Writing a strong CV is less about magic words and more about clarity. Recruiters scan each CV for under seven seconds on the first pass — make those seconds count.
1. Lead with your strongest material
Open with a 3-sentence professional summary that names your job title, years of experience, and your most valuable skill. Hiring managers should know within five seconds what you do and why you're worth interviewing.
2. Use bullet points, not paragraphs
Each role should have 3–5 bullet points. Start each one with a verb (Led, Shipped, Reduced, Designed) and try to end with a measurable outcome.
3. Quantify everything you can
"Improved performance" is forgettable. "Cut page-load time by 38%" is not. Numbers signal that you measure outcomes — a quality every team wants.
4. Tailor to the role
Generic CVs lose to tailored ones. Read the job description, mirror the keywords (only if they actually apply to you), and reorder your bullets so the most relevant ones surface first.
5. Format for both humans and machines
Skip tables, columns, and decorative graphics in your work history — most Applicant Tracking Systems can't parse them. Use standard section headings and a clean single-column layout.
Need a head start? Build yours in ApplyRaft — every template is ATS-friendly out of the box.