How to write a CV that gets noticed
Editorial team · 6 Jul 2026 · 6 min read
A step-by-step guide to writing a CV that recruiters actually read, with real examples, structure tips and the mistakes that send good candidates to the no pile.
Recruiters rarely read a CV the way its author imagines. Most are short on time, many are scanning between meetings, and nearly all of them are asking one question as their eyes move down the page: can this person do the job, and is there proof? This guide walks you through how to write a CV that answers that question inside thirty seconds.
How your CV will actually be read
Before you write a word, it helps to know what happens to your CV after you press send. A typical corporate vacancy attracts anywhere from 50 to several hundred applications. Many companies run every CV through applicant tracking software before a human sees it, and the people who do the shortlisting usually make a first pass in under a minute.
In that minute they want three things from your CV: evidence you can do the job in the advert, signs you understand the business, and a clean document that does not make them work hard. Miss one of the three and a strong CV can still land on the no pile.
Get the structure right first
Keep your CV to two pages. Senior candidates sometimes stretch to three, but two is the safe standard. Write it in this order, because it matches the order a recruiter reads a CV:
1. Name and contact details, with a phone number you answer
2. A short personal statement, four lines at most
3. Work experience, newest first
4. Skills
5. Education and qualifications
Anything else is optional. Do not write your date of birth, your marital status or a photograph into a UK CV. None of them help, and some employers strip any CV containing a photo before it reaches the hiring manager.
Write a personal statement that says something
The opening of a CV is the part people rewrite most and think about least. Do not write that you are a hard-working team player with excellent communication skills, because every other CV in the pile says the same. Instead, write two or three sentences that name your field, your years in it, and one result you are known for.
Compare these. The first is filler. The second earns the rest of the page:
> Motivated professional seeking a challenging role in a forward-thinking organisation.
> Management accountant, eight years in retail finance, currently closing month-end for a 40-site business and cutting the close from nine days to four.
The second one tells the reader what you do, at what scale, and what changed because you were there. Write yours the same way.
Write your experience as evidence, not duties
This is where most of the marks are. Under each role on your CV, write three to six bullets. Each bullet should name what you did and what happened as a result. Write numbers wherever you have them: money saved, time cut, volume handled, people managed, percentage moved.
A duty sounds like this: responsible for managing supplier relationships. Evidence sounds like this: renegotiated 14 supplier contracts, saving £180k a year and cutting late deliveries by a third.
You do not need a number on every line of a CV. Two or three strong figures on the first page will carry it a long way. If your work genuinely has no metrics, write about scale or complexity instead: the size of the team, the value of the portfolio, the number of sites.
Tailor your CV to the advert
Sending the same CV to forty employers is the most common reason good candidates hear nothing back. You do not need to write a new document each time, but you should spend ten minutes moving things around.
Read the advert and pick out the words it repeats. If it asks for stakeholder management three times, that phrase belongs on your CV, in a sentence describing something you actually did. Applicant tracking software matches on language, and so do humans skimming quickly.
Write the most relevant role higher up its bullet list. Cut the bullets that have nothing to do with the job. A CV that looks written for that vacancy beats a longer CV that reads as generic.
Formatting, and the file you send
Keep your CV plain. Write it in one readable font, with consistent spacing, clear headings, no columns, no tables and no text inside images. Fancy templates often confuse parsing software, which then drops half your CV into the wrong field.
Send a PDF unless the advert asks for Word. Name the file properly: your name and the role beats document1 every time. Check your CV opens on a phone, because plenty of hiring managers read one on the way home.
Mistakes that sink a strong CV
- Typos in the first three lines. Read your CV aloud, then have someone else read it.
- Unexplained gaps on a CV. One line saying what you did is enough to stop the question forming.
- Listing every job since school. Summarise anything older than fifteen years in two lines.
- An email address you set up at eighteen. Use your name.
- Choosing to write in the third person. It reads oddly and wastes space.
Before you send it
Read your CV as if you were the person hiring. Can you tell in ten seconds what this person does, and would that CV hold your attention? Is there proof? Would you call them?
If the answer is no, go back and write the first half again. That is usually where the problem sits, and it is the fastest part of a CV to fix. No CV is ever finished, but yours is ready when the top third does the work on its own.
Once your CV is ready, search live roles and apply direct to the employer.