Do I need a cover letter as well as a CV?

If the advert asks for one, yes, and it should be short and specific to the role. If it does not, a three-paragraph cover letter still helps when you are changing careers or explaining something the CV cannot. Otherwise the CV does the work.

What should I do about a gap in employment?

Do not hide it; the dates give it away. One line in the CV or the cover letter (parental leave, study, redundancy followed by a job search, caring responsibilities) closes the question before anyone starts guessing.

Should I include my date of birth, nationality or a photo?

Not for the UK, US, Ireland, Canada or Australia. Employers there avoid anything that could be used to discriminate and some will set the CV aside. In much of continental Europe a photo is still common; a date of birth is increasingly left out everywhere.

Should I list references on my CV?

No. Employers ask for them at offer stage. Listing names and phone numbers takes up space and exposes other people's contact details. If you want to signal they exist, "References available on request" is enough.

Is it worth listing hobbies and interests?

Only if they say something useful: a marathon runner applying for a sales role, a club treasurer applying for a finance role. "Reading, travel and music" tells the recruiter nothing and takes a line you could use for a result.

How to write a CV step by step

Most advice on how to write a CV repeats the same generalities. This guide focuses on the one thing that actually changes a recruiter's decision: how you describe what you have done.

Start with the job advert, not with yourself

The most common mistake is writing one CV and sending it everywhere. A recruiter is not looking for the best candidate in general. They are looking for the candidate who matches a specific job description, and usually they have a checklist.

Before you write anything, read the advert and note the words that come up more than once: tools, qualifications, responsibilities. Those are the requirements that also went into the software filtering the applications. If the advert says "SQL" and your CV says "databases", the filter does not find you, and neither does the person skimming it.

Contact details and the opening statement

At the top: your name, phone number, a professional email address, city and country, and a LinkedIn URL if the profile is current. In the UK and US, leave out your date of birth, nationality, marital status and photo. None of them helps and each can hurt.

Below that, three or four sentences. In the UK it is a personal statement, in the US a summary. Who you are professionally, how many years of experience, what you are specifically good at and what you are looking for. This is the only section worth rewriting for every application.

Weak: "Dynamic, results-driven professional with a passion for excellence seeking a challenging role in a fast-paced environment."
Strong: "Accountant with six years in manufacturing, ACCA-qualified, specialising in month-end close and cost reporting. Cut close time from eight days to four at my current employer. Looking for a senior role in a group finance team."

Work experience: results, not duties

This is the difference between a CV that gets rejected and one that gets an interview. For each role give the job title, employer, location and dates (month and year), then three to five bullet points. Each bullet should start with a verb and, wherever possible, end with a number.

Weak: "Responsible for sales reporting and customer contact."
Strong: "Automated the weekly sales report in SQL and Power BI, cutting preparation from six hours to twenty minutes."
Weak: "Managed the company's social media."
Strong: "Grew the company LinkedIn page from 400 to 3,200 followers in twelve months with no paid promotion."
Verbs that work: delivered, reduced, increased, launched, negotiated, built, automated, trained, resolved, saved. Verbs that do not: assisted with, was responsible for, helped, participated in.
Numbers that work: money saved or earned, time cut, volume handled, team size, error rate, customer satisfaction, percentage change. If you cannot measure it, describe the outcome in one concrete sentence instead.

Education, skills and everything else

Education goes below experience once you have a few years of work behind you: degree, institution, year. Grades only if they are recent and good. Modules and dissertation topics only for your first job.

Skills is a short list of specific things: software, programming languages, certifications, spoken languages with a level. Soft skills belong in the experience bullets as evidence, not in a list. "Stakeholder management" means nothing on its own; "presented monthly results to the board" means something.

Everything else is optional. Certifications and licences if the job needs them. Volunteering if it is substantial or relevant. Hobbies only if they say something a recruiter cares about. References are not listed on a UK or US CV; "available on request" is enough, and even that line is usually left out.

How long should a CV be

One page in the US for almost everyone below executive level. In the UK and continental Europe two pages is normal for experienced candidates and one page for anyone with less than about five years of work. Whatever the market, the second page has to earn its place: if it is there only because the font is large and the margins are wide, it is working against you.

The free builder asks for your target market in the first step and uses the right page size, section names and conventions for it, which removes most of these decisions.

Common mistakes

A typo in the name of the company you are applying to. An out-of-date phone number. A gap in employment with no explanation at all. A list of soft skills with nothing in the experience section to back them up. Job descriptions pasted from the contract. Bullet points that all start with "Responsible for". A file named "cv_final_v3_FINAL.pdf".

And the one that sinks applications silently: sending a file the applicant tracking system cannot read. That deserves its own guide, on ATS-friendly CVs.

Write your CV step by step

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need a cover letter as well as a CV?: If the advert asks for one, yes, and it should be short and specific to the role. If it does not, a three-paragraph cover letter still helps when you are changing careers or explaining something the CV cannot. Otherwise the CV does the work.
What should I do about a gap in employment?: Do not hide it; the dates give it away. One line in the CV or the cover letter (parental leave, study, redundancy followed by a job search, caring responsibilities) closes the question before anyone starts guessing.
Should I include my date of birth, nationality or a photo?: Not for the UK, US, Ireland, Canada or Australia. Employers there avoid anything that could be used to discriminate and some will set the CV aside. In much of continental Europe a photo is still common; a date of birth is increasingly left out everywhere.
Should I list references on my CV?: No. Employers ask for them at offer stage. Listing names and phone numbers takes up space and exposes other people's contact details. If you want to signal they exist, "References available on request" is enough.
Is it worth listing hobbies and interests?: Only if they say something useful: a marathon runner applying for a sales role, a club treasurer applying for a finance role. "Reading, travel and music" tells the recruiter nothing and takes a line you could use for a result.