How to Write a CV Recruiters Can Read Quickly

Understand how a CV gets read

Your CV will probably be read twice, by two different kinds of reader:

1. An applicant tracking system (ATS), used by many employers and job boards. It reads the text of your CV to build an applicant record and match keywords.
2. A recruiter or hiring manager, who scans the top of the CV, your job titles, company names, and dates, then decides whether it is worth reading further.

Both need the same thing: a clear structure and information that is easy to find.

A structure that works

The following order suits most roles:

1. Name and contact details: phone number, a professional email address, the town or city you live in, and a link to your LinkedIn profile or portfolio.
2. A short summary: two or three sentences about your role, how much experience you have, and your main skills.
3. Work experience, starting with the most recent.
4. Education.
5. Skills: software, languages, and relevant certifications.
6. Additional information: organisations, projects, or training that support the role you are applying for.

For recent graduates, education, internships, and projects can go above work experience.

Your full home address, ID number, marital status, and religion usually do not need to be included unless the job advert asks for them. The same goes for a photo: conventions differ between countries and employers, so follow what the advert asks for.

Describe achievements, not a list of duties

The most common CV mistake is copying the job description. "Responsible for the company's social media" explains your duty, but says nothing about how well you did it.

Use a simple pattern: action verb + what you did + the result. The examples below use made-up figures; replace them with numbers from your own work.

Before: Responsible for the company's social media.

After: Planned the content calendar and managed three social media accounts; purchase enquiries through direct messages rose by around 40% in six months.

Before: Helped with recruitment.

After: Screened an average of 150 applications a month and scheduled interviews for 12 shop staff roles across 4 branches.

The numbers do not have to be spectacular. The number of clients, transaction volume, time saved, or the size of your team already gives a sense of the scale of your work. Make sure you can explain every number in an interview.

A profile summary that is not generic

The summary at the top of a CV is often filled with sentences that could describe anyone. Yet this is the part that gets read first. A good summary answers three questions: who you are professionally, what your main skills are, and what you are looking for.

Before: Hard-working, honest graduate who works well both in a team and independently. Eager to learn new things.

After: Accounting graduate with a six-month internship in the finance team of a distribution company. Experienced in bank reconciliations and preparing monthly expense reports in Excel. Looking for a junior accounting role in Manchester or Leeds.

The second version is a few words longer, but every sentence gives information that can be checked. Qualities such as "hard-working" are more convincing when they show through the achievements in your experience section than when they are claimed in the summary.

Writing the skills section

The skills section is most useful when it is specific and honest. Group skills by type, for example:

• Software: Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP), Google Sheets, Canva.
• Languages: Spanish (fluent, used for client emails), Mandarin (basic).
• Certifications: give the name of the certificate, the issuing body, and the year.

Avoid rating yourself with numbers or stars. "Excel 4 out of 5" tells the reader nothing; naming the features you can use is far more informative.

Tailor it to each job

The same CV for every application rarely works. Before you send it:

• Read the job requirements and highlight the skills they ask for.
• Use the same terms, if you genuinely have those skills. If the advert mentions "Microsoft Excel" and "pivot tables", write both, not just "data processing".
• Move your most relevant experience to the top of each role.
• Adjust your summary so it names the role you are applying for.

Do not add skills you do not have just to match keywords. Recruiters will test them in the interview.

A format that works for ATS software and people

• One column is safer than two. Some systems read two-column layouts in the wrong order, so the information gets mixed up.
• Avoid text inside images, icons, or skill graphics. A bar labelled "Excel 80%" cannot be read by software and means nothing to a recruiter.
• Use standard section headings, such as "Work Experience" and "Education", rather than creative ones.
• Choose a standard font at 10–12 points for the main text.
• Save it as a PDF, unless the advert asks for another format, and make sure the text can be selected rather than being a scan.
• Give the file a clear name, such as "CV-Rina-Wulandari-Data-Analyst.pdf".

How many pages?

For recent graduates and anyone with less than five years of experience, one page is usually enough. With longer experience, two pages are still reasonable, as long as the first page holds the most important information.

Relevance matters more than page count. Experience from more than ten years ago, or jobs unrelated to the role you are applying for, can be summarised in a single line.

Mistakes that get a CV skipped

• An unprofessional email address or a phone number that no longer works.
• Inconsistent job dates, or long gaps with no explanation.
• Typos, especially in company names and job titles.
• A generic summary such as "hard-working team player" with no evidence.
• A very large file because of a high-resolution photo.

A final check

Before you send it, look at your CV for just ten seconds, then close it. Can you still remember your latest role, your main skills, and one achievement? If not, those parts need to stand out more.

Ask someone else to read it too. Typos and ambiguous sentences are easier to spot for someone who is not used to the text.