CV formats: What is important for content, structure and order?

CV structure: Important things to keep in mind

A strong CV needs a clear and well-structured layout, as recruiters want to be able to skim your application easily. By organising your CV to highlight your most important qualifications, you help them to achieve a quick overview of you. Your CV should be structured to highlight your skills and background information. Try to look at it from an employer's perspective: which skills and qualifications would make you the right person for the job? This is exactly the kind of information that you should highlight in your CV. When coming up with a structure for your CV, here's what should be included:

• The “Personal details” section of your CV should contain key personal information about you, such as your name and address. This section of your CV can be kept rather short, however, as the Equality Act 2010 has made much of this personal information optional. For example, your marital status or place of birth can both be considered protected characteristics. This means that employers are not allowed to assess your qualifications for the job based on this personal information. However, some recruiters still like to know where you're from and how old you are. So, if you're confident that a specific piece of personal information won't lead to recruiters discriminating against you, you may as well include it in your CV.
• The “professional experience” section should be a concise list of all your relevant work experience. For every entry, you should include your job title and the name of your employer, as well as a short description of your responsibilities and the work you carried out regularly while employed there. You can also mention internships in this section of your CV. Just ensure to not clutter the list – keep it informative and concise, mentioning the most important successes and milestones achieved on the job.
• The "education" section should list all your educational qualifications, including GCSEs, university degrees or vocational qualifications. It should also include any qualifications you've gained through training programmes. Ideally, you'll want to highlight any qualifications that are directly relevant to the job for which you're applying, as well as any prestigious schools or universities you've attended. But keep in mind: as you gain more and more work experience, this section of your CV becomes less and less relevant to your prospective employer.
• "Skills and abilities" should be the next section of your CV. This section includes any additional qualifications you have acquired independently or while working in a specialised job. IT skills and language skills are often listed in this section of the CV. Just remember, you want to give your future employer a good idea of how proficient you are with these skills. It's always useful to have a certificate that proves your near-native skills in a foreign language, for example.
• A final "hobbies" section is entirely optional, though it can be helpful for your prospective employer. Consider if any of your hobbies and personal interests may reflect positively on your qualification for the job. Your hobbies can demonstrate desirable skills and character traits, such as a creative mind or the ability to work well as part of a team.

What is the correct order for your CV?

The order of the individual sections of your CV isn't set in stone, but it’s advisable to start with your personal details. This allows recruiters to identify applicants easily. When choosing the next section of your CV, you're free to emphasise whichever aspect of your background that would strengthen your application.

For example, you can list your achievements in education first if you don't have a lot of work experience yet, or you can list your work experience first if you've gathered valuable skills through years of employment. Generally speaking, you should place your work experience after your personal details if you already have several years of experience working in a job. In either case, your educational and professional experience is followed by your "skills and abilities".

If your prospective employer prefers to use application forms to hire new employees, the structure of your CV may not be as relevant, since it will likely be determined by the structure of the form. However, it's wise to keep in mind all the points we've discussed regarding which details you should emphasise in your application, even when completing a standardised application form.

CV order: chronological or anti-chronological?

Since the structure of your CV isn't set in stone, you can also organise the information within each section as you see fit. Autobiographical information such as your work and educational experience should be structured in one of two ways:

• In chronological order: You list the stages of your life in chronological order, ending with the most recent one. This way, your current job or internship will be at the bottom of the list. This used to be the standard for job applications in many countries.
• In anti-chronological order: You start with the current stage of your life and go back in time. This way of structuring autobiographical information has quickly become the new standard as it puts your most recent accomplishments at the top where recruiters can easily see them.

CV design: which formatting suits the structure?

There's no need to experiment with the design and structure of your CV, as the two-column, tabular CV is the established standard. The left-hand column usually contains the dates, while the right-hand column lists the corresponding information about your employment situation at the time. Use formatting or colours to highlight key points only when absolutely necessary – and be consistent about what you highlight. This will make important information stand out without distracting the recruiter with constant shifts in format.

When selecting fonts and font sizes, always emphasise clarity over aesthetics. Recruiters prefer easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman with a font size of 11 or 12 pt. Use bold type and italics sparingly, if at all. Less is often more when crafting your CV for a recruiter. When applying for a position as a designer or a similar profession, you may be able to catch the recruiter's attention by using creative design ideas. However, readability should be the primary goal in your CV’s design.

Choose a professional CV template

Don't worry about the structure or design of your CV. Just fill in the template and get the job of your dreams!

Templates

Can a CV be two pages long?

Typically, your CV should be as short and concise as possible. For most job seekers, this means one page. If you have an extensive professional career and can demonstrate a wide range of knowledge, skills, and educational qualifications relevant to the job for which you're applying, you can spread that information out over two pages. You definitely shouldn't try to squeeze too much information into one page, but be sure not to overload your CV with too much information on two pages either. Be concise and focus on the information that's actually relevant to the job for which you're applying. That way, you may be able to fit all the relevant information onto one page after all.