
How to Write a CV: Examples & Tips to Make Your CV Great
A complete guide to writing a CV that gets jobs, with examples and insider tips that will make the process easy and quick. The time for learning how to write a CV starts now.
Changing careers? No traditional, linear work history? Long spells of past unemployment? Or perhaps you don’t have much work experience at all? You might feel tempted to write a skills based CV, instead of a traditional, reverse-chronological one.
Not so fast.
Skills based CVs, though advantageous to some, are suitable for very few groups of jobseekers.
A skills based CV (also known as a functional CV or simply a “skills CV”) highlights your skills and qualifications rather than work experience. Skills based CVs are a good choice for career-changers, candidates applying to highly specialized positions, or candidates in creative industries with lots of freelancing experience.
Contrary to popular belief, functional CVs are not ideal for people with major employment gaps. Why?
Mostly because, for years, they have been recommended as a perfect means to camouflage imperfect work histories. The effect? The skills-based CV format has become an instant flashy neon screaming “I’m trying to hide something!”
If you’re entertaining a thought of writing a functional/skills-based CV, you need to be very careful to avoid some typical rookie mistakes. Luckily, you’ve come across this guide.
Read on and you’ll see:
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Sample skills-based CV made with our builder—See more CV examples and create your CV here.
For general tips on CV formatting, see our dedicated guide: CV Format and Structure: Examples and Templates
Find a CV example for your profession in our repository. See: CV Examples for All Jobs
The first thing you have to do when writing a skills based CV is divide it into proper sections in the correct order. Here’s how:
This way, a CV in a skills based format emphasizes your abilities and qualifications, taking some pressure off of the work history. That, however, doesn’t mean you can just list all the skills you think you have in whatever order you deem right. You still have to validate your skills—ideally, by providing real examples of how you put them to use in the workplace.
Read on to see skills based CV examples that illustrate how to do it. Plus, step-by-step guidelines to help you create your CV in no time.
List:
This section works like a trailer for the rest of your CV. It’s the first thing the hiring manager will see.
Make the CV profile short (up to 80 words) and relevant. Give an outline of who you are, what skills you’ve mastered and, most importantly, what you have to offer. If you’re working in a creative industry, include links to your professional websites or portfolio.
Functional/Skills Based CV Example: Personal Profile/Statement
I am a results-driven King's College graduate in Journalism and Social Communication seeking to leverage two years of internship and freelancing PR experience to help XYZ Corp generate more meaningful leads in the upcoming months. Experienced in producing engaging online content (see my portfolio here) and press releases for tech start-ups and local IT companies. Non-profit blogger at www.pr-matters.wordpress.co.uk. I am mainly interested in digital PR solutions including the automatisation of customer relations via AI-based email campaigns and chatbots.
When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional CV template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
Learn more here: CV Personal Statement/Personal Profile Examples & a Writing Guide
This is the most crucial part of a functional CV. Meat and potatoes, if you will. Here’s how to turn it into chateaubriand with dauphinoise.
How to Write a Functional CV Skills Summary
Have a look at these CV summary examples:
Functional CV Skills Summary Sample: Specialized Positions
Programming and App Development
Leadership
Business Management
Notice how each of these core skills is supported by substantial evidence.
Functional CV Skills Summary Sample: Creative Industries
RESEARCH
Experienced in working with clients in a wide variety of fields (Tech, FMCG, Sports, Interior Design). Excellent at researching clients' brands, industries and markets quickly and comprehensively.
WRITING SKILLS
Skilled at writing all types of marketing and PR materials: press releases, blog posts, bulletins, emailing campaigns (outreach emails, sales emails, engagement emails). Able to produce up to 1,500 words of unique, well-researched, engaging content per day.
CREATIVE SKILLS
I’m able to come up with innovative solutions to all types of problems and crises. Excellent in designing and implementing both ATL and BTL Public Relations and Marketing campaigns in collaboration with teams of graphic designers and art directors.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Proficient at managing social media campaigns across all major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr. Increased clients’ social media referral traffic by 180%. Boosted Acme’s online sales by a quarter.
This candidate doesn’t have as many quantifiable achievements as the previous one, but he still manages to provide very precise examples of his expertise. It makes this CV skills section much more believable to employers.
Curious about the most relevant skills for employment in today's trends? Find out here: Crucial Skill Sets to Land Better Jobs.
Even though in a “skills” CV, you don’t need to be particularly elaborate about your work history, you still have to include a list of your past employers.
Enter:
Optionally, you can add 2–3 bullet points that outline your key responsibilities and accomplishments.
The same goes for your education. Don’t drone on about relevant coursework, thesis title, or extracurricular activities.
Limit yourself to:
The only exception is if you’ve graduated within a year and have little work experience. In such case, put your education section above the work experience on your skills based CV, include academic achievements, list a few relevant courses. If you’ve graduated with a first or a 2:1, include your honours too. Otherwise—omit them.
All key skills on a skills based CV should appear in the Skills Summary. At the bottom of your functional CV, add a short, bulleted list of extra skills such as:
These might include:
Also, while not a section of your CV as such, do write a cover letter. As many as half of recruiters still expect those!
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
And presto! There you have it—a comprehensive template of all sections you need to include on your skills based CV. Time for a quick recap.
Still not sure whether writing a skills based CV is a good idea? Consult with our handy table!
Skills Based CV Pros | Skills Based CV Cons |
It takes the focus off of your work history and emphasizes your skills. If you’ve done lots of freelancing or single projects, this format will help you show what skills you’ve mastered through them. | It’s not as easy to scan for recruiters as a traditional CV written using a reverse-chronological template. |
When written properly, it showcases your most important skills and validates them with examples related to your work experience | Suggests you’re trying to hide something about your employment history. |
It can be used by career-changers and candidates targeting highly specialized positions. | It might not get through older Applicant Tracking Systems’ (ATS) scans. |
It’s a good creative CV format for non-traditional industries. | Very difficult to write—you’ll need to go the extra mile to make sure your skills summary is both believable and relevant to the opening. |
To write a functional/skills based CV that gets you the job, follow these 6 key steps:
Do you have any questions about our skills based CV examples? Facing obstacles writing your functional CV? Let me know in the comments, I’ll do my best to help!
A complete guide to writing a CV that gets jobs, with examples and insider tips that will make the process easy and quick. The time for learning how to write a CV starts now.
There's no time for errors: you need to nail the CV format. Follow the tips from this guide, and you'll achieve the perfect curriculum vitae format for job applications.
See CV personal statement/personal profile examples that will get jobs. Learn how to write a personal statement for a CV to land more interviews. Read more!