeted document designed to secure an interview. It uses keywords to highlight specific qualifications for a particular role.

To clarify, here are the primary differences between the two documents:

Feature	Professional CV/Resume	Academic CV
Length	1-2 pages	3+ pages, no limit
Content	Tailored summary of relevant experience and skills	Comprehensive history of all academic and professional achievements
Purpose	To get an interview for a specific professional job	To apply for academic, research, or scientific positions

Why Employers Value a Well-Crafted CV

Employers get a lot of CVs for each job, and the right CV shows you care about your work and details. It helps recruiters see your key skills and qualifications fast. If your CV is clear and short, it can stand out to people who look at many CVs every day.

Your CV is not just a list of jobs in your work history. It is a story that shows your professional impact on the job. You should use action verbs and numbers to prove what you can do. For example, instead of putting “managed a team,” you could write, “led a team of 5 to increase sales by 15%.”

When you show what you could give to the company, the employer gets to see your results and value. A strong CV is more than just past tasks. It shares your potential for future success, so people may look at you as the right candidate for their role.

What You Need to Get Started with Your CV

Before you start to write your CV, it’s good to gather all the details you need first. If you have your personal details, work history, and education in one place, it will be much easier to write. You will also be less likely to miss any important parts.

This is about more than just job names. You will need to have the right dates, a list of what you did well at work, and contact information. When you get these documents and details ahead of time, you can make a CV that shows all of your experience. It also helps you be accurate and complete. Now, let’s look at what you need to collect for your CV.

Essential Information and Documents to Gather

To create a good CV, you should first gather all your work and school details. Keep this master list with you. You can use it to get the most relevant information for every application you send. Think of this as a list that holds your whole career history.

Keeping everything in one place can help you save time. It also helps you have the same details on all versions of your CV. Make sure your contact information is right. This means your phone number, work email, and your LinkedIn profile link should be current. It is smart to have a good online profile.

Here is a checklist of what to collect:

• Contact Information: Full name, phone number, work email, and your LinkedIn profile link.
• Work Experience: Job names, company names, places, and dates when you worked in each role.
• Achievements: Write down your best wins in every job, and give exact results if you can.
• Education: What degrees you got, where you got them from, and when.
• Certifications & Skills: Any professional certificates or licenses and a list of hard and soft skills you have.

Choosing the Right CV Format for Your Career Stage

The CV format you pick should show off your biggest strengths based on where you are in your job. The most common and accepted format is the reverse chronological order CV. This type lists your most recent work experience first. Recruiters like this style because it shows your career path clearly.

If you have gaps in your work history or are moving to a new job field, you might want to use a functional CV. This style puts more focus on your skills and not on your work history. But some recruiters can be unsure about this format, so only use it if you need to. For most people, even if you are just starting out, a chronological or combination format is the best and safest option.

Think about these choices when picking a CV format:

• Reverse-Chronological: Good for most people with steady work experience.
• Functional: Focuses on what you can do; can be helpful for career changers or people with big work gaps.
• Combination: Mixes both styles. It starts with a strong skills summary, then lists your work experience.

The Must-Have Sections in a Standout CV

Every strong CV needs to have some key sections that recruiters always look for. These sections help the reader follow what you have done, and make sure they see your best qualifications right away. A well-ordered CV helps employers see what you have to offer without any trouble.

The main sections you should have in your CV are your contact details, a short summary about yourself, your work experience, your education, and a skills section, along with additional sections. When you put these parts in the right order, you show a clear and full view of who you are as a worker. This is the best way to highlight your main achievements and what you are good at.

Crafting Your CV Header and Contact Details

Your CV header is the first thing that a recruiter will see. It needs to be clean, simple, and professional. Make it easy for others to read. Your header should have the contact information so the employer can get in touch with you. Use clear headers on this part and make your name this much larger than the other text. This way, your name will stand out.

Use a professional email address. The best option is something simple and basic like firstname.lastname@email.com. Do not use old or informal email providers for this part. You can also add a link to your LinkedIn profile. This lets employers see more about your background online.

Include these personal details in your CV header:

• Full Name: The font size should be between 18-24pt.
• Professional Email Address: Make sure it is up to date and professional.
• Phone Number: Add the main number others can reach you at.
• LinkedIn Profile URL: It’s good to use a custom URL that looks clean.

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Writing a Strong Personal Statement or Professional Summary

Your personal statement, also known as your professional summary, is your quick introduction. This short part at the top of your CV gives you the chance to grab the recruiter’s attention. Use it to show what makes you the best candidate for the job. Make sure your words match the job description and talk about your key skills and relevant experience.

Keep the summary around three to four sentences. Be clear and to the point about your value. Start with your current role and how many years of experience you have. Next, share two or three of your most relevant skills. Back this up with a strong achievement that has numbers or results, showing why you stand out.

To put together a strong professional summary, use these tips:

• Identify Yourself: Start by saying your professional title and how many years of experience you have.
• Highlight Key Skills: Point out two or three key skills that match what the job needs.
• Showcase an Achievement: Include a success you can count or measure.
• State Your Goal: Say what you want to do in this new role.

Adding your years of experience, your best key skills, and an achievement in this part helps others see that you fit the job description and could be the best candidate for the role. Your CV is your way in, so use this chance well.

How to Structure Work Experience and Achievements

The work experience section is at the heart of your cv. It’s where you show what you can do by giving real examples. List your jobs in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent job. This way, recruiters can see how your career has grown over time. In each job, talk more about what you achieved and not just about what your job duties were.

Use bullet points to make this part of your cv easy to read and quick to look through. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb. Action verbs show what you did and how you added value to your role. As said by Washington State University, use words like “optimized,” “launched,” or “transformed.” This is a better choice than words like “responsible for.” When you do this, you turn a plain list into a more interesting story showing the good work you have done.

Here is how you should write each job on your work experience part:

• Job Title, Company, Location, Dates: Put this at the top in a clear way.
• Use Action Verbs: Start every bullet point with one strong verb.
• Quantify Achievements: Use numbers and data to show what you did (for example, “Increased sales by 20%”).
• Focus on Results: Share the good outcomes from your work.
• Keep it Relevant: Write points that match the job you want to get.

Using this structure and focusing on your

Highlighting Education, Certifications, and Qualifications

Your education shows your qualifications and plays a big part in your CV. The things you add here will depend on your work experience. If you are fresh out of school, put the education section before your work experience. You should give more detail about your studies, like the coursework that matters or any honors you got.

If you have been working for some time, it is best to keep this part simple. You can just name your degree, the university, and when you finished, like “Bachelor of Arts in Economics” and where you studied. You might also want to include certifications and extra qualifications the job needs in this section.

Here’s how you can list your education and certifications:

• Degree and University: Put your highest degree first.
• Graduation Date: You should note the month and year or just the year.
• Relevant Certifications: Add any certifications from your field. Say where you got it and when.
• Placement: Put this section after your work experience unless you are new to the field.

Showcasing Skills: Hard, Soft, and Transferable

Your skills section gives a short view of what you can do. You should only list your most important abilities here and leave out skills that are not as fitting. Pay special attention to hard skills. This includes things like using certain software or knowing technical things for the job. These are easy for recruiters to check and they help when sorting job applications.

You should not forget your soft skills. Things like talking well with people or leading are important no matter what you do. Try to balance your skills. Look at the job description and match your list to what it says you need. If you are switching jobs or fields, add key skills that can be used anywhere. This will show you can take your skills from one role to another.

To make your skills section stand out, try these ideas:

• Categorize Your Skills: Put your skills into groups. You can use headings like “Technical Skills” or “Languages.”
• Be Specific: Write the exact skills you have. If you know Microsoft Office, name what you are good at, like “Advanced Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP).”
• Prioritize Hard Skills: Write your hard skills and software know-how first.
• Include a Mix: Show you have a mix of hard skills, soft skills, and key skills that work in any job.
• Match the Job Description: Pick your skills based on what the job role asks for.

These steps will help your skills section grab a recruit

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Write a CV That Gets You Noticed

Now that you have all the parts you need, it’s time to put your CV together. Use a clear and simple step-by-step plan. This will help you make a document that looks good, reads well, and works. It is not just about filling in each part. You want to make sure every section fits together in a smart way.

Change your content to fit each job. Use the right keywords from the job description. Make sure your CV will get through any automated systems that pick out good CVs. Focus on making strong bullet points. Add clear results with numbers if you can. Shape your work history to show why you are the best person for the job. This will help you get noticed and move one step closer to getting hired.

Step 1: Customise Your CV for Each Application

Sending out a generic CV is one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they look for a job. It is important to customise your CV for the specific job, so you can show the employer that you care about their company and have a real interest in the job. By tailoring your CV, you highlight the most relevant information that matches the job at hand.

You should start by reading the job description carefully. Look for the main requirements, key skills, and qualifications the company wants in an employee. Take note of these keywords. You will need to use them in your professional summary and also in the work experience section of your CV.

Customising does not mean you must create a whole new CV for every job. You just need to focus on smart customisation:

• Analyze the Job Description: Spot and write down the top 5-8 keywords and key skills from the listing.
• Update Your Professional Summary: Change your summary a bit to fit the company’s goals and what the role needs.
• Adjust Work Experience Bullet Points: Highlight your main achievements that match what the employer is looking for.
• Prioritize Skills: Move the most relevant skills to the top of your list, so they get seen first.

Step 2: Write Compelling Bullet Points Using Action Verbs

Your work experience should show what you have done, not just list what your job was every day. The best way to do this is to use strong bullet points with action verbs. These words help show you are active and get things done. They make what you did sound important.

For example, do not say something weak like “Responsible for social media strategy.” Instead, say “Managed 5 social media accounts by boosting follower engagement by 65%.” When you use good action verbs, you change basic tasks into real results. This shows how much your work helped the company.

To make strong bullet points, follow these steps:

• Start with an Action Verb: Use a word like “Led,” “Created,” or “Built” at the beginning of each point.
• Describe Your Action: Quickly explain what you did.
• State the Result: Share your outcome by giving numbers if you can.
• Focus on Impact: Tell how your work helped the group or the company.
• Keep it Concise: Make each point short and strong.

Bullet points, action verbs, and the right way to show your work experience will help you get noticed.

Step 3: Quantify Achievements and Impact Clearly

Numbers often show more than words alone. Adding numbers to your CV helps prove your skills and the results you bring. It is better to give real numbers than to use big, unclear statements. Recruiters like to see what you really did and what your work brought to the job. This is one way your CV can get noticed.

Go back and look at your work history. Try to find places where you can use numbers. Did you help with increasing sales on Facebook? Did you help cut costs, get work done faster, or get more people to follow a page or use a service? Tell how much, by using percentages, money saved or earned, or other clear numbers. Even if your job did not seem to be about data, you might still find ways to put numbers to the results you helped bring about. Think about it for a bit—you may find more than you expect.

Here are some ways you can add real numbers to your CV:

• Revenue and Sales: “Increased quarterly revenue by 15%.”
• Efficiency: “Reduced onboarding time by 30% by developing a new training program.”
• Scale: “Managed a budget of $50,000 and a team of five.”
• Customer Satisfaction: “Improved customer retention rates by 10%.”

You can use these same ideas to help show recruiters what you can do. Try to use some numbers next time you talk about your work history on your cv so you make it easy for

Step 4: Use Relevant Keywords for Applicant Tracking Systems

Many companies now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to look at CVs before a person does. These systems check for certain keywords and phrases to see if you are a good match for the job. If you want to get past this first step, you need to make sure your CV has the right keywords.

The best way to find the right keywords is to look at the job description. Read it carefully and see which key skills, qualifications, and work responsibilities are mentioned again and again. These are the words the ATS will look for. Try to fit these keywords naturally into your CV, especially in your professional summary, skills section, and work experience.

Follow these steps to make your CV better for the ATS:

• Review the Job Description: Make a list of the main skills and qualifications.
• Incorporate Keywords Naturally: Use these key skills and terms in your summary and bullet points.
• Use Standard Section Headers: Choose common headers for different parts, like “Work Experience” and “Skills.”
• Avoid Over-stuffing: Make sure your CV still reads well to any person who looks at it and do not just fill it up with keywords.

Step 5: Format for Clarity, Readability, and ATS Compatibility

The way you format your CV matters just as much as what you put in it. A simple and neat layout helps people read it easily. This makes a good first impression when recruiters see your CV. If your format is messy or hard to read, both the recruiters and computer systems may have problems with it. This can cause your CV to be ignored.

Pick a common font that is easy to see, such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Use a font size from 10 to 12 so it is not too small or too big. Make sure to leave enough white space by using margins between 0.5 and 1 inch. Add headers for each section so it is easy for people to find the information they need. Stay away from fancy templates, graphics, or pictures, since these may confuse computer programs that help recruiters look at your CV.

For the best template and formatting for ATS systems, follow the tips below:

• Use a Professional Font: Pick one like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.
• Ensure Ample White Space: Use clear margins and spacing to keep your CV easy to read.
• Save as PDF and Word: Save your CV as a PDF to keep your formatting. Also keep a copy as a .docx in case an online portal needs that.
• Avoid Fancy Graphics: Don’t use pictures, charts, or any hard-to-read templates. These can keep your CV from working with recruiters

Common CV Mistakes to Avoid in 2024

Even a strong candidate can get turned away if there are simple mistakes in their CV. Even small mistakes may show that you do not have good attention to detail, and that is a big problem for any employer. You need to avoid these mistakes so that your application gets the chance it deserves.

Using old information or making grammar errors can hurt all the hard work you put into your CV. When you know about these common problems with content and format, you can check your CV better before you send it in. This way, you will turn in a neat and professional CV that recruiters will notice.

Outdated Information and Irrelevant Content

One of the biggest mistakes people make on their CV is keeping old or not relevant information. Your CV should not be a long list of every job you have ever had. It needs to be like a marketing tool for you, built for each job you want. Try to show work experience from just the last 10-15 years, unless an older job is very important for this new role.

Go back and look at your CV. Remove anything that does not help you get this job. For example, take out old email addresses, hobbies that do not link to the work, or jobs from many years back that are not part of where you want to go next. Every part of your CV should help show that you be the right person for this job. Also, do not lie or put false things in your CV. If you do, it can get you in trouble with the law because of the Fraud Act 2006.

Here are some things you should take out or change:

• Irrelevant Work Experience: Do not list jobs from over 15 years ago, unless they directly help for this role.
• Outdated Contact Details: Make sure you have a new, smart email address for your CV.
• Unrelated Hobbies: Only talk about what you do in your time off if it shows you have skills or qualities that suit the job.
• Personal Information: Leave out your date of birth, if you are married, or your picture

Poor Formatting and Lack of Focus

Poor formatting can make your CV look messy and hard to read. If the layout is not clear or the information is crowded, recruiters might not find what they need. They may give up before seeing your qualifications. Clear and simple formatting helps your CV stand out.

Be sure to keep the formatting the same all through your document. Use the same font, font sizes, and spacing for headers, job titles, and dates. Do not use tiny margins or put too much text together, because that makes it tough to read. Use white space so your CV looks clean and well-organized. Always proofread to fix any spelling or grammar mistakes, as errors will turn employers away.

To keep your CV format professional, focus on these things:

• Consistency: Use the same font, font sizes, and spacing for similar items.
• Readability: Break text up with bullet points and clear headers.
• Proofreading: Look for spelling or grammar mistakes, and let someone else check it too.
• Simplicity: Do not choose templates that are too flashy or busy. Focus on making it clear and easy to read.

Conclusion

To sum up, writing a cv for the first time that gets noticed in this job market is very important if you want success. Knowing what the cv is for can help you show your skills, experiences, and qualifications in the right way for each job you want. When you use the guide given, you can work on making your cv better and show the most relevant parts about you. Stay away from basic mistakes and keep your cv clear, so it makes an impact and shows why you are right for the job. Your cv is the first thing the hiring managers see, so give it time and make sure it shows who you are as a professional. If you want help to move up in your career, you can reach out for a free meeting with our experts who will give you one-on-one advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should my CV be for jobs in the UK?

For most jobs in the UK, your cv should be one or two pages long. If you are a recent graduate or you have less than five years of experience, one page is enough. If you have more years of experience and there is more relevant information to share, a two-page cv works better.

How do I write a CV if I have little or no work experience?

If you do not have much work experience, make your CV about your education, any relevant skills, internships, and volunteer work. Show what you learned from school projects or other activities like sports or clubs. Use these to let employers see you have skills that can be used in their job.

How can I tailor my CV to specific job adverts?

To make your CV fit the job, look at the job description. Pick out the keywords and the relevant skills from it. Use these keywords in your work experience and in your summary at the top of your CV. This shows that you have what the employer is looking for. It lets them know you are a good match for this role.

What are the top formatting tips to make my CV stand out?

Use a clean and professional font, like Arial or Calibri. Have clear headers in the CV. Leave enough white space, so everything is easy to see. If you want to keep the format just like you made it, save your CV as a PDF. When you make your CV simple and clear, it looks better than a crowded one.