The document provides a comprehensive guide to writing an effective CV that secures an interview. It recommends focusing the CV on the goal of getting an interview, adapting it to each job application by highlighting relevant qualifications and achievements, and using a clear and concise structure with bullet points and quantifiable achievements. Key tips include keeping the CV to 2 pages, using a simple font, tailoring the content to the job description, and proofreading carefully.

1. How to write a CV that earns you the interview
You want to write a CV that knocks spots off the competitionandsecures youan interview. Get setfor CV successwith
our comprehensive guide.
The principles of a knockoutCV?Simple.
Puttingthoseprinciples into practice? Not simple.
Selling yourself with just two pages of A4 is a challenge for anyone. Youhavea few shortsecondsto grabyour
recruiter’s attentionand the stakesare high. Butknowinghow to create a CV that really shows off yourskills will give
youthe best chance of bagging the interview youdeserve. Fret no more. Here’s our shortguide to CV success.
Keep a steely focus on your goal
Lots of people become frozen with fear when it comesto writing a CV. The task feels too big andscary: as if yournext
job - maybeeven an entire career - is riding on it. Relax. The goal of yourCV is to secure an interview. Nomore, no
less. Take one stepat a time andyou’reless likely tobecome overwhelmed by the recruitment process.
Put yourself in the reader’s shoes
Nobody wantstospendthe rest of their life reading CVs. That’swhy youonly have a few secondsto makeyourself
standout. The persondeciding whether toinvite youfor an interview mostlikely hasa towering pile of CVs to tackle.
Maybethey’retired or perhapsthey’reaboutto go onholiday and havea million jobsto complete before hittingthe
airport. Make the reader’slife as simple as youcan.
Try to zero in on whatthe recruiter wants to see. Makeit obviousfromthe initial scanthat youtick the right boxes.
Mostrecruiters will doa preliminary sweep of CVs to discardthe applicants whoaren’t the right fit. Your first aim is to
make it clear thatyour CV demandsfurther inspection. That’swhy it’s soimportantto...
Adapt your CV to the role
A generic, one-size-fits-allCV is fine for a startingtemplate. Butto really make yourself standout, every CV yousend
outshouldbe adaptedto fit the vacancy youare applyingfor. Dependingon the position, someof yourachievements
will be more importantthanothers. Read the job spec and if you havethe skills and experience the recruiter is looking
for, make sureit standsout. Well-consideredCVs are the onesthat boostyourchancesof securing an interview. Oh,
andmost recruiters can tell when you’veregurgitateda CV from anotherapplication- so forget abouthittingcopy and
paste.
Follow a logical structure
What doyouthink matters more, the GCSEs youstudiedten years ago or what youachieved in yourlast job? Exactly.
FrontloadyourCV with the mostrelevant information. You may want to considera “relevant experience” section. Pull
outspecific, relevant highlightsfrom yourcareer or extracurricular experience. Then providea one or two sentence
summary for each.
That mightgive youa structurelike this:
 Nameand contact details
 Relevant experience (optional)
 Personalstatement(optional)
 Career history
 Education
 Achievements (optional)
 Hobbiesand interests
A personalstatementisn’talways necessary - especially if youare going to include a “relevant experience” section.

2. Personalstatementstend tomean openingyourCV with a chunky paragraph. That’snotalwayswhat yourrecruiter
wants tosee. Whatever structure youplumpfor, remember tobe concise. Youshouldmakeyourimpact in two pages
- three at the absolutemax. Brevity is key.
What about digital or animatedCVs?
Digitally-basedCVs are increasingly common, where an applicant creates a website, app or animationto showcase
their career skills. Somerecruiters find these typesof CV incredibly engaging, particularly if recruiting for more
digitally or creative basedcompanies. Ouradvice would be to indulge yourcreative side if you feel the application
warrants it (and it looksgood!). If in doubt, it’sbestto stick to the tried-and-testedblack text ontwo pages of A4
paper.
Speakingof which...
Stick toa consistent layout witha simple typeface
Remember thatyourgoal is tomake it as easy as possiblefor your recruiter toaccept you. Thatmeansyour CV must
be easy to read. Avoid fussy fonts andstick with somethingthat’sclear. Stopputtingevery other word in italics. Oh,
andno decorationsor fancy borders. Simple andclear wins the day.
Bulletpoints are your friend
Bulky chunksof text are a big no-nofor any CV. You need tocommunicate the stuff thatmatters – and nomore –
usingas few words as possible. That’swhere bullet pointscan come in handy. Embracethe challenge andlearn to
separate wheat from chaff. Your recruiter doesn’tneed toknow aboutthe tastiestmeal you cookedin yourhome
economicscookery class. Be concise.
Shout about your achievements
Your recruiter doesn’tcare aboutwhat you do, butwhat youhavedone. Butdon’tjust talk vaguely aboutsome of the
thingsyou’veaccomplished…
Make your achievements measurable
Whenever possible, aim to quantify yourachievements. Put
them in numbers. Makethemtangible and easy for the
recruiter to digest. What’sthat, youincreased sales? Give a
percentage. Reduced overheads?Statea figure. Employee
of the month?Say how many staff youwere upagainst.
Talk aboutthe outcomeof successfulprojects. The easier
youmake it for the recruiter to understandthecontext of
yourachievements, the better.
Don’t forget soft skills
Remember that’sit’snot alwaysaboutyourtechnical talents. No matterwhat job you’reapplyingfor, you’regoing to
be interacting with people. It’swhy soft skillsnever go out of fashion- just look at the emphasisputon “emotional
intelligence” these days. Sharpcommunication, problem-solvingandleadershipabilities are always in demand. So,
don’tforget to shoutaboutyours.
Oh, anddon’twrite about yourself in the third-person...
“At Noisy Hamster Inc, I increased leads by 40%.”Youhaveour attention...
“At Noisy Hamster Inc, Ronnie increased leads by 40%.”Cringe.
Bottomline? It is yourCV therefore talking in the third-personisn’tright.

3. Make sure your email addressis fit for purpose
It’sbest toinclude youremail addresson yourCV. But furryminx99@hotmail.comdoesn’texactly
scream professionalism, doesit? Makesure youhave an email address thatsets the right toneand
is fit for the working world. Fora few quidyoucould even purchasea domainaddress for your
name – and get web hostingthat offers email addresses. How abouthello@yourname.co.uk as
youremail address?Worthit.
There’s no needfora mugshot
You’veputsome new clothes on yourcredit card and youlook seriously smart in yournew threads.
But takeit from us:including a photowith yourCV is notrequired. YourCV alone shouldmakethe
right first impression. There will be plenty of time to impresswith your dresssense andpersonality later.
>> How to dress for a job interview
Experience and employment history
This is one of the simplest sectionsto complete. Foreach role include startdate, enddate, job title andcompany
name. Then providea brief summary - again, 2-3 bullet pointsworkswell - of yourresponsibilitiesand achievements.
For example:
JULY2014 - APRIL 2016 Marketing Manager, Fizzy Camel (give brief overview of businessandsector)
 Created marketingcampaign thatenhanced sales by 25%
 Briefed designers andwrote over 50,000 wordsofcopy
 Oversaw website relaunch thatdoubledmonthly traffic (add link to website)
Start with yourmostrecent job andwork backwards. A decade of career history/work experience is ample. If there’s
anythingfrom earlier in yourcareer that you’dlike includedon yourCV, putit in the “relevant experience” section or
yourcover letter.
Plug the gapsin your employment history
Gaps in employmenthistory are more commonthanyouthink. Andwhile they makesome recruiters jittery, youare
unlikely to be at a disadvantageif youexplain youremploymentgapsand turnthem intoa positive. If youwent
travelling, talk aboutany voluntary work youwere involvedwith. If youwere off work for medical reasons, explain
how the experience made youhungry toreturn to work andmake animpact. Youget the idea. Freelance activity and
extracurricular achievementsare alsogreat thingsto mentionin the questto plug thosepesky gapsin your
employmenthistory.
Education, education, education
Like your employmentsection, theeducation partof yourCV shouldbe in reverse chronologicalorder. There’s no
need to list the specific GCSEs or A Levels youstudied, unlessthe recruiter is searchingfor specific qualifications. “10
GCSEs – Grades A-C”is enoughinformationto suffice. If youwent to university, youmay wantto list any relevant
modulesyoustudiedalong with the degree youearned.
Be professional, but don’t be afraid toget personal
It’sa commonmistaketo underestimatethe importanceof the personalinterests section of yourCV. Think aboutit:
it’s often the only opportunity yourrecruiter hasto get insight onwhat youmight be like as a person. Mostpeople
want to hire a professional who hassome personality andinterests beyondwork.
But be careful. Insteadof listing every last hobby, finda way tomake yourextracurricular interests relevant toyour
application. For example, it probably doesn’tmatterthatyou play tennis every Tuesday evening. Butif youwere

4. responsiblefor startinga thrivingtennis club? That showsleadership andis somethingto shoutabout. Again, try to
highlightyour achievements.
Show that youcare about your professional development
Technology movesat warp speed these days - andmostindustriesare affected. Inyourpersonal interestssection, it’s
a goodidea tostate how youkeep up with marketdevelopmentsandnew technologiesin yoursector. That couldbe
as simple as listing one or two industry blogsthatyoufollow. It showsthat yourinterest in yourindustry goes beyond
the superficial andsuggestsyoucan bring more to a businessthanraw technical skills. If it’sa tight race between you
andanother applicant, showingthat youinvestpersonaltime in yourprofessionaldevelopmentsuggeststhatyou’rea
safer bet.
Watch your language
Nothingunderminesyourcredibility like typos, spelling mistakesandgrammargaffes. Proofit, proof it and proof it
again. Then get someoneelse to proof it. There’s simply noexcuse for poor written communicationona CV. It will
turnyour recruiter off quicker thanyoucan say missing apostrophe, andgives theman easy excuse to discard your
application and moveon to the next one.
Save asa PDFnotDOCX
It’sthe digital age. Chances are you’llbe sendingyourCV by email or uploadingit to a web portal. Regardless of the
word processingsoftware you use, it’s bestto save yourdocumentasa PDF. Thatway it will preserve yourformatting
andmake sure everythingis neat and tidy - rather than spread all over the place - when yourrecruiter opensthe
document. If youwrite yourCV in Microsoft Word, just hit SaveAs > PDF.
Let’s wrap this up...
Okay, here’sa quick recap on how tocreate a CV thatwows yourrecruiter:
 Keep thingsfocused by remembering thatyou are writing to get aninterview, not the actual job
 Remember thatyourrecruiter has lots of CVs to read - makeit quick and easy for themto see that youtick
the right boxes
 Read the job spec carefully andadaptyour CV to the role - recruiters can tell when youhaverecycled a CV
from anotherapplication
 Follow a logical structure andfrontloadyourCV with a summary of the mostrelevant information
 Use a clear, simple typeface andkeep yourlanguage concise - usingbullet pointswhere appropriate
 Shoutaboutyourachievementsandquantify them with tangible numbersand datawhenever possible
 Don’tforget to mentionsoft skills - they never go outof fashion
 Never makethe cringe-inducingmistake of writing aboutyourselfin the third-person
 Makesure youremail addressis fit for purpose
 Plug any gapsin your employmenthistory withextracurricular achievementsor a positive explanationof why
youwere off work
 Write aboutyourpersonalinterests in a way that showcasesachievementand - if possible- relates to the role
you’reapplyingfor
 Showthat youcare aboutyourprofessionaldevelopment
 There are no excuses for poor written communication - proof yourCV several times, andget somebody else
to check it too

5.  If you’resendingyour CV digitally, save it as a PDFto preserve formatting
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