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How to write a CV, step by step

A CV has one job: to get you an interview. Recruiters give a first CV about ten seconds, so everything below is organised the way they read — essentials first, proof early, nothing that wastes a line.

1. Start with the contact block — small and complete

Your name (large, exactly as it appears on your ID), the job title you are applying for, one professional email address, a phone number you actually answer, and your city. Add a LinkedIn or portfolio link only if it is current. Never add your full home address, date of birth or ID numbers — they add risk, not value, and a city is all an employer needs at this stage.

2. Write the summary after everything else

The summary sits at the top but is easiest to write last, once you can see your strongest material. Two to four lines: role and years, your best skills for this job, and one measurable proof point. We have a full guide with summary examples by job type, and the AI summary generator can draft candidates from your own facts — it is not allowed to invent any.

3. Experience: bullets that prove, not duties that list

List jobs most recent first. Under each, three to five bullets, every one starting with an action verb (managed, built, served, reduced, trained) and — where it is true — a number: customers served, accuracy held, money saved, time cut. “Responsible for the till” is a duty; “Kept till accuracy at 98% across 200+ transactions a week” is evidence. If you are early in your career, internships, part-time work, family business help and substantial volunteer roles all count — describe them with the same seriousness.

4. Education, with the level made explicit

Highest qualification first: qualification name, institution, years. For European applications add the EQF level if you know it — the Europass format expects it. Recent graduates can include genuinely relevant coursework or a final-year project; experienced professionals should keep education compact and let the work record lead.

5. Skills: specific, grouped, honest

Name tools, systems and techniques — “POS systems, stock counts, Excel (pivot tables)” beats “good with computers”. Mirror the wording of the job ad where it honestly matches you: screening software searches for those exact terms. Never list a skill you could not demonstrate in an interview; the gap is always found, and always at the worst moment.

6. Languages, with levels

“English — fluent” is vague. Use the CEFR scale (A1 beginner to C2 mastery) across the five skills — listening, reading, spoken interaction, spoken production, writing — exactly as the Europass template prints them. Multilingual candidates undersell themselves constantly; a structured grid makes the strength unmistakable.

7. Check it like a machine, then like a human

Run your draft through the free ATS checker to catch missing sections and weak bullets, then read it aloud once — aloud reading finds the typos and tangled sentences that screens hide. Finally, check the preview the way a recruiter will: ten seconds, eyes moving top to bottom. If the strongest proof is not visible in those ten seconds, move it up.

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