A blog by Zeshan Amjad, featuring thoughts on topics like career development, software engineering, design and finance.

Writing a CV They Can't Ignore


Securing a job this year is going to be a struggle for most people. Whether you're a new graduate trying to get your foot in the door of an industry, or you've been made redundant and are looking to get back on your feet. Whatever your circumstances, your chances of getting a great new job usually start in the same place as everyone else: your CV. Here's how to write a CV that recruiters will *want* to read.

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Before we get started, **who am I, and why should you listen to me?** I'm currently an Associate at a global asset management firm, and I review the CVs of vulnerable people for a British charity ([The Prince's Trust](https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/)). Recruitment, and resumes in particular, are something I see all the time, and I'd love to share a few tips to help you improve yours. Still interested? Let's get started!

# 1 page, max. No, really.

I completely see the appeal of including everything you've ever done of note in your CV. These achievements were likely hard-won, and you have a right to be proud of them, no matter how small they are. But a lot of the CVs I've read come out at over the three-page mark. The chances of all three pages being critically relevant to the role that you've applied for are near-zero. 

Think about when you're trying to choose between a handful of different products to buy - are you looking to read three pages of prose about each one? Or would you prefer a **single, focused page**, with the most relevant features for you highlighted in bold?

> If your CV is the length of a short novel, you are likely not even making it to the evaluation stage.

Recruiters are inundated with CVs to read, and the best way to make sure yours isn't passed over immediately is making it as easy as possible to extract information from it. If your CV is the length of a short novel, you are likely not even making it to the evaluation stage. It's too difficult to pull out the relevant information to make a decision, from such a large sea of text. You're getting passed over. Brevity, and focus will give you a fighting chance of making it through. So stick to one page.

# Customise your CV for each type of role

One of the most common reasons I've seen for lengthy CVs is that the candidate is applying for a variety of jobs, often in entirely different industries, with vastly different skills required. Instead of trying to cram *all* of your experience into a single one-size-fits-all CV, try to create separate CVs for each *type* of role you're applying for. 

![/static/cv/image_(1).png](/static/cv/image_(1).png)

For example, when applying for a customer service role, you could use the version that emphasises your retail experience and social skills. If you're applying for a job as an engineer, you can use the CV that emphasises your degree and engineering projects, and so on. This focus will give you a much higher chance of success in each role.

All of this customisation sounds like a lot of work, but here's a really quick, simple way to get it done, without writing any new content:

1. Create a "parent" document, with all of the possible things you could include on your CV.
2. For each type of job (e.g. sales, recruitment, engineer), create a new blank document and copy over the sections, jobs, or achievements that are most relevant for that job type. Make sure you keep to a single page!

# Bullet points, not prose.

![/static/cv/image_(4).png](/static/cv/image_(4).png)

When it comes to making it easy for employers to pick out information from your CV, bullet points have a massive advantage over prose. Here's a bullet pointed list to explain why:

- They naturally force you to divide your thoughts into easily-digestible, bite-sized chunks.
- They release you from having to make your sentences be entirely grammatically correct, freeing up valuable space on  the page.
- Your ideas become more cohesive, as a single bullet point stands alone, and has to make sense without the reader having read everything around it.
- The reader can clearly see the start and end of each piece of information on the page, and their eyes can dart and dash around to whatever catches their attention.

All of this adds to the readability of your CV, and massively reduces the amount of time needed to figure out whether you're a suitable candidate.

# Use the AR format to talk about your achievements.

A common piece of advice for CVs is to use the **STAR** (Situation-Task-Activity-Result) format for each bullet point. I think that this is excessive and can lead a lot of people into writing long sections of prose, which is (as already mentioned) harder to read quickly. I recommend flipping this idea on its head, and including the minimum information needed to make the point. Try starting with just Activity-Result, or **AR**, for each bullet point, and add only as much context as you need for the sentence to make sense.

Here are some examples:

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### Before

*In July 2019, I actively sought a month-long intensive Italian language course to bring my year abroad to a close. I spent my evenings and weekends developing my language skills through rigorous self-study, as well as orchestrating events and trips for myself and fellow students, including a wine-tasting evening at a local restaurant.*

### After (using AR format)

- *Month-long **intensive Italian language course** completed during a year abroad.*
- *Organised 4 cultural trips and events for fellow students, **communicating fluently** with local businesses to negotiate a **40% volume discount** for our group's excursions.*

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### Before

*Between March 2018 and September 2019, I was employed at Johnson's News Accounting Centre during university holidays. This was initially a temporary administrative role, but my efficient independent management of a bulk mail output led to my contract being extended and my position changed to Accounts Payable Clerk. I had no prior experience in accounting, but my quick progression demonstrates my ability to quickly adapt to new professional challenges. The role required me to contact suppliers by telephone, process and manage invoice payments, chase senior employees to commence the receipting process, use relevant software systems including SAP, and carry out various administrative tasks. I also voluntarily completed out-of-hours work at busy periods, such as year-end.*

### After (using AR format)

- *Independently managed two **national-scale bulk mail outputs** (March 2018 & July 2018).*
- *Success in this administrative project led to my **contract being extended** and being **promoted** to Accounts Payable Clerk.*

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> Apply this idea across your entire CV, and your biggest accomplishments will be screaming out to the hiring manager

If I asked you to tell me the most impressive things mentioned in the *"Before"* excerpts, it'd probably take you a while, and you'd hate every minute of it. But notice how much easier the *"After"* versions are to scan, and to pick out key achievements from. Apply this idea across your entire CV, and your biggest accomplishments will be screaming out to the hiring manager - leaving you with a much better chance of making it past résumé screens.

# Results, outcomes, and concrete numbers.

> This is a crucial component of a good CV, and is what elevates your content from a boring description of your duties to a solid sales pitch.

If you're using the STAR format for bullet points, or my trimmed down AR format from above, they both suggest you end on the same point: results. Whatever task or activity you did, what was the outcome? What impact did you have? This is a crucial component of a good CV, and is what elevates your content from a boring description of your duties to a solid sales pitch. 

If you "served customers efficiently", why not mention that you reduced the average customer's waiting time by 20%? If you "implemented a smarter checkout system", why not mention that it increased revenues by £100k after it was deployed?

![/static/cv/image_(2).png](/static/cv/image_(2).png)

The more you can focus on what you **achieved**, rather than what you **did**, the more impressive your CV will seem. Including numbers makes your achievements measurable, and makes them much more credible. They also give a sense of scale, showing the hiring manager just how much impact you could have if they choose to hire you. 

# Perfect your formatting and structure.

The format and style of your CV can be a massive boost to how professional you seem. Equally, the greatest text content in the world will be ignored entirely if it's delivered in the professional equivalent of rainbow Comic Sans. It really matters how your CV looks at a glance - it would be a massive shame for poor formatting to prevent your actual profile from even being considered.

## Templates

I find that CVs using a [LaTeX template](https://www.overleaf.com/gallery/tagged/cv) usually look the most professional due to the clean typography and rigid formatting. It's harder for things to look "off" in LaTeX, as by default you're given much less control over layout. One of my favourite starting points (and the one I used as a base for my own CV) is [this template by Sourabh Bajaj](https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/software-engineer-resume/gqxmqsvsbdjf). Even if you don't know how to use LaTeX, you can get to grips with it relatively quickly: just clone a template using Overleaf, and start replacing the placeholder content with your own. If you want to avoid LaTeX, I'd recommend recreating a similar look and feel in your word processor of choice.

## Fonts

Keep the number of colours used to a minimum. Black-and-white, or tasteful use of a single color, will prevent your CV from looking too busy. Use **bold** to make keywords stand out.

Avoid using a default font like Calibri. I recommend a serif from [Computer Modern](https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/computer-modern) (this is LaTeX's default font), or a professional sans-serif like [Inter](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Inter). Google Fonts has a large number of free fonts for you to download, but stick to a maximum of two: one for headings and one for body text. [FontPair](https://fontpair.co/) can help you to choose fonts that look good together.

## Structure

The top of your CV should contain your name, email address and phone number. A short, one-sentence objective summary can be helpful, but usually isn't necessary. **Do not include:** photos of yourself, your address, or "star" ratings of your skills. The first two aren't relevant, take up a lot valuable space, and even open you up to discrimination based on your appearance. "Star" ratings of your skills are [extremely subjective, and essentially meaningless](https://workplace.stackexchange.com/a/75700). Anything less than 4 stars is essentially calling attention to your weaknesses - why bother? Use your bullet points to explain the amazing things you've used your skills to do. Humans respond better to stories than statistics anyway.

> Set yourself up to look great from the first word the hiring manager reads.

![/static/cv/image.png](/static/cv/image.png)

The order of the sections on your CV will depend on what you want to bring attention to. If you're a recent graduate, it makes sense to put Education as your first section. If you're an experienced professional, Work Experience is a great headline section. For a freelancer, it might serve you well to lead with Projects. Set yourself up to look great from the first word the hiring manager reads.

In general, you should not include a section for hobbies unless you're sure they're relevant, or they're evidence of great achievements that will show you in a positive light.

# Summary

In summary, writing a great CV means remembering that it is inherently a sales pitch. The best pitches are brief, focused and easy to follow. With that in mind, keep your CV to one page. Always include the results of what you did, with numbers if at all possible. Pick a template and font that looks professional. Use bold to draw the reader's attention to the important words and phrases. In short, sell yourself well.

Thoughts on...