How to Write a CV

A woman's hands hover over a computer's keyboard. She appears to be typing.

For most people, a curriculum vitae CV) is basically the same as a resume. A well-written CV can help you get noticed by prospective employers and get your foot in the door for an interview.

But if you live in the U.S. and a few other areas of the world, a CV is a specific type of resume. It’s typically used for jobs in science and academia.

Wondering how to write a CV? Here’s what you need to know.

CV vs. Resume—What’s the Difference?

The difference between a curriculum vitae and a resume depends on where you’re applying for a job. In most of the world, the terms “CV” and “resume” are used interchangeably. But if you’re in the U.S. or a few other countries, CVs are typically used in academic or research fields. A good academic CV is usually longer than a resume, and it includes a more detailed accounting of your work history, academic experience, and relevant skills.

In most cases outside the U.S., a CV is the same as a resume. It’s shorter than an academic CV, which means you have less time to grab the attention of a prospective hiring manager. A CV is the key to landing a job interview, so it’s important you follow a few simple rules when writing your CV.

General CV and Resume Tips

While each hiring manager looks for something different in a resume, there are a few general tips you should always follow.

1. Use legible fonts

You want your CV to stand out, but it’s important to ensure that your CV is legible. If the hiring manager can’t even read your contact information, how are they supposed to contact you for an interview—let alone review your relevant experience? In general, try to stick to basic fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.

2. Stick to 1 page

Recruiters commonly get hundreds of applications for a single role. On average, they spend only a few seconds looking at your CV, so an effective CV doesn’t waste time. Keep your CV to a single page whenever possible. That may mean you have to pick and choose which items from your work history you put on the page, and that’s okay. Stick with the experience that’s most relevant.

3. Customize your resume to the position

Want to know a secret? Most hiring managers use AI to help them filter through CVs. So the best way to advance your job search and get noticed in the crowd is to customize your CV based on the job listing. Try to identify key words in the job description, then use those words in your CV. You can also play around with your previous job titles—especially if your official title at your previous job didn’t accurately describe all your responsibilities. If you have a long enough work history, you should also be picking and choosing the experience you choose to share. Recruiters want to see that you picked up transferable skills that will help you in this new role.

4. Don’t use pictures

Pictures take up valuable space on your CV. They can also be a liability, as they introduce factors like race, gender, and other protected statuses. If you’re submitting an application through an online hiring portal, there’s also a good chance that your picture won’t come through. Scrap the headshot and stick with the meat of what the hiring manager is looking for: your experience and skills.

5. Get help

Every CV can benefit from having someone else look it over. If anything is unclear about your experience or skills, someone else may be able to spot it more clearly than you can. Ask a trusted friend, family member, or job coach to review your CV. And be sure to edit your CV for spelling and other grammar errors—it never hurts to look more professional.

CV Sections

Again, each industry is a little different when it comes to the correct structure for a CV. But generally speaking, here are a few sections that every CV needs.

Contact information

Work experience

As previously mentioned, it’s important to filter your history down to your most relevant work experience. And while chronological CVs are typical, you don’t necessarily have to list your work history in order. You may want to play around with listing your most relevant experience first to emphasize how qualified you are for the job.

In this section of your CV, you should describe your previous roles. However, you don’t want to simply list the responsibilities you had—that doesn’t help a prospective employer understand how good you were at your role or the skills you bring to the table. List your responsibilities as a list of achievements and hard skills. Use power statements. So instead of saying, “Responsible for developing training programs,” say “Developed a training program that contributed to a 35% increase in customer participation.” This gives your prospective employer a much clearer picture of how you could contribute to their team.

Education

Optional CV Sections

If you need to pad your CV a bit more or if one of these sections would add to your prospective employer’s understanding of your qualifications for the role, consider adding any of the following sections to your CV. Be sure to keep the most relevant sections at the top of your CV to ensure that hiring managers see your key skills.

Objective/summary

Skills

If you don’t have a long employment history but feel that you have the skills needed to do the job, you may want to consider including a skills section. This would be a good place to list soft skills, like “willingness to learn” or “friendly personality.” You could also use this section to list language skills and other relevant experience that doesn’t fit neatly into a work experience. Depending on your experience, you may want to use a skills section in place of a work history section, listing your applicable skills and the work history that showcases those skills (this CV writing technique is great if you have gaps in your employment history).

Awards

Certifications

References

Other

Academic CVs

If you’re applying for a teaching or research position, your prospective employer may need you to submit an academic CV. Academic CVs are generally longer than typical resumes and CVs, and they focus more on your academic achievements.

That being said, your work history is still an important part of your academic CV, so be sure to include it. Your education section should also be more prominent than it would be on a standard CV, as it will likely list more qualifications, degrees, and experiences. You should also be sure to list any research experience and publications.

Just like with resumes, job seekers should be sure to keep their academic CVs relevant to the job they’re applying for. So instead of listing every article you’ve ever published, stick with related articles that showcase your expertise for the role. You should also remember to put your most relevant experience first. So if you’re applying for a teaching job, put your teaching experience front and center—even if it comes before your most recent professional experience.

Other than that, there aren’t a lot of specific guidelines for academic CVs. Acceptable formatting can vary wildly depending on the field you’re applying for, so be sure to check out CV examples from your industry to see what the standard practices are.

Get Started

Still not sure how to write a CV that’s perfect for your job search? That’s okay! There are lots of CV templates online that can help. The most important thing is to get started and start getting feedback. As you continue to refine your curriculum vitae and work with trusted friends, family members, and coaches, you’ll begin to find what works best to showcase your experience and skills until you have the perfect CV to land job interviews.

Join a Job Search Group

Get Personalized Help

Search Job Leads

Ask an Expert

Attend an Online Workshop

Contact Us