How to make your CV look good in online applications

Every career is completely unique, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that there’s little consensus about our working lives.

Earlier this month, LV reported that the average person has nine jobs in their lifetime, whereas the UK Government claim the figure is twelve.

From parental career gaps and midlife career changes through to side hustles and the questionable status of zero-hour contracts, it’s easy to see why averages rarely apply here.

Different industries involve wildly varying career paths – an architect is unlikely to drift into other sectors in the way a marketing executive or admin assistant might, for instance.

However, one of the few universals throughout anyone’s career is the need for a document summarising their professional life – qualifications, experience, employment and skills.

Known by the Latin term curriculum vitae (which translates as ‘course of life’), a CV is the one file almost every recruiter will ask to see in regard to almost any role.

As such, it’s vital to know how to make your CV look good in online job vacancies – which are by far the most common means of applying and being interviewed for work nowadays.

While acknowledging that every industry brings its own unique requirements and opportunities, there are some general rules every candidate needs to follow…

Keep it short

A CV should be a two-page document. Any shorter, and you’ll inevitably miss out useful information. Any longer, and recruiters won’t have the patience to wade through it all.

Use this space efficiently – a thousand words ought to be sufficient to extol your virtues, especially using bullet points or one-line summaries to highlight key achievements.

Employers will be more interested in your achievements than your personality at this stage, so focus on tangible projects and outcomes which demonstrate ability and expertise.

Use sections

To make your CV look good, break it into easily digestible chunks, starting with basic personal information like your full name, contact details and home address.

(Attributes like your age, ethnicity or place of birth should be delegated to diversity forms – they won’t impress a prospective employer and therefore aren’t relevant).

Create standalone sections for current employment, workplace history, qualifications and (if space permits) a short personal statement outlining your finest qualities and achievements.

Make every word count

CVs are increasingly scanned by applicant tracking software (ATS) tools, so incorporate any keywords and phrases which showcase your career and knowledge.

Break up paragraphs into short blocks of three or four lines; add section headings and subheadings; condense long sentences into shorter versions or split them in half.

Put the most important information on page one, so if a recruiter reads your CV but gets bored or distracted midway through, they’ll still have clocked the most salient points.

Be professional

This should go without saying, yet people still submit CVs which are littered with spelling mistakes, dead hyperlinks to obsolete web addresses or formatting inconsistencies.

Apply one font (with the same paragraph text size), one justification and one header style to the whole CV. Don’t be tempted to include photographs, political diatribes or details of pets.

Proofread it several times, asking someone else to sense-check it. Once you’re happy with the finished product, save it in Word and PDF formats; different sites require specific filetypes.

Use other platforms to expand on your CV

Remember that your CV is a fixed document. If you want to tailor an application to a specific role, draft a covering letter instead of endlessly rewriting your CV to suit each vacancy.

It’s fine to include a link to a portfolio created in a platform like Canva, Format or Jimdo. If an employer wishes to explore your work, this gives them an easy way to do so.

Your LinkedIn profile is great for showcasing industry connections, work experience and qualifications/training. Prospective employers will view it, so update it regularly.