How to Write a CV
The structure, the order, and what belongs in the first third of the page — where most CVs are won or lost.
13 min read
Guides
CV guides
16 guides on writing and formatting a CV. They are written to be useful on their own, whether or not you build a CV here — no guide ends by telling you the answer is to sign up.
CV basics
Structure, length and what belongs on the page at all.
CV vs Resume: What's the Difference?
The same word means different documents in different countries. Which one you need depends entirely on where you are applying.
4 min read
How Long Should a CV Be?
Two pages for most people, and a clear method for getting there when you have more experience than space.
3 min read
How to Write a CV With No Experience
You almost certainly have more relevant material than you think. The problem is usually framing, not emptiness.
3 min read
Writing
Turning a job description into evidence a reader will believe.
How to Write a Professional Summary
Four lines at the top of the page that decide whether the rest gets read. A method, and the three ways they usually go wrong.
3 min read
How to Describe Work Experience
The difference between listing duties and demonstrating impact, and a repeatable way to rewrite any weak bullet point.
3 min read
How to List Skills on a CV
Group them, be specific, and cut anything you would not want to be interviewed on for ten minutes.
3 min read
Formatting
Layout decisions that affect whether your CV is read correctly.
How to Make an ATS-Friendly CV
What applicant tracking systems do to your file, the four failures that matter, and which of the usual claims about them anybody can actually stand behind.
7 min read
Should You Add a Photo to Your CV?
It depends entirely on where you are applying. In some countries it is expected; in others it will actively harm your application.
5 min read
By profession
Conventions that differ by field, where general advice is wrong.
How to Write a Medical CV
Medical CVs follow their own conventions. Applying commercial CV advice to one is the fastest way to be marked down.
4 min read
How to Write a Software Developer CV
What technical reviewers look for, why the stack list is not enough, and how to write about work you cannot show.
3 min read
How to Write an Accountant CV
Qualification status first, then the reporting cycle, the systems and the framework. In that order, for a reason.
3 min read
How to Write a Data Analyst CV
Every bullet point should end in a decision someone made differently. Dashboards with no audience are activity, not impact.
3 min read
By country
What employers expect in different markets.
CV Format in the UK
What UK recruitment law actually restricts, what is only convention, and where the convention changes completely depending on who is hiring.
12 min read
CV Format in India
What Indian employers expect, what multinational employers expect instead, and how to write one CV that works for both.
7 min read
CV Format in Pakistan
Local conventions, what Gulf and international employers expect instead, and how to state professional registration so that it is checkable.
9 min read
Growing
More guides are being added
These 16 are the ones we could write properly. We would rather publish a small number of genuinely useful guides than a large number of thin ones.