A CV that gets you shortlisted.

Your name, the town or city you live in (or your postcode area), a mobile number, a professional email address and, if you have them, a LinkedIn profile or portfolio link. That’s all.

No. UK employers don’t need them to shortlist you, and details like age, marital status or a photo can trigger unconscious bias. Your town or postcode area is enough to show where you’re based.

Yes. Use something simple based on your name. An old nickname address can make a poor first impression before anyone reads a word of your experience.

Three to four sentences. It’s a hook, not a cover letter.

• Who you are: your role or profession and level.
• Your core expertise: the two or three things you’re best at.
• What you want next, tailored to the roles you’re applying for.

Phrases every CV uses, like “hardworking”, “team player”, “excellent communicator” or “results-driven”. Show those qualities with specifics instead.

As a short bulleted list of specific skills: the tools you use, your technical skills, the industry knowledge you have, and one or two soft skills described precisely (“stakeholder management” rather than “people skills”).

An applicant tracking system is software many employers use to sort CVs. It looks for the skills and keywords in the job description, so using the same wording as the advert (where it’s true for you) helps your CV get seen by a person.

Yes, a little. Keep your core list, then reorder or add the skills each job asks for that you genuinely have.

Newest first (reverse chronological). Give each job its title, the employer, and start and end dates as month and year.

Mostly achievements. Aim for about 80% of your wording on what you achieved and the difference you made, not the tasks you did every day.

Situation, task, action, result. It’s a simple way to turn a duty into an achievement: what was going on, what you needed to do, what you did, and what happened as a result.

Most achievements can be measured somehow: time saved, money saved or made, customers helped, team size, budget, volume, or a before and after. If you really can’t measure it, describe the outcome clearly.

Give the most detail to the last 10 years or so. Older or less relevant jobs can be a single line each.

If you have work experience, keep it short: qualification, institution and year. GCSEs can be summarised in one line, such as “9 GCSEs including English and Maths”.

Put education above your experience and expand on it: your classification, relevant modules, your dissertation, and any awards or projects that relate to the job.

Only current, recognised ones that are relevant to the role you want, with the issuing organisation and the year (or expiry date). It’s fine to have none.

Two pages at most. If it’s longer, trim older jobs and anything not relevant to the role.

A clean, professional font such as Arial or Calibri at 10 to 12pt, with clear headings. Avoid columns, text boxes and graphics, which some applicant tracking systems can’t read.

A PDF, unless the employer asks for Word. A PDF keeps your formatting exactly as you laid it out.

No. Employers assume it, so use the space for something that sells you.

We read your CV into your profile, which you can edit at any time. Employers see a clean, ATS-friendly CV built from your profile, so the formatting is taken care of. Your profile also gets a CV quality score with tips to improve it, based on this guide.