By Curriculum vitae, short for CV is an essential one-page document that helps people land their dream jobs. It has all the important information of a candidate that helps the recruiter to decide. It can be of various types and formatting. However, not all of them are the right choice for everyone.
A CV template is chosen according to the job position you are applying for. Indeed, there’s a lot to know about it.
So, read this blog till the end to find out some effective CV-making tips and the right layout for your job search. Are you ready to find out? Let’s go.
CV Format: How to Lay Out
A CV consists of different sections that share the important information of a candidate. These sections include:
Name and Contact Information
The first thing that hiring managers look at is your name and contact details. Thus, it’s important to mention it prominently in your CV.
You may also bold the important points such as your name or phone number to get noticed easily. In addition, it’s best to use a different font and large size for writing your name.
Here’s what your CV must have:
- You name
- Professional title
- Phone number
- Email address
- LinkedIn profile
- Home address (optional)
A Personal Statement
You might have noticed a separate section in a CV that shares detailed information about the candidate. That’s called a personal statement. It is a brief (100-word) paragraph that briefly explains the qualifications and skills of a person. Therefore, it’s best to include relevant keywords and action verbs to get it noticed.
Here’s what you can do:
- If you possess years of professional experience, it’s best to summarize it and highlight your main achievements.
- If you don’t have any work experience, go to your CV objective and summarize your skills so that a recruiter would know what role would be perfect for you.
Work experience
Here comes the most important section of a CV. Remember, hiring managers only spend 6-7 seconds on it. Therefore, you have to make the most of these few seconds. Also, professional work experience is one of the most important sections. So here’s how you can write:
- Start by telling about your most recent or current job
- Share the work experience in reverse chronological order
- Include the duration of each job in MM/YY.
- Include at least 4-5 key achievements or duties under each job company
Educational background
One of the most common mistakes that people make while writing their CV is taking up all the space to share unnecessary information.
The educational section is one of them. It’s not important to tell hiring managers about your high school unless that’s the highest degree you have earned.
So, here’s how to write this part:
- Name of the degree
- Name of institute
- Duration of the program
Skills and Certifications
In general, people often forget or skip to include this vital section in their CVs. The reason behind it? Well, it can be less space or a feeling that “oh, it’s not that important”. As a result, I strongly suggest including your transferable skills in your document.
According to the Future of Jobs Report 2022, they are the essential and emerging skills of a job market.
Here’s how to write a perfect skill section for your CV:
- Start by sharing your professional skills which you have learned throughout your career
- After you have read the ad of a specific company, make sure to list down relevant skills according to it
- Include both soft and hard skills
Pro Tip: Don’t just share your skills in this section particularly. Instead, discuss them throughout your content.
That’s it for this heading. I know you might be wondering how can I do all of these alone for the first time. Well, that’s not an issue. You can seek expert CV Writing Services in UAE. These professionals make sure to create a winning and eye-catching CV for you.
How to Format a CV in 2025?
Well-organized content is what a recruiter looks for. As a result, people get a good chance to make their content ATS-friendly.
Here’s a list of how to format a CV to get the attention of hiring managers:
- Set at least 1-inch margin
- Use 1-1.5 line spacing
- Pick a professional font and write all content with it
- Make the headings slightly larger than the content
- Give the right name to your document
- Save it in the PDF form
Done with these steps? I’m assuming that by this point you would have thought of flaunting my perfect CV in your mind. But wait. You must know the important CV formats. So, keep reading the section below!
What’s the Best CV Format in 2025?
Here comes one of the most asked questions what is the best CV format in 2025? Well, there are two standard formats for it, these are:
- Chronological CV format
- Skill-based CV format
Chronological CV Format
It is said that this CV format is the best and most beneficial to people. In addition, it’s preferred by most of the recruiters as they are familiar with this order and can look for the most important information in no time. Moreover, the best plus point of this is that it’s ATS-friendly.
It’s best to start by adding your personal statement followed by the contact information, work experience, education, skills, and additional sections. See, it’s really straightforward and easy, right?
However, if you have a gap in your employment then it’s suggested to use the skill-based format.
Skill-based CV Format
Skill-based CV format or functional CV format lacks the main key points that a recruiter looks for. Moreover, it can also cause a problem to access it if opened through an old ATS. As a result, most people suggest using chronological order to write a CV.
But now the main question is who can get perks from this format? Well, it can be beneficial for some people such as freelancers, career changers, and others.
This format focuses on skills rather than experience. Therefore, it is followed by education, skills, and additional sections.
Wrapping Up
And we are at the end of this guide. In this blog, we have discussed the necessary sections to write a CV, its formatting tips, and two main types of CV formats in 2025.
So, next time when you write your CV, it’s best to read this guide carefully and follow the given steps.
Remember that you have only 6-7 seconds to convince hiring managers that you are the right candidate. So, make the most of this time and prove yourself to be the perfect choice. I’m sure you will land your dream job. Best of luck!