How to Write A CV: A Step-by-Step Guide with Expert Tips

  |  James Innes
     

Writing a CV can be a bit of a challenge, but it’s your key to career success. A weak CV gets overlooked in a flash, no matter your skills or talent, so you need to know how to make an impression in seconds. I’m James Innes, founder of The CV Centre, and with over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped thousands secure their dream roles.

This guide provides a clear, step-by-step path to create a CV that grabs attention, with expert tips to make you stand out. Whether you’re a graduate or a seasoned professional, you’ll find practical advice to steer through the choppy waters of the job market, so your CV resonates with employers and you can get the interview you deserve.

James Innes - Author of 'The CV Book'

 

Table of Contents

 

Introduction: Why a Winning CV Matters in 2025

Learn why a refined CV is vital in 2025’s digital-first job market, with expert insights to tackle today’s hiring trends and secure your future.

The Role of a CV in Today’s Job Market

Why do some people almost always get the job they want? Because their CV wins them an interview and 99 per cent don’t! A seemingly ever-increasingly competitive job market means that it’s more important than ever to get your CV up to the standard where it really stands out from the crowd and maximises your chances of getting the job you want – the job you deserve.

How This Guide Stands Out: Practical Steps

As a professional CV writer, I see every day which CVs achieve results. This puts me in a unique position, enabling me to bring you the very best of what I have learned, helping you to create a truly exceptional CV.

My expertise in creating a truly professional CV is based on careful research into what recruiters really want from job applicants. This enables me to determine exactly what to put in and what to leave out, and what kind of a ‘spin’ to put on a CV to ensure that it will stand right out from the competition. Getting it right is the difference between getting your foot in the door for an interview, or ending up in the ‘no thank you’ pile – also known as the bin!

What You’ll Learn: From Basics to Advanced Tips

You’re reading this for one reason, to find out what makes an exceptional CV. You hopefully already realise just how important a document your CV is; it is probably the most important tool you will use during your job hunt, so getting it right is absolutely essential. It is also one of the few aspects of your job hunt that you are in full control of.

CV writing can be a tricky; it is part art, part science, and there is no one specific way that will suit everybody and every circumstance. However, in this article I aim to demonstrate what you should and shouldn’t do when writing your CV. No matter what your age, background, job title or level of experience, I will help you to create a CV that really works for you.

This article condenses the same proven methodology we use every day with our clients and contains all the tips and – dare I say it – tricks that you need. I will cut through all the debate and opinion about CVs and show you what really works from the recruiter’s point of view; what I have proved to work.

 

What Is a CV? Understanding the Basics

Before we can even think about writing CVs, we need a real understanding of exactly what they are!

The Purpose of a CV: Selling Your Skills Effectively

What exactly is a ‘curriculum vitae’?

‘Curriculum vitae’ is a Latin term and translates as ‘the course of one’s life’. The simplest definition is ‘a summary of your academic and work history’. Well, that’s basically true, but I see a curriculum vitae (CV) as more of a personal sales brochure, one which should be very carefully written and presented to ensure that you have the best possible chance of getting the job you want, to really showcase your talent.

It is not an autobiography. Simply writing down a list of everything you have done and everything you know will not guarantee you an interview; in fact, it will just bore the socks off the recruiter and undoubtedly count against you.

The primary aim of your CV is purely and simply to win you an interview. It is therefore vitally important to see matters from the recruiter’s or prospective employer’s perspective. They’re often faced with many hundreds of CVs to review for just one vacancy. Almost a third of recruiters admit to only reading a CV for a minute before deciding whether to interview the candidate. In fact, many admit to spending even less time! Twenty to 30 seconds is quite common.

A CV is to get you an interview

They simply do not have the time to read them all in any depth. They’re much more interested in getting out of the office and getting to the pub! In their initial sift they will be looking for reasons to discard your application, not for reasons to retain it. So how do you make your CV stand out? How do you maximise your chances of being among the ten or so candidates they decide to invite for interview?

 

How To Write A CV

Warmed up now? Let's get into the nitty-gritty!

Step 1: Gather Your Information Before You Start

Listing Your Education and Qualifications

You want to structure this section clearly, so you could use bullet points or a table, or maybe a mixture of the two, to lay out the information that details your formal education history.

You need to specify the dates you received your qualifications or attended the relevant institutions alongside descriptions of your qualifications and, of course, what grades/class/marks you achieved if applicable. Also, if deemed sufficiently relevant, the names of the institution(s).

Documenting Your Work Experience

Focus on recent information and summarise older information or any gaps. Your current or most recent job should always have the most detail..

Identifying Relevant Skills and Achievements

A key skills section is a summary of the main skills and abilities you are offering a prospective employer, your top selling points in terms of skills and abilities.

It shouldn’t be confused with an achievements section. An Achievements section will focus on your experience rather than your pure skills and abilities. You might choose to have either one collective Achievements section in your CV, or if you feel you have enough to warrant it, you can even have separate Achievements subheadings under each role in your Career history.

Step 2: Choose the Right CV Format

Chronological CV: Best for Experienced Candidates

The main CV type is the chronological (or reverse chronological, to be precise) CV, which lists your employment (and academic) history beginning with the most recent and working backwards, with a brief description under each position. This is by far the most widely used.

Functional CV: Highlighting Skills Over Experience

The functional CV or skills-based CV lists your experience under different functional areas, such as marketing or customer service, and this forms the main core of the CV. It focuses on specific skills rather than a full history (making it appropriate for those with a very varied career history). It will include a Key skills section and it will use a Career summary instead of a full Career history.

Combination CV: Blending the Best of Both Worlds

Between them, these two principal types give rise to a third type, known as the mixed, combination or hybrid CV. A hybrid CV is quite simply a mix of the chronological and functional types. It lists skills/experience under different functions at the top of the CV and then goes on to list previous jobs in reverse chronological order.

Creative CVs: When and How to Use Them

If you work within a highly creative and artistic field then a lot of the standard rules of CV design can be thrown out of the window!

Potential employers will be on the lookout for original thinkers, which will impact on the way you design your CV. They’ll be looking for you to demonstrate a bit of flair.

I won’t be giving any design tips; it’s your field of expertise. Let your imagination run riot! However, I would warn you not to lose sight of the importance of readability.

Step 3: Structure Your CV for Maximum Impact

Contact Information: What to Include (and Avoid)

It is vital that the reader can spot, at a glance, your name and precisely how to get in contact with you. Your CV should be headed boldly and clearly with your name followed by your contact details. It should not be headed ‘Curriculum Vitae’ or ‘CV’ or anything else.

Just your name. And only your first name and your last name.

You should follow your name with your key contact details: your email address and your phone number. I’d also recommend including your location (but not your full address).

Personal Statement: Crafting a Compelling Opener

Your introductory paragraph should be about five to ten lines in length, and spark the reader’s interest. If you can’t successfully ‘pitch’ yourself in ten lines or less, you risk losing the reader’s attention. Be persuasive. Be brief – you can highlight examples in later sections..

Work Experience: Writing Results-Driven Entries

Too many CVs read like job descriptions with a focus on duties, tasks and responsibilities. Whilst you will want some of this in your CV, you need to try to focus on actual results, what you achieved, what you did differently, what you did over and above the standard job description.

Education: Highlighting Academic Achievements

As well as highlighting achievements from your professional life, you should also, of course, highlight any notable academic achievements. It’s all a matter of building a business case for the reader to decide you are someone they want to interview.

Include your academic achievements

Skills Section: Hard Skills, Soft Skills, and Keywords

Your hard skills are obvious, but do give consideration to the soft or ‘transferable’ skills you have developed during the course of your career. With both hard and soft skills, focus on the keywords someone might be searching for when looking for a profile such as yours.

Additional Sections: Hobbies, Certifications, and More

If you’ve got it, flaunt it! Do feel free to add additional sections if they help to sell you. Consider, for example, including personal achievements, as these help to reflect your personality and add that little extra something, which will help to differentiate you from your competition.

Step 4: Optimise Your CV for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

Understanding ATS: How It Filters CVs

I’ll be writing a whole article on ATS next month. It’s a big topic! For now, I’ll say that there is not a great deal you can actually do to get through ATS filters apart from remind yourself that you are writing for a human being first and foremost – and then, once that has been achieved, take a close look at your use of keywords.

Incorporating Keywords Naturally

You obviously want to ensure your CV covers all of the most important keywords that you feel someone is likely to be searching for when looking for someone like you – and, indeed, any keywords in any job advert or job description/person specification. Just try to ensure it’s done naturally and doesn’t look artificial.

Avoiding Common ATS Pitfalls

The biggest pitfall to avoid is what is known as ‘keyword stuffing’. This is when you go too far with your use of keywords and it becomes obvious, not just to a human but also to the ATS!

Step 5: Polish and Proofread Your CV

Design Tips: Fonts, Spacing, and Length

I would recommend that you remain conservative with your choice of typeface.

Presentation is a personal issue and some people will prefer certain typefaces to others; for example, teachers often use Comic Sans. However, it is important to realise that the easiest-to-read typefaces will get you the positive presentation points! Times New Roman, Garamond, Arial and Helvetica: professional, easy to read, and get results.

I always advocate a one-page CV if it is feasible; some recruitment agencies, especially head-hunters, may insist on a one-page CV. Failing that, two pages are entirely acceptable, and in certain circumstances it may be acceptable for a CV to run to three or more pages, but only for certain special cases - exceptions that prove the rule.

Proofreading Checklist: Grammar, Spelling, and Clarity

For documents which are supposed to be perfect, 60% of CVs contain at least one linguistic error.

That’s a fairly staggering proportion, isn’t it?

It is impossible to stress enough how important this issue is. Spelling and grammatical errors are amongst the most irritating errors a recruiter sees, amongst the most damaging errors you can make and are also amongst the most easily avoided. The answer is to check, check and check again, and then have someone else check for good measure!

Getting Feedback: Who to Ask and What to Adjust

Reading through your CV yourself is essential; having a friend or colleague read through it is even better because it’s easy to miss mistakes in your own work when you’ve been staring at it for hours. Don’t feel obliged to take on board all the feedback you receive, though!

Step 6: Tailor Your CV for Every Job Application

Why One-Size-Fits-All CVs Fail

Many people use a general CV designed to suit any position they are applying for; however, greater success can be achieved by tailoring your CV according to the needs of the specific role to which you are applying.

It is astonishing how many people use exactly the same CV for every single application they make.

It stands to reason that every job and every organisation is different, and as such, every CV should also be different, even if the differences are subtle.

Matching Skills to Job Descriptions: A Walkthrough

If you have a job advert or description or person specification then an essential technique is to actually repeat back to them the keywords the recruiter has used. Aim to weave the keywords into the overall flow of your CV. Read the job description carefully and make it subtle – almost subliminal. Don’t just repeat their words verbatim straight back to them in your Professional profile like some people do!

 

Common CV Mistakes to Avoid

We've gone on for long enough about what you should do. Now let's examine some common pitfalls that you should avoid.

Overloading with Irrelevant Details

Yawn. The amount of irrelevant and boring material I see in some CVs... Only include what you feel will actually count in your favour – what will actually help to sell you going forwards. Edit ruthlessly! You want your finished CV to be, like any good piece of writing, as concise as reasonably possible.

Using Clichés and Buzzwords

One of my clients once asked me, “Aren’t words such as ‘dedicated’ and ‘enthusiastic’ a waste of time? Would a recruiter call a client and say, “Hey, I’ve got a CV from somebody who is dedicated and enthusiastic.”?”

She does have a point. No, recruiters wouldn’t call up a client and proudly announce they’ve got a CV from someone who claims to be ‘dedicated and enthusiastic’. They’d be intelligent enough to plug some of the candidate’s more salient features. However, let’s turn her question around and ask what a reader would think of a candidate who didn’t say they were dedicated, enthusiastic etc. ‘Enthusiastic’ may be a rather overused word but it’s also one of the very top characteristics employers look for.

It’s clearly a fine line that you’re going to have to tread, avoiding cliché and hyperbole.

Ignoring Formatting and Readability

A disorganised layout makes it hard for recruiters to extract the information they need. Remember that most recruiters will be working under significant time pressure and so won’t waste their time trying to pick out the information they need from a poorly organised layout. You’ll end up in the bin.

Readability is defined as the ease with which a reader can absorb the meaning of your words. The more readable your writing is, the more effectively it will communicate to your reader. Key elements to take into consideration here are the selection of appropriate typefaces, breaking up text with bullet pointing, and controlling your use of white space. Your goal is a highly readable document.

 

Advanced Tips to Make Your CV Stand Out

I've been in the game for a long time, so here are my advanced tips to help you stand out from the crowd.

Quantifying Achievements with Numbers

Numbers often create more of an impact than words. If you really want to maximise the impact, you should aim to qualify your statements with specific figures wherever possible. Using qualifying adjectives such as ‘major’, ‘substantial’ and ‘significant’ is all very well but try to quote precise figures and percentages if at all possible. Don’t just make a claim back up that claim.

Adding a Professional Portfolio or Link

You’ve only got so much space available to you in a CV. Do feel free to add in links to, for example, an online portfolio of your work. And most definitely you want to include a link to your LinkedIn profile. (When I say ‘link’, I do mean an actual working link! You’d be surprised how many links I see on CVs which just don’t work…)

Action Verbs for Impact

An effective way of making your CV have a greater impact is to start your sentences with what are commonly known as ‘action verbs’. These are words such as achieved, launched and maximised. Words like this can be used to describe your skills and experiences in such a way as to emphasise what you achieved rather than just what you did.

 

Your Next Steps to Success

You’ve learned to create a standout CV, but don’t stop there. The CV Centre’s expert CV writing services transform your skills into a document that grabs recruiters’ attention in 2025’s market. Pair it with a tailored cover letter to target specific roles, showing employers why you’re the perfect fit.

Our team offers personalised guidance, ensuring your CV shines. Ready to elevate your job search?

Contact The CV Centre today to explore our CV writing and cover letter services, and take your career to new heights with confidence.

Get a free CV review now!

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We've answered some frequently asked questions to help you write your CV.

How Long Should My CV Be?

There isn't a definite answer for long long a CV should be, but I still get asked this all the time. Well, how long is a piece of string?! OK, so, it's not quite the same... But it's important to realise that CVs and resumes vary widely in length (a) from country to country (b) according to age and experience and (c) depending on the line of work. Essentially, the only way I can answer this question for people is by saying, "It depends!"

Should I Include a Photo on My CV?

The rules for the inclusions of photos vary from country to country but, in the UK, it’s a most definite No!

Can I Use the Same CV for Multiple Jobs?

Well, you can use the same CV for multiple jobs, yes… But if you’re serious about winning a particular job then it pays to tailor the CV to the specific requirements of the role.

What’s the Best Way to Format My CV for Online Applications?

I recommend PDF when formatting your CV for online applications. It is much more universally accepted across a broad range of different devices and software packages – including ATS systems.

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