Start with where you are applying
Employers in different countries expect different things. An Indian CV often runs to two or three pages, with a photo, personal details and a Declaration. A UK CV is up to two pages on A4, with no photo. A US resume is short, usually one page, with no photo or date of birth.
Decide where you are applying first, because it changes what goes in and what stays out.
Put your contact details at the top
Your name, phone number, email address and the city you live in are enough. Add a LinkedIn profile or a portfolio if it helps your case. Use an email address with your name in it.
You do not need a heading that says “CV” or “Curriculum vitae”.
Write a short summary
Two to four lines under your name, saying what you do, how long you have done it, and what you are good at. Write it for the job you want, not the one you have.
“Back-end engineer with six years of experience building lending and payment services” tells a reader more than “hard-working professional seeking a challenging role”.
List your experience, most recent first
For each job, give the employer, your job title, the place and the dates. Then three to five bullet points on what you did.
- Start each bullet point with a verb: built, led, cut, launched, trained.
- Give a number where you can: how much, how many, how fast, how often.
- Say what changed because of you, not just what your duties were.
Spend most of the space on your last two or three roles. Older jobs can have a line or two each.
Add your education and skills
Give your degree, where you studied and when. Add your marks if they are good, or if employers where you are applying usually ask for them, as they do in India.
List skills that the job asks for and that you could talk about in an interview. Group them if there are many, for example languages, tools and methods.
Fit it to the job
Read the job advert, and make sure your CV shows the things it asks for, in its words where they are true for you. Move the most relevant experience up. Leave out things that do not help.
Some employers use software to sort applications. A plain layout with the usual headings is easy for both people and software to read.
Check it before you send it
- Read it aloud, slowly, for spelling and grammar. Then ask someone else to read it.
- Check every date, phone number and link.
- Send a PDF, named with your name, unless the employer asks for something else.
Make it in the builder
Bring in your old CV or start from a blank one, choose a template, and change anything in place while the preview follows. Show or hide sections and entries, and move them into the order that suits the job you are applying for.