Recruiters spend only a short time on each CV: they look for whether your experience matches the job. A good CV does not try to say everything. It makes the right information easy to find. Here are the steps, in the order we suggest you fill them in.
1. Start from the job you want
Before you write anything, reread the job advert. A CV works best when it answers one specific role. Keep a master CV and adjust it for each application: change the title, reorder your skills and put the most relevant experience first.
2. Contact details at the top
Your full name, a professional email address, a phone number and your town or city. You do not need your full address. In the UK, do not include a photo, your date of birth, your marital status or your nationality: employers do not need them, and leaving them out avoids any bias.
3. A short personal profile
Three or four lines that say who you are, what you are good at and what you are looking for. Avoid empty phrases like "hard-working team player": back each claim with a fact. See our guide on how to write a personal statement.
4. Work experience, most recent first
For each job: your title, the employer, the town, the dates (month and year) and 2 to 5 bullet points. Start each bullet with an action verb (managed, trained, sold, reduced) and add a result when you have one: a figure, a volume, a deadline met.
Before Responsible for social media.
After Managed 4 social media channels, growing followers by 38% in one year.
Never invent a figure. If you do not have one, describe the task precisely instead.
5. Education
List your qualifications with the school, college or university and the years: degree, A-levels, BTEC, GCSEs (for example "9 GCSEs including English and Maths"). If you are just starting out, put education before experience.
6. Skills, and interests if useful
List 6 to 12 skills, using the words of the advert when they are true for you. Interests are optional: include them only if they say something useful about you, such as volunteering or a team sport.
7. Keep it to two pages
Two A4 pages is the usual maximum in the UK. One page is fine for students and people with little experience. See how long a CV should be.
8. Check it and save it as a PDF
Read it out loud to spot mistakes, ask someone else to read it, then save it as a PDF so the layout does not move. Give it a clear name: CV_First_Last.pdf.
The quickest way to start: fill in a ready-made template, see the result live and download the PDF. You can even describe your background in a few lines and let the AI fill in the form, then check everything. Free, no sign-up.