Your CV

A CV (curriculum vitae) is a document that gives an overview of your education, work experience and skills. You use it when applying for jobs and other work experience opportunities. A CV should always be tailored to the job you are applying for.

There’s no magic formula for the perfect CV, but there are some sections that you should always include:

• Personal details: your name, phone number and email address. You don’t need your date of birth or a photograph.
• Education: dates, name of institution, name of qualification and grade. UK students don’t need to list every GCSE separately; a summary will do (eg 10 GCSEs, A* to B).
• Work experience: dates, employer name and job title. You can include all your experience (paid work, internships, volunteering) in one ‘work experience’ section or break it up into different categories.

What other sections could you include?

• A personal profile: 3 or 4 lines at the top of your CV summarising your main selling points for the role you’re applying for.
• Skills: to emphasise particular skills you have, such as transferable skills and technical skills that are important for the role you’re applying for. 
• Achievements: usually from your work experience or studies.
• Interests: focusing on the skills you have developed or demonstrated through your interests.

Use the CV checklist in CareerSet to ensure you've covered all aspects of your CV.

Feel like you have nothing to put on your CV? Read our advice on creating a CV when you have little or no experience.

Presenting Your Experience Clearly

The layout of your CV is key to making a great first impression - and ensuring it gets seen by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Many employers use ATS software to scan CVs for keywords and formatting, so keeping it clear and professional is essential.

Tips for a Strong CV Layout:

• Keep it Simple and Professional: Use a clean, standard font (e.g., Arial or Calibri, size 10-12) and avoid graphics, images, or overly creative designs, as these can confuse ATS software.
• Use Logical Headings: Divide your CV into sections (e.g., Education, Work Experience, Skills) with clear headings so ATS and recruiters can navigate it easily.
• Prioritise Key Information: Position the most relevant sections (e.g., Education or Work Experience) near the top of your CV. This may vary depending on the type of role you’re applying for.
• Stick to a Chronological Format: List experiences in reverse chronological order, which is easier for both ATS and recruiters to follow.
• Use Bullet Points: Bullet points are easier to scan than paragraphs. Keep them concise and focus on your achievements and impact.
• Avoid Tables and Text Boxes: Many ATS systems struggle to read text in complex layouts. Use simple formatting instead.
• Check the Job Description for Layout Requirements: While most UK CVs are two pages, some industries (e.g., finance) may expect a one-page CV. Always check the job description for specific instructions.

Why ATS Matters:
If your CV isn’t formatted correctly, it might get rejected - even if you're the ideal candidate.

AI Use for Layout
AI tools can assist with refining the layout of a CV but aren't designed to create a blank template from scratch. AI can help by suggesting ways to organise existing content, offer improvements in formatting, and ensure consistency in headings, font styles, and spacing. This is especially helpful when aiming to meet industry standards or optimise for ATS.

Before using AI in applications, it's important to check the specific industry guidelines to ensure its use meets the expectations and ethical standards. Some sectors may have strict rules on AI-generated content, so reviewing these can help avoid any potential issues

By following these layout tips, you’ll create a CV that’s professional, ATS-friendly, and easy for employers to read.

There are different styles of CV, but the most common is a chronological or conventional CV. We've provided some examples further down this page.

• Conventional or chronological CV: the most common CV format. Lists your education and work experience in reverse chronological order (most recent at the top).
• Skills-based CV: groups your experience under different skill categories. Often used by career changers or where your experience doesn’t directly relate to the role you’re applying for. 
• One-page CV for part-time work: a simple, shorter CV focusing on the skills needed for a particular part-time job while studying.
• Creative CV: used for roles in creative fields such as design, illustration, or media. A creative CV showcases your skills and style, by incorporating visual elements alongside professional information. While effective in creative industries, it is not suitable for most other roles.
• Portfolio CV: combines a traditional CV with a portfolio of work, commonly used in creative fields. It showcases specific examples of your work alongside your education and experience.
• Showreel: commonly requested in fields like TV, film, or media production. A showreel is a curated video highlighting your best work and showcasing your skills in a dynamic and engaging way.
• Academic CV: designed for research posts in universities or research institutes, focusing on your academic achievements, publications, and research experience.

• Optimise for keywords – tailor your CV to match the job description by including keywords from the advert, such as specific skills, tools, or technologies. This helps employers quickly identify that you have the qualities they are seeking
• Active words make more impact - for inspiration, look at Active words for CV (MS Word , 32kb)
• A CV should work for you; adjust headings so they work for the experience you have
• Use grammar and spell check tools in Word or Google Docs, and proofread carefully
• If you are thinking of using AI (artificial intelligence) to write your CV, have a look at some of the things to consider as an applicant.
• Don’t include references unless you’ve been asked to. You don’t need to write ‘references available on request’ as the employer will expect this anyway

Low grades

• If you have extenuating circumstances (eg health, bereavement) state these in a straightforward way in your covering letter.
• Draw attention to areas of higher achievement. For example, if your second year exam marks were low, then include your first year results, or results from coursework or projects.
• For some employers your degree grade is very important in the selection process. Omitting your grade will only make these employers assume you have a low grade. As you get further into your career, degree grades will matter less.
• Think about the order of your CV, so that your positive achievements stand out.

Non-UK qualifications

• List your qualifications as normal but consider including a note such ‘Equivalent to…’ and list the equivalent UK qualification. You should be able to find this information online. UK ENIC (national agency for international qualifications and skills) offers a statement of comparability for a fee.

Course changes

• Don’t leave a time gap on your CV. Present the benefits of this period of study and give a positive, factual reason for the change to another course/university. For example:

2018 -19  Study towards BSc Geography, University of Leeds

Developed analytical and numerical skills though coursework and seminars. Theory was applied to practical situations during field studies.

Achieved average grades of 63% over the two terms, but decided to withdraw from the course to concentrate on my growing interest in psychology.

Lack of work experience

Read our advice on writing a CV with little or no experience. 

Everyone starts somewhere, and even without formal work experience, there are still plenty of ways to create a strong CV. Here are some tips:

• Build your experience where you can. While gaining experience is key to a great CV, it’s okay to start small. Consider volunteering, joining societies, participating in work simulations, or highlighting family or care responsibilities. All of these show valuable skills.
• Think creatively about your experience. Have you been involved in projects, hobbies, or group activities that demonstrate your skills? Even small things, like helping to organise an event or completing an online course, can count.
• Consider a skills-based CV. This type of CV focuses on your transferable skills, helping you to showcase your abilities while you work on gaining more experience.

Many short-term/unrelated jobs

• If your jobs were weekend and vacation jobs, consider whether they all need to be presented (although you should certainly include some work experience or volunteering). It is fine to leave out some of your less impressive pocket-money earners, or jobs that only lasted for a week or two.
• If you have several months or years of temporary work, you could group similar jobs together, for example:

2023 – 2024 Various temporary positions including administrative assistant and data entry clerk. Demonstrated attention to detail, strong keyboard skills, organisation and the flexibility to adapt to different team environments. More details on request.

Disability, health issues or other sensitive information

• You may need to decide how and when to disclose personal or sensitive information.  It may be more appropriate to do this in a cover letter rather than in your CV. See advice on this on our page for disabled students.
• You may want to talk about this with a careers consultant, or watch our session on disclosing a disability from January 2020 (log into the VLE first to access this recording).

Look at these examples to get an idea of the different approaches to creating a CV. All the examples scored over 80% on CareerSet.

The personal information in all these examples is made up of completely fictitious data.

Chronological CVs

• Business and Finance example CV (PDF , 79kb)
• Chemistry example CV (PDF , 59kb)
• Computer Science example CV (PDF , 50kb)
• History example CV (PDF , 81kb)
• History of Art example CV (PDF , 59kb)
• Interactive Media example CV (PDF , 77kb)

Skills-based CVs

• Biology example CV (PDF , 55kb)
• Language and Linguistics example CV (PDF , 61kb)

One-page CVs

• Investment banking one page example CV (PDF , 53kb) (one-page CVs are the norm in investment banking but for most other jobs a two-page CV is expected)
• Temp work CV example (PDF , 511kb)

Academic CVs

• Academic CV examples on Vitae (you might also want to book a place on an academic CV and application session)

Media industry CVs

• Television industry example CV (PDF , 853kb)

You can also find a selection of CV examples from TARGETjobs and Prospects.

Use CareerSet to get immediate feedback on your CV. CareerSet will score your CV and give you tailored advice on how to make it better. You can reupload your CV as many times as you like. Want to know more? Watch this quick overview of CareerSet. CareerSet also lets you upload a job description and will tell you how well your CV is tailored for the job.

If you have recently had a job rejection, watch our guide on what to do if you keep getting rejected.

If you have particular concerns about your CV or questions that CareerSet can't help with, we can help. You can request written feedback via Handshake or speak to us about your CV in the daily careers drop-in or in an appointment. Check our Contact us page for more information.

To request written CV feedback:

• Upload your CV to your Handshake Documents (no need to make it 'visible'; read Handshake's guide on uploading a document)
• Message the Careers Information Team requesting a review and tell us as much information as possible, such as:
  • your latest CareerSet score
  • the job you are applying for, with a link
  • the application deadline, if important
  • any particular concerns or questions you have about your CV.

We give feedback within five working days. Due to student demand we can't give repeat feedback on the same document and we don't proofread for grammar and spelling. Use Grammarly, or the tools available in Word or Google Docs to help with this.