At a glance
- Paper: A4.
- Length: up to two pages.
- Photo: none, for jobs in the UK.
- Personal details: no date of birth, gender, marital status or nationality. A driving licence and your right to work in the UK can help, if the job needs them.
The order
- Your name and contact details
- Profile
- Work experience, most recent first
- Education
- Skills
- Certificates, projects and volunteering, if they help
- Personal details, such as a driving licence, if the job needs them
- References
If you have no work experience yet, put your education first.
Your profile
The profile, or personal statement, is three or four lines at the top: who you are, what you are good at, and what you want next. Write it for this job. It is the part most readers see first.
Experience
For each job, give the employer, your job title and the dates, then a few bullet points on what you achieved. Numbers help: budgets, team sizes, results.
A nurse might list the ward, the number of beds and what they led or improved. A marketing manager might list campaigns, budgets and results.
References
Many UK CVs end with one or two referees, or with “References available on request”. Both are fine. Ask your referees before you give their details.
Spelling
Use British spelling for jobs in the UK: “organise”, “colour”, “centre”.
Elsewhere in Europe
The same CV works for many jobs in Europe. Some employers in Germany, France and other countries still expect a photo, and some public employers ask for a Europass CV. Check the job advert.