The CV That
Gets Read.
A practical, personal guide to writing a CV that stands out in a crowded market. Seven stops, two universal don’ts and a personal statement that doesn’t read like a press release.
No filler. No recruitment-speak. No AI-written sameness. Just the things that move a CV from “another applicant” to “we need to meet this person.”
recruitment, said out loud. loud, then settled.
00a CV in seven stops.
Most CVs go wrong in the same seven places. Fix each one in turn and the rest takes care of itself. Two universal don’ts first then the seven stops.
The route
- 01 Header & contacts
- 02 Personal statement
- 03 Key skills, with proof
- 04 Career history
- 05 Interests & hobbies
- 06 Education history
- 07 Skills-match exercise
What’s inside - the field guide in one page
The architecture
The layout decisions that determine whether a recruiter reads your CV or moves on. One page versus two. Columns versus no columns. Why the ATS hates your beautifully designed PDF.
The personal statement
The most-written, worst-written section on most CVs. How to write a personal statement that sounds like you wrote it, not a recruitment website.
Experience: what to say
What a recruiter is actually looking for in your job history. Bullets versus prose. Responsibilities versus achievements. The one-line rule.
Skills and competencies
What to list, what to cut and why Microsoft Office is not a skill. How to make the skills section do work instead of taking up space.
Gaps and transitions
Career breaks, industry changes and the gaps that feel bigger to you than they do to anyone reading. How to handle them honestly and well.
The two universal don’ts
Two things that appear on almost every CV that reduce your chances of being read. No exceptions, no workarounds, no arguments.
The version you submit
The final checks before you send. The version you keep. The version you tailor. And the five-second test that tells you whether you’re ready.
DON’Tthe two things that end the conversation.
Get either of these wrong and the rest of the work won’t save you. Recruiters notice instantly when one has happened and the CV goes on the no pile.
Don’t have AI write it. If a model writes your CV, your CV reads like everybody else’s CV. The pattern is recognisable within seconds and the moment it’s recognised you stop sounding like a person. Use AI to spell-check and tidy grammar. Then stop. The voice has to be yours.
Don’t apply for 200 jobs. Spraying the same CV at every role is a numbers game you lose. Apply for two roles instead and spend the time you saved restructuring your CV so it lands hard on each one. Never lie. But you decide which skills and experience to lead with on which application.
01name. contact. easy to reach.
Recruiters shouldn’t have to hunt for how to contact you. Name at the top, contact details right under it, done in seconds.
Include LinkedIn only if your profile is strong and reflects who you actually are. A weak LinkedIn link does more harm than no link at all.
Recorded an introduction video for a specific role? Host it on YouTube and add the link. It puts you in front of the reader before they’ve even met you. (See Field Guide N°02.)
02be a person. not a press release.
This is the first thing they read about you. If it sounds like a LinkedIn buzzword salad, the connection is already broken. Some people call it a professional statement. Call it whatever you like - just make sure it sounds like you wrote it.
“A creative, structured marketing professional with the ability to engage with customers in both effective and impactful ways…”
“I’m a marketer who learned the trade running events for my mum’s café. Twelve years on, I still believe the best campaigns start with knowing one customer properly. I work best in honest teams. My border collie thinks I should retire and walk her more.”
What to put in it
Bring yourself to life on the page.
- A bit of your story: how you got here
- A touch of your education, if it shaped you
- Your personal values: what you care about
- The kind of workplace you do your best work in
- How you like to manage, or be managed
- The thing your life revolves around dog, garden, goldfish anything real
03a scannable list. with receipts.
Sit this directly under your personal statement. Think of it as a shopping list that a busy recruiter can scan in fifteen seconds and conclude: this person has what we need.
Client relationship management
Held the top three accounts in our region for four years running 100% retention, with an average 22% year-on-year spend uplift through one-to-one relationship work.
EDI & inclusive hiring
Designed and ran our blind-shortlisting process within a year, candidate diversity at interview stage doubled and we won the regional inclusive-employer award.
04tell the whole story.
Latest job first. Work backwards. For each role: company, title, dates then bullet your key responsibilities and underneath them, your key achievements.
Senior account manager · Bright Northern Ltd · Manchester
- Lead a portfolio of 14 enterprise accounts across the UK and Ireland
- Own quarterly business reviews, renewal forecasting and client growth planning
- Grew portfolio revenue by £1.4M in two years
- Winner internal Client Hero award, 2024
- Built the QBR template now used company-wide
Account manager · Halton Group · Leeds
↳ Reason for leaving: promotion at Bright Northern.
- Managed 30+ SME accounts and a junior coordinator
- Cut churn from 18% to 9% in a single year by redesigning onboarding
Roughly ten years of detail is enough. Anything older than that, just bullet the role, the company and the dates. The reader doesn’t need the full anatomy of every job you held in 2008.
05underrated. powerful.
People dismiss this section. They shouldn’t. Interests are how a stranger reading your CV finds a reason to like you before they’ve met you. If the reader runs and you run, you’ve already found your interview opener.
Be specific. “Trail running” beats “running”. “Restoring Vespas” beats “cars”.
Be real. Don’t list things you don’t actually do. It comes out at interview.
Mix it up. A team thing, a solo thing and a creative thing tells a fuller story.
Echo the top. If your personal statement mentions your dog, it can land here too.
Show range. People are interesting when they’re more than one thing.
Volunteering counts. A window into your values, not just your spare time.
Keep it short. Three to six well-chosen lines is plenty. Not a memoir.
Make them curious. The best interests make the reader want to ask you about them.
06don’t be vague.
Where, what, when and if they’re good what you got. Vague education sections quietly suggest you’ve something to hide.
Got strong grades? Say so. A first, a distinction, top GCSE results they belong on the page. Don’t make the reader assume.
Add any meaningful training: certifications, short courses, professional bodies. If it’s relevant to the role, it earns its line.
The further you are into your career, the smaller this section gets. Three lines is fine for a twenty-year veteran. For a graduate, this is where you make your case so use it.
07hand them the answer key.
This is the move that separates good applications from impossible-to-ignore ones. Take the job spec. Line it up against what you’ve done. Hand the reader the receipts.
Put it on its own page, or attach it as a separate document. Every line of the job spec gets a matching line of proof from your career.
| What the job asks for | What I’ve actually done. |
|---|---|
| 5+ years managing enterprise client relationships | 7 years across two firms; current portfolio worth £4.2M. |
| Experience designing onboarding journeys | Built the onboarding flow that cut churn from 18% to 9% at Halton Group. |
| Working knowledge of Salesforce | Daily user since 2019; trained two cohorts of new starters on it. |
| Commitment to EDI in commercial settings | Led blind-shortlisting rollout; doubled diversity at interview stage in 12 months. |
+two things that finish the job.
A great CV alone is rarely enough. These two moves multiply its effect.
If you’ve pointed someone at your LinkedIn, it has to reflect who you actually are. Same tone as the CV. Same story. A recent photo, a headline that says something, a summary written the way you’d speak. Anything less creates doubt where there shouldn’t be any.
A short, well-made video introducing yourself for a specific role puts you in front of the hiring manager before they’ve even seen the rest of your application. Done well, it’s the single most powerful thing you can attach. Look out for Field Guide N°02 on producing one.
ENDnow go write yours.
Take your time on the two you’re going to apply for. Make each CV unmistakably yours. Match the story to the role. Tell them why you’re moving. Bring yourself to life on the page.
more field guides.
The 90 seconds that get you in the room.
How to make an intro video that lands in the yes pile. The script, the setup, the six things that kill it.
Read it →
LinkedIn, properly.
The headline that does the work. The summary that sounds like you wrote it.
Read it →
Interview preparation.
How to prepare without over-rehearsing. What to refuse to answer.
Read it →