How to write a CV, section by section
Most CVs are rejected for ordinary reasons: a vague summary, duties instead of results, skills with no evidence behind them, or a layout that a screening system cannot read.
These guides take one part of the CV at a time and show what a good version looks like, with the reasons behind each rule.
- Tailor your CV to a job description with AI
AI can tailor a CV to a job description: it reads the posting, compares it with your CV and rewrites toward it. Steps, credit costs and limits.
- CV vs resume: what is the difference?
In the UK, Europe and Turkey a CV is what Americans call a resume; in the US a CV is the long academic record. Length, contents and which word to use.
- What skills to put on a resume, and how to show them
Which skills to put on a resume, how to pick them from the job posting, how to show each one in a bullet, and what ATS software does with a skills list.
- How do you list awards and achievements on a CV?
Where awards, scholarships and prizes go on a CV, the four parts of an award line, and weak award entries rewritten, from US and UK career services.
- How to list certifications and courses on a CV
How to list certifications, licences and online courses on a CV or resume: the format of one line, expiry dates, courses in progress, what to leave out.
- How to write computer skills on a CV
How to write computer skills on a CV: Office levels in words anchored to Microsoft's own exams, ICDL from its own site, and software by field from O*NET.
- Contact details on a CV: what to include and how to write each line
What contact details a CV needs, how to write a phone number in international format, town or full address, and what to keep off the page for privacy.
- How do you write CV bullet points with action verbs?
How to write CV experience bullets: the action, method and result shape, which tense to use, how many per job, and action verbs grouped by what you did.
- How should you write dates on a CV?
How to write dates on a CV: month and year styles compared, current jobs, expected degrees, seasons, and 12 date mixes run through a CV checker.
- Which font and font size should a CV use?
Font, point size and margins for a CV, compared across ten career services, with a spec sheet to copy, a margin converter and a check for Word and PDF files.
- Chronological, functional or hybrid CV: which one fits you?
The three CV formats shown on one invented person, what career services say about each, how a CV checker filed each version, and a table of situations.
- How do you write a CV summary or personal profile?
How to write the summary or personal profile at the top of a CV: length, the four things it says, and six worked examples from student to senior.
- How to write the education section of a CV
How to write the education section of a CV or resume: entry order, when to show a GPA or degree class, honours, an unfinished degree and when to drop school.
- Should you put hobbies and interests on a CV?
When an interests section helps a CV, when to drop it, and weak hobby lines rewritten into specific ones, from UK and US university career services.
- How do you write a resume or CV, step by step?
Write a resume or CV step by step: what goes first, how long it should be, how to write each bullet and what to leave out, from career-service guides.
- How to put your LinkedIn and portfolio links on a CV
How to set a LinkedIn custom URL, write it on a CV as plain text, and when a GitHub, Behance or personal portfolio link earns its place.
- Lying on your CV: what employers can check and what it can cost
Which CV claims employers can verify in the UK, the US and Türkiye, how references, DBS and FCRA checks work, and what the law texts say a lie can cost.
- How to write a projects section on a CV
How to write a Projects section on a CV or resume: which projects count, what each entry needs, team projects, GitHub and portfolio links, with sample entries.
- How do you quantify achievements on a CV?
Turn CV duties into measured results: eight kinds of number to look for, what to write when you have none, worked examples by job, and how many is too many.
- Should you put salary expectations on your CV?
Why salary stays off the CV, how to answer an expected-salary field or a cover-letter request, and what the EU Pay Transparency Directive means for you.
- How to list short-term jobs on your CV
How to list a three-month job, agency temp assignments, seasonal work and a job you left in probation, with worked CV layouts and the rules on probation.
- How do you put volunteer work on a CV?
Where volunteer work goes on a CV or resume, how to label it as unpaid, and one volunteer role written three ways, from UK and US career services.