How to write a good CV

In times where complexity is easy to create, simplicity is a welcome change.

A good CV is one that gets you an interview. A CV for a data science position will not get you an interview for a full stack developer role. So you need to tailor your CV based on the position you apply for. As long as you meet 75% of the requirements, you are fine.

The second most important thing is time. For this, you need to understand how hiring works:

  1. The hiring manager gets money to hire someone for a position. He usually has no experience in recruiting, so what he does is he hires a recruiter to do the job.
  2. The recruiter gets a job description from the hiring manager, and scans for required keywords in job applications. He is valued based on three metrics: Volume of hire, how quick they are able to fulfill those roles and satisfaction of the candidates. Therefore he does not have time to read any given job application in detail. You need to proove within 20 seconds that you are worth the hiring manager’s time.

Most people search on online platforms like linkedin and indeed. What they don’t know is that the job was probably published weeks ago on the company’s website. One of the most important things is to apply fast. ATS track your application, but a recruiter has limited time to fill in the position. so after the first 100 resumes come in, he has plenty options to look at, and even if the ideal candidate might be in position 150, he will never be looked at. After filling up the hiring managers calendar with interviews, if no candidate in the first round, the next batch might be looked at. So you might get lucky. That is why speed is most important.

Identify the keywords in the job description

You don’t need to generate a new CV for every job description. Most job descriptions for similar positions look for the same things. You need to identify the keywords across several job descriptions in your domain, and prioritize them based on their frequency. The more important a keyword is, the higher up in your CV it should be mentioned.

Personal information and education

This goes without saying, as there is not much you can change about it. Include all information required for the hiring manager to contact and find out more about you before the interview.

For the education, keep it short. If you have a Bachelors and a masters degree in the same field, it is enough to mention only the higher one. Every extra line in your CV adds additional friction when reading.

Work experience

Your goal is to impress the recruiter/hiring manager within the least amount of time possible. Every bullet in your resume should include at least three keywords from the keywords list and needs to be basic enough that someone with no industry knowledge could understand. Avoid making it longer than 300 charactes and don’t repeat yourself. The easier your CV is to read, the higher your chances that your CV will be forwarded to the hiring manager.

Focus your bullets entirely on the keywords. This shows you have read and understood the job requirements. The most important keywords should be in the first bullets, so the recruiter can not miss them. Add 3-8 bullet points for every work experience. Everything above that looks bloated.

A LLM can help you a lot with the writing, but it tends to use pompous formulations and hallucinate work experience. Don’t exagerate, don’t lie, as this will reflect badly on you in the interview. Be honest. Explain gaps. Avoid the HM having unanswered questions.

Formatting

Your CV will most certainly be scanned by an ATS. It is important that it can extract the information from the PDF programatically. There are some knock out questions that an ATS scans for, and if you don’t meet the criteria because your CV could not be parsed correctly, you will be excluded before a recruiter even sees your resume. So for this reason, keep the formatting simple.

TODO: link to resources -> resume-formatting keyword

Once a recruiter sees your CV you need to impress with clarity. Anything that distracts the reader reduces the chance of success. Use consistent and easy to read fonts, clear spacing between sections, a good line height. Avoid horizontal lines, bolded keywords or a colourful experience. Design starts with words. Remember, the goal of a CV is to get you an interview, not to win a beauty contest.

If you’re concerned about your CV being rejected by an AI scanner, a well-drafted email accompanying your application could be an effective follow-up measure1. Read How to write a good cover letter next.

Resume tools

There are hundreds of resume writing tools that you can use. Check out the resources page for a comprehensive list of tools.

TODO: link to resources -> resume-tools keyword

Our own CVMaker guides you through the process step by step, as described on this website. Scan and get immediate feedback on your CV for free by subscribing to our Newsletter, where you will get information about updates to our website and how the hiring process is changing over time. Or build your CV step by step with the paid plan.

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Footnotes

  1. Beat the Bots: How To Get Your CV Past an ATS | Hays ↩