Recruiters tend to spend very little time on a first read of a CV, so the useful information has to be easy to find. A good CV doesn't list everything you've done; it puts the items most relevant to the role up front. These steps give you a simple route when starting from scratch.
1. Start with the target
Instead of sending the same CV to every posting, read the job ad and note the skills it asks for. Move the matching experience and skills up and shorten the rest. This doesn't mean rewriting the CV each time; adjusting order and emphasis is enough.
2. Put the sections in the right order
- Header: name, target title, phone, email, city. Add a LinkedIn or portfolio link if you have one.
- Profile summary: two to four sentences — who you are, how many years in which field, and what you're looking for.
- Work experience: newest first. For each entry give title, company, dates and two to four bullets.
- Education: before experience if you are a recent graduate, after it if you are experienced.
- Skills, languages, certifications: choose those relevant to the ad; don't list hundreds of tool names.
3. Write results, not duties
“Prepared sales reports” describes a duty; “Improved stock planning with weekly sales reports, cutting waste by 12%” describes a result. If you don't have a figure, give the scale: team size, number of customers, budget. Start each bullet with an action verb and keep it to one or at most two lines.
Don't invent numbers. When there's no exact figure, “about” or a range is honest and enough; assume you will be asked about it in the interview.
4. Length and look
- One page is usually enough for a few years of experience; two is reasonable for a long career.
- Use at most two typefaces and a single accent colour. Generous white space reads better than dense text.
- Be consistent: date format, bullet style and capitalisation should be the same throughout.
5. Should you include a photo?
In Turkey a CV photo is common and many employers expect it. When applying to other countries (for example the US or UK) a photo is usually left out; follow local practice unless the ad says otherwise. If you include one, choose a sharp, professional shot against a plain background.
6. Save as PDF and name the file
- Download as a PDF: A PDF looks the same on every device; a Word file can break with different fonts or page sizes.
- Name the file clearly: Something like first-last-cv.pdf. “CV_final_final2.pdf” tells the employer nothing.
- Check the text is selectable: If you can select text with the mouse in the PDF, hiring systems can read it too.
Finally, show your CV to a friend and ask what they remember after 30 seconds. If it isn't what you want to stand out, change the order.