How to make your CV stand out

You’ve stumbled on the job vacancy that has your name on it. So you send out your good CV and in your mind you’re already getting ready for the pre-interview stage. You make up complex scenarios of what to say and how to better market yourself. But there’s no reply. Silence. Awful silence. 

The culprit? Your resume wasn’t good enough. But you can change that. We’ll teach you how to write a CV and what to include in it. Plus some great CV advice and tips to help you land your dream job.

Here is the outline of important steps to follow when writing your CV:

1. Choose an appropriate CV format 
2. Include your name and contact info
3. Begin with a personal summary and job title 
4. Detail relevant work experience and key accomplishments 
5. List your education and academic background 
6. Highlight relevant skills that align with the job requirements 
7. Include relevant information in extra sections (such as certifications, hobbies, etc.) 
8. Present your Information in a professional, organized manner 
9. Enhance your CV with a complementary cover letter

This is what you should include in your CV. We’ll get into each section, so you know exactly how and what to write in each part. Let’s take it one step at a time. 

One thing to get out of the way first. This guide is for anyone who is writing a CV for a job. Depending on where you’re from, a Curriculum Vitae might serve different purposes. In the US, Canada, or Australia, a CV is used for academic purposes. Everywhere else, it is a short document that you use when looking for a job in any industry. Read more about what is a Curriculum Vitae and learn the differences.

The CV format

Or how to make your CV get past the first stage of triage. 

In 2023 recruiters have two options for selecting resumes from the submissions they receive from candidates: manually or by using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software. You may never know which one they use, so you must be prepared for either.

Even before you start to type in your info, here are some CV formatting tips you should know.

Use a font that is easy to read

There are two types of fonts to choose from when writing your CV. Serif fonts have small lines or flourishes at the ends of each letter. Examples of serif fonts include Times New Roman, Georgia, and Garamond. Sans Serif fonts do not have these lines and have a clean and modern appearance. Popular sans serif fonts are Arial, Verdana, and Calibri. For the main body of your text, set the font size to 11 or 12 and use single spacing. Go a little bigger for your name and titles; anything between 14 and 16 point size will look great.

Have a consistent CV layout, with one-inch margins for all sides and larger headings in bold, italics, or underlined.

Make good use of the white space on your resume and avoid graphics.

Don’t use your picture unless the job ad specifies it.

Keep it short and include just the relevant skills and experiences mentioned in the job description by the recruiter.

Save your CV in PDF to make sure the layout stays as you intended. While this is the most common format for CVs, some recruiters might ask for one in .doc or .docx. In this case, you should send it as a Word document.

Now let’s start filling out your CV! 

Your contact information

Here’s what this section should include:

1. Your full name
2. Your professional title
3. Your email address
4. Your phone number
5. A link to your LinkedIn Profile
6. Your home address (optional)
7. Your Personal Statement*

* Some candidates choose to skip this step altogether and figure that their work experience will do all the talking for them. But guess what? The recruiter sees hundreds of those listings. You must make a great first impression and give all you’ve got to create a good CV. So go ahead and write this short paragraph that will help you stand out from the crowd.

There are two different ways to write a Personal Statement in your CV: you can take the objective route, or write a CV summary. 

The CV objective emphasizes your skills and proves that you are a good fit for the job. We recommend writing one when you’ve got less work experience for the job you are applying for.

The CV summary should contain highlights of your career that will transfer well to the job ad. If you have a lot of experience, we recommend you showcase it in your Personal Statement.

Your Work Experience

The work experience section of your CV is crucial as it gets the most attention from recruiters. A good CV should list previous positions, dates worked, and responsibilities, but to stand out and secure the dream job, it is important to focus on relevant and measurable achievements. 

Check out our CV writing tips for the work experience section!

Use action verbs. Say that in a previous role you “delivered, organized, and boosted”, not that you were “responsible for delivering, organizing, and boosting.” Being responsible for something and actually doing it are two different things. 

Tailor your past experiences to the responsibilities mentioned in the job ad. For example, if the position asks for a person to “Handle all incoming contacts from customers” and you’ve worked in a call center before, say that you “Handled incoming requests from customers.” Just like that. 

Write Key Achievements that make your CV stand out. Recruiters love numbers, so make sure to add them when you can. For example, you are applying for a Local SEO Specialist job. Include a short paragraph that supports your skills, such as this:

Developed a keyword strategy to give better visibility of the coffee shop in SERPs. Website visits increased by 300% in the first month, which resulted in a growth in sales of 68% online and 124% in-store visits. 

Your Education Section

There are two questions one should ask when putting their education on the CV: where to put it and what should it include? The simple answer is to put it right after your Work Experience section and should include only the highest degree first. 

Of course, not all experiences are the same, so you should make adjustments that give the employer the best impression of you. 

So, when you are writing a CV with little or no work experience, you should put your Education section first. Additionally, provide more detail about your academic background. This could include information such as the title of your thesis, areas of study that you have a particular interest in, coursework that is relevant to the position you’re applying for, your most notable accomplishments, or any extracurricular academic pursuits.

Your Relevant Skills

When you write your CV, the most important concept to keep in mind is Relevant; that is, relevant to the job description. You might have tons of skills, but in this section, you must list the ones that will benefit you in the future job. 

The skills section on your CV should be a mix between hard skills and soft skills. 

Hard skills refer to the technical abilities and knowledge required to perform specific job duties and responsibilities. They can be acquired through education, training programs, and hands-on experience, and are typically focused on tasks and processes such as the use of tools, equipment, or software. 

Soft skills are personal attributes and competencies that are not specific to any particular job, such as teamwork, organization, empathy, and leadership abilities.

Find out which Customer Service skills you should include in your CV!

Pro tip! Make sure that some of these skills are already in your CV, in the Work and Education sections.

To indicate the level of proficiency use the same type of structure. Either use: “Excellent,” “Advanced” or “Basic”, or use a x/5 system.

Wondering how to list your languages on your CV? Go for the ILR system that establishes language proficiency standards and uses a 0 to 5 scale. These levels are beginner, intermediate, proficient, fluent, and native. 

Here is an example of how your language skills can look on your resume:

Another way to write the level of the languages you know on your CV is by using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This divides language speakers and learners into 3 main categories and assigns each one a grade level.

So by using this scale, the language section on your resume will look like this:

Now that your CV is all written up and you had someone proofread it for you, it’s time to write a cover letter to go with your perfectly put-together resume. Use the same fonts and colors that you used in your resume. Keep it short and make sure you will impress the hiring manager that is going to read it.

Now, all that’s left for you to do is wait for that call-back on the job you’ve always dreamt of. 

There are plenty of employers who are ready to read your well-written CV right now. Check out these great job opportunities and put your good CV to great use!