How to write a CV

 A CV is your most important tool when you commence your job search, so getting it right is paramount. We see hundreds of CVs every week and know what works and what prospective employers are assessing when they look at your CV. Here are some tips on how to write a winning CV!  

How to layout your CV

Summary

Your CV should start with a summary (after your personal details). This should paint a picture of past, present and future – who you are, what you’ve done and what you’re looking for. Think of it as your personal elevator pitch, include your area of specialisation, industries you’ve worked across and what you’re looking for in your next role. Best practice is to tailor this based on the role you are applying for.

Employment history 

This is likely the section that someone reviewing your CV will skip straight to, so it's important that it's impactful, easy to read with clear and concise language for maximum impact.  

Your Employer: Write a clear description of the company you are working for. Not everyone will be familiar with your current employer, include one to two sentences about who they are and what they do.

Your Role: Give a clear topline summary of your role, titles are interchangeable within businesses and mean different things, therefore a title is not always enough to understand what your role encompassed. For example, a Brand Manager in one business may have completely different responsibilities in another. Provide context about who you reported to and your mandate eg. Global vs ANZ remit, the sole resource in the Marketing team

Key Responsibilities: When applying for a role, the first person to review your CV will likely sit in Talent Acquisition or HR - therefore they are potentially not an expert in your space, but they will decide which CVs are shortlisted to the Hiring Manager. The key responsibilities should be just that a concise summary of what you owned in your role (not every line of your PD) and be sure to use relevant keywords for when someone is scanning, for example, performance marketing, stage gate, lean manufacturing, new product development (NPD). When sourcing for a role, Recruiters may do keyword searches on your CV, a candidate database or LinkedIn so you want to ensure you come up in their list by using keywords.

Key Achievements: This is the big one as this is generally what the Hiring Manager is most interested in when reviewing your CV - This is your opportunity to highlight the problems you solved and your impact in the role - think about key projects, how you increased revenue, delivered cost savings, innovation or processes improvements. If you look back on your time in the role, what are you most proud of delivering? What is your legacy?

We recommend that you align these to the role they are relevant for, to make it easier for the reader to connect the dots rather than summarising across your total career.

Use metrics where possible: Such as the size of your portfolio, revenue of the business and in particularly to quantify your achievements, data is your friend. If you overachieved against a target, include this. If you don’t feel comfortable disclosing specific dollar figures, percentages are fine. This will also show that you are commercial in your approach and focused on delivering a return on investment. Make note of these numbers at the end of each role and include them in your CV so that you can refer back to them when you're back on the job search.  

Technical skills 

Often, clients will come to us asking for candidates with experience with specific software programs or tools. Always include your exposure to and proficiency of these things. It might be a particular CRM, Google Analytics or Adobe Suite, with many umbrella terms such as "Performance Marketing" being used across the market, and meaning different things to different businesses, clarity, such as highlighting "Paid Search, Paid Social, BVOD" can also make it easier for the reader to understand.

Interests

Show the person reading who you are. What are your hobbies, passions or areas of interest? This is a great way to differentiate yourself from your competition and potentially start to build rapport where there are common interests.

References 

No need to include contact details – available upon request is sufficient.

More resume writing tips

• Make contact details easy to find, front and centre at the top of the first page of your CV.

•  Be clear with dates eg. January 2018 - November 2023. 

• Don't try and cram in as much information as possible into a page - avoid big chunks and long text, so that it's easy to read and digest.  
  
  

• Read through job ads and position descriptions for the language being used and replicate on your CV.

• Use clear and concise language that is not jargon specific to your organisation. No one else will understand it.

•  Your LinkedIn profile should mirror your CV, in terms of bringing to life your role, but no need to include the level of detail around key achievements.  
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• Referencing your team accomplishments is great but don’t be afraid to say what you were personally responsible for.

•  If you're from overseas, or looking to relocate - it's worth noting this on your CV to avoid someone rejecting thinking that you've applied in error, it's also helpful to include when you're due to land in market and relevant visa details.
  
  

• Think about the stakeholders reading your CV. HR wants to understand your skills and responsibilities. Line managers want to understand your proven achievements and projects you led. General managers or Heads of a function will be keen to understand the commercial impact of your achievements.
  
  

Download our job-winning free resume template 

If you would like to have a discussion on how to write or improve your CV, get in touch on with Natalie Rogers.