
What Should a good CV Look Like in 2023?
What should a CV look like? Its contents are as individual as you are but there are some rules everyone needs to follow for professional results. Here they are.
Ever wondered what makes a good CV good? We found the 11 things your CV needs to be the very best.
Though thousands of people do it, not everyone knows how to write a CV.
What does that mean?
Piles of CVs that sound and look exactly the same.
And yours is someone in the middle, waiting for a short glare from a frustrated recruiter who will trash it in as much time it takes to pronounce your name.
How do you stand out? What makes a good CV?
Breathe easy, here are 11 things your CV needs to be great.
Want to save time and have your CV ready in 5 minutes? Try our CV builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ CV templates and create your CV here.
Sample CV made with our builder—See more templates and create your CV here.
Interested in the ins and outs of writing a CV? Try our guide: Making a CV for a Job: Full Guide
Jeff Linton
Ph: 0777 777 7777
Email: jlinton@gmail.com
Meticulous cleaning supervisor with 6+ years experience managing cleaning teams in commercial office environments. Highly skilled in producing sparkling results using environmentally friendly methods. Fully conversant with safe chemical handling procedures and the appropriate use of PPE. Seeking to join Perfectly Polished Cleaning Services as cleaning team leader and help maintain its reputation for excellence.
Work Experience
Cleaning Supervisor
Cranberry Commercial Services, Liverpool
August 2014–present
Cleaner
Liverpool Museum and Art Gallery
August 2012–July 2014
Education
A-levels: Art & Design, Drama, Film Studies. September 2011–June 2013
Birch Tree College, Liverpool
Skills
Certificates
There are a few CV styles to choose from and picking the wrong one can have a very negative effect on your CV. So guess what picking the right one can do!
Here are the standard CV formats you can choose from:
To learn more about CV formats, check out this handy guide: Different CV Formats
Don’t you hate it when you want to call up an old friend and hear ‘the number you have dialled is not in service?’
Yes, well, so do recruiters. Keep your contact information relevant and current.
To make a great CV header, you need to include your:
Do not add your age, marital status, race, religion, or photos to your CV. These can lead to grounds for discrimination.
For more on what to put in your CV contact information, check out this helpful guide: How to Include Your CV Personal Details
This is the first section the recruiter will really read and if it doesn’t get them hooked then the rest of your CV doesn’t really make much difference. It’s also known as a CV summary.
It should be a short paragraph that introduces you as a candidate and depending on your experience there are two approaches to follow.
In both cases you're aiming to answer these questions:
Then if you’re an experienced candidate, do this:
And if you’re just starting out in your career and not yet experienced, use this approach.
Read more: How to Write a CV Profile: Examples and Tips
This is not the section where you list everything you ever did in your life. This isn’t an encyclopedia.
If you want to make a great CV, your work experience section needs to be perfect, so it shows you can do the job. Here’s how to do that:
Unless you’re applying for a highly specialized position or managerial role, there’s no need to go back further than 15 years in your job history.
Remember that it’s always easier to read numbers.
Compare ‘created plan that led to doubling of sales’ with ‘created plan that led to 85% increase in sales’. They say the same, but they don’t have the same impact, do they?
For more information on listing your work experience on your CV, take a look at this guide: How to Add Working Experience to a CV
Your education section will probably be the shortest and easiest to write. But that doesn’t mean you can just breeze right through.
Just like with every other part, a good education section makes a good CV.
The education section should include:
If you have a lot of work experience, only list your last degree.
If you’re just starting your career, you can add a few details to demonstrate your professional worth.
If you want to hit the books on adding education to your CV, read this guide: What to Include in Your CV Education Section
Unfortunately, lots of candidates believe that a long list of every skill invented makes for a great CV.
That’s just not the case.
Skills need to be relevant in order to have meaning. Otherwise your CV will just look like a dictionary exploded all over it.
Here’s how to include your skills in your CV:
Check out this guide for more about skills on your CV: How to List Your Skill Set on Your CV
This section is probably the most confusing for job seekers since it’s a little more free-form than the rest of the CV sections. But it’s not that hard!
A great additional section can be just what you need to take your CV to the next level and noticeably above the rest.
Here are some great areas to include:
Hobbies and Interests
No, not ‘cats, travelling, films’. Add relatively specific CV hobbies and interests that relate to the job you’re applying for. While ‘sports’ is something you’ll see everywhere, a martial arts recruiter will be more interested in ‘muay thay, judo, and jujitsu’
This is also a great moment for candidates with no work experience to prove that they truly have an interest and passion for the industry they’re applying to.
Certificates and Licences
This is the perfect place to mention applicable course, certificates, or awards. These can set you apart from other candidates in the job race.
Simply list the name or title of the certificate, course or award, and the year in which you received it.
Volunteer Work
Volunteer experience is often overlooked by candidates both with and without experience. That’s a shame.
Volunteer work shows recruiters that you are passionate enough about a certain thing that you will spend your spare time doing it for free.
This is an especially helpful section for those writing a CV with no job experience since volunteer work can demonstrate different skills, professionalism, and maturity.
List your volunteering almost like you would list your professional work experience. Include the name of the institution/organization, dates, and a couple of concise bullet points on what you specifically did as a volunteer.
Remember to only include it if it’s relevant to the role!
Foreign Languages
There are lots of positions on the job market where knowledge of a foreign language will put you ahead.
Listing languages is simple—add the language and the level of your knowledge next to it. Depending on where you are and where you’re applying to, find the best proficiency scale with which to judge your proficiency.
When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your CV here.
When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.
But wait, this is about how to make a good CV!
I know, but rest assured writing a great CV means writing a great cover letter to go along with it.
Submit a cover letter to go into more in depth examples of your work history, qualifications, and professional expertise and really demonstrate that you’re the best candidate for the role.
For tips and tricks on how to write a great cover letter, take a look at this guide: How to Write a Cover Letter
There is probably nothing that a recruiter hates more than a promising CV filled with typos and bad formatting.
If you can’t even spell check, why would anyone think you would be able to do a job?
Always proofread your CV before sending it out. Here are a few tips to help you out:
Read more: Proper CV Layout
This shouldn’t be on the list, but it is since candidates still like to doctor up their CVs here and there (and sometimes everywhere).
There’s no point lying on your CV. Recruiters will verify your claims through interviews, references, and background checks.
Stick to the truth.
You can have the best CV on the planet, but if it’s written in Comic Sans, no one is going to take you seriously.
Here are some aesthetic tips to make your CV not only great:
Read more: 20+ Expert CV Writing Tips and Advice
It may sometimes seem that making a good CV is next to impossible. But now you can see that it’s not all that hard!
Just remember what makes a good CV:
That’s it! Now go create the perfect CV and land that interview!
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.
Have any questions? Share them in the comments below and I’ll get back to you in a flash!
What should a CV look like? Its contents are as individual as you are but there are some rules everyone needs to follow for professional results. Here they are.
What is a cover letter? Unnecessary? A waste of time? Answer, neither. It’s a job-hunting must-have. Discover what a cover letter is and what it can do for you.
Set yourself up with a tastefully chosen CV cover letter template pairing. A short selection of our most popular dynamic duos for job hunting success.