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Design FocusedTwo columnPhoto supported

Elegant Two Column

Elegant Two Column puts your name, contact details, skills and languages in a full-height accent column, leaving the main column clear for experience and projects. It is the most visually distinct layout in the set and works well when a person rather than a system reads the CV first - design roles, agencies, and applications sent directly to a hiring manager. Because the accent column is a solid colour block, choose Minimal ATS instead when applying through a large employer portal.

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What makes it different

  • Full-height accent column that carries the identity of the document
  • Main column stays white, so experience bullets remain easy to read
  • Photo supported, which suits markets where one is expected
  • Distinct enough to be remembered in a small applicant pool

Best for

Design and creative roles · Applications sent directly to a hiring manager · Markets where a photo is conventional · Smaller organisations without an applicant tracking system

When to choose something else

  • The least safe layout here for automated screening. The full-height accent column is exactly the structure that parsers handle worst, so do not use it for an application through an employer portal or an agency.
  • It supports a photo, which is conventional in parts of Europe and Asia but is discouraged by many UK, Irish and US employers because of discrimination risk. Consider who will read it before turning one on.
  • The full-height colour column uses a lot of ink and prints poorly in black and white.

Where your sections go

Skills, Languages, Certifications, Interests, Professional Memberships, References sit in a solid accent column. Everything else — your summary, experience, education and any section you add — runs down the main column in the order you set. A section this layout has no sidebar slot for appears in the main column too, so nothing is ever dropped.

Showing the UI/UX Designer example. All sample details are fictional.

Professions this layout suits

These examples open on Elegant Two Column by default. You can pair any profession with any template — the suggestion is a starting point, not a restriction.

UI/UX Designer

Guides that go deeper

Choosing a layout settles how the page looks. These settle what goes on it.

How to Make an ATS-Friendly CVWhat 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.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.How to Write a CVThe structure, the order, and what belongs in the first third of the page — where most CVs are won or lost.

If this is not the right layout

The layouts a reader of this page most often wants instead, rather than the rest of the gallery in order.

Minimal ATSA plain one-column layout designed to survive applicant tracking systems intact.European ProfessionalA structured European-style layout with a personal information panel, left-gutter dates and CEFR language detail.Data ProfessionalA tinted sidebar for tooling and certifications, with the analysis narrative in the main column.TechnicalTwo columns with the technical stack in a sidebar and experience in the main column.