How to write a CV, step by step

A CV is not your life story. It is a short account of what you can do, where you did it and why that fits the job in front of you. A template gives those details a sensible place to live. It cannot choose which of your experiences matter for this application. That part is yours, and it is where most of the effort should go.

Open the CV maker in another tab if you want to build while you read. The form starts empty. You can switch templates at any point without retyping anything, and the CV template gallery shows all six styles with the same fictional example if you would rather look first.

The examples below use Alex Morgan, a fictional project coordinator. Borrow the structure, not the words.

Start with the job advert, not the template

Read the vacancy and the application instructions before you fill in a single field. Employers often say which file type they want, which qualifications they expect and how they want experience described. Those instructions beat any general rule about what every CV must contain.

Make a short list of the requirements you genuinely meet. Next to each, write one real example you could talk about in an interview. That list becomes your editing guide. It also stops you copying phrases from the advert without showing what they mean in your own work.

Leave out anything you cannot back up. A shorter CV you can discuss comfortably is worth more than a longer one with claims that fall apart at the first question.

Pick the order before the look

The templates differ in what they put first. Essential and Modern lead with experience. Graduate puts education and projects first. Executive leads with experience and achievements, and Technical puts skills and projects near the top with the work history below. None of these is a rule about who may use which template. Someone changing career may have a recent course and project that deserve more attention than an older, unrelated job.

Whatever you choose, keep familiar headings: Experience, Education, Skills. A recruiter skimming twenty CVs should not have to work out whether My Journey means jobs or study.

The main content runs in one column in every template. That keeps a simple reading order on screen, on paper and in the software some employers use to read applications. Your CV can still feel like yours through the writing, a restrained accent colour and the experience you choose.

Make your contact details hard to get wrong

Use the name you want the employer to use, plus a phone number and email address you actually check. Read both slowly. A tidy CV is no help if a recruiter has to guess which digit is missing.

A city and country is usually enough location. A full street address is optional. Add a portfolio or professional profile link only if it shows relevant work, and open it yourself to make sure it goes where you expect.

The photo is optional, and only the Portrait template has a space for it. Expectations differ between countries and employers, so keep a version without a photo as well. A picture should never replace your written contact details or take room you need for evidence.

Write a profile that says something specific

The profile is a few lines: what you do now, a strength the job needs, and what you are looking for. Skip the string of adjectives. Excellent team player tells the reader less than one sentence about a team you helped and what it achieved.

Alex might write that they coordinate client projects, keep milestones visible and prepare clear weekly updates for project leads. That gives the reader something specific to look for further down. The profile introduces the evidence; it should not promise things the rest of the CV cannot support.

If this is your first job, use study, projects or volunteering. Do not dress them up as paid work. A clear description of practical work done outside a job is still useful.

Turn duties into evidence

For each role, give a job title people recognise, the employer and the dates. Then pick a few points that matter for this application. Lead with what you did, then the result or the reason.

Compare two lines. Responsible for reports describes a task. Built a shared tracking sheet that cut weekly reporting time from four hours to two describes an action and an outcome. Use a number only when you know it is right and can explain how it was measured. If you cannot, describe the change without one.

Put separate achievements on separate lines. A paragraph listing six unrelated duties is hard to read. If a point needs several sentences to make sense, it may belong in a portfolio piece or an interview answer, with a shorter version on the CV.

Give education the space it earns

Add the qualification, the institution and the dates. Include a dissertation, a major project or a relevant subject when it supports the application. You do not need to list every module just because the form has room.

Someone early in their career may put education near the top. Someone with years of relevant experience may keep it short. The same person might switch the order for different jobs. You can move sections in the editor, so let the application decide.

Use the exact wording of your qualification. If an employer asks how an overseas qualification compares to a local one, follow their instructions and give information you can support. The builder records what you enter; it does not assess or recognise qualifications.

Add training and certifications carefully

Training & Courses and Certifications & Licences are separate optional sections. For a course, enter the name, the provider and when you finished, or make it clear that it is still in progress. A short course can be relevant without being presented as a professional licence.

For a certification, copy the name and issuing body exactly. Add the issue date, expiry date or credential number where it helps. Never present an expired credential as current. If you add a link to verify it, check that the link opens the right record and does not show anything you did not mean to share.

A credential that is central to the job deserves its own section. A minor course can sit under Education. Use sections to make important things easy to find, not to make the document longer.

Choose extra sections for a reason

Projects, Volunteering, Languages and Awards & Achievements can show things a work history misses. A project entry is only useful if it says what you did. A group project title alone does not tell a recruiter which part was yours.

Describe language ability in words you could defend in the situation you would use it. Bars and stars leave the reader guessing what three stars means. For an award, say what it was for and who gave it.

Professional Memberships, Publications and a Custom Section are there when they are relevant. Any section left empty stays out of the download, so you never need to fill a box to make the template look complete.

Decide how to handle references

References are optional. Check what the application asks for before adding anyone's details, and ask the referee first. Confirm the spelling of their name, their role and the contact details they are happy to share, and tell them what kind of job you are applying for.

The builder gives you four choices: leave references out, show Available on request, include them in the CV when requested, or create a separate reference sheet. Including details requires you to confirm that your referees agreed. A separate sheet keeps their details out of every copy of your CV until someone asks.

If you use the separate sheet, download it separately and check it. The main CV will not contain those details. A signature is optional too; add one only if the application asks for it.

Check the pages and the reading order

Go through every page once your entries are final. Look for a heading stranded at the bottom of a page, a very long qualification name, or a bullet that wraps into an awkward fragment. Long content continues onto another page rather than shrinking into tiny text.

Some employers use an applicant tracking system, or ATS, to read CVs into fields such as name and work history. Open Preview the reading order and read the result as plain text. Your name, contact details and sections should come out in a sensible sequence. This catches missing details and odd ordering. It is not a copy of any employer's software, and no layout can promise how every system will read it, so check the fields an application site fills in from your file and correct them there.

Check dates, email addresses and numbers one more time. If you loaded the fictional example to explore the builder, make sure none of Alex's details are left.

Download the file the employer asked for

Choose A4 or US Letter to suit where you are applying. Download a PDF when you want the layout exactly as previewed and the employer accepts PDF. Choose Word when they ask for an editable document. A Word file can reflow when edited or opened in different software, so open that version and look at it too.

Open the file you downloaded, not just the preview. In the PDF, select a paragraph, copy it and paste it into a plain text editor to make sure the text comes through. Check that the last page ends where you expect. If an upload form rejects the file for its size, fixing a PDF that is over the upload limit explains what to do.

Use a file name that identifies you, such as your name and the word CV. If you have two exported versions and want to see exactly what you changed between applications, Compare PDF puts them side by side.

Keep versions without losing track of your details

A CV for one job may stress different experience from a CV for another. Save a job specific copy with a clear name before you start tailoring. Change the emphasis, not the facts, and check that an old job title or profile sentence has not survived into a version meant for a different role.

Saving a draft on your device is optional. A saved draft can include your contact details, photo and signature, so on a shared computer leave saving off or clear your drafts when you finish. A draft saved in one browser is not available on another device.

Guides for specific roles

Applying for a management post? The executive CV guide shows how to write leadership evidence that holds up. For analysis, technical skills and projects, read the data analyst CV guide. Executive and Technical are styles in the same CV maker, so you can try either without entering your details again.