How to Write a CV That Gets Read
A recruiter may have a few seconds to decide whether to read on. A good CV makes that decision easy: it is short, scannable and focused on results.
Written by the Toolseza team · Updated 2026-10-01
Pick a clean, simple layout
Use one column, consistent fonts and clear headings. Fancy graphics and tables can confuse the screening software many employers use. Keep to one page if you have under ten years of experience, two pages at most for senior roles.
Start with a short profile
Two or three sentences at the top should say who you are, what you do well and what you are looking for. Make it specific: "Customer support specialist with five years in e-commerce, experienced in reducing response times" tells more than "hardworking team player".
Show achievements, not duties
List your most recent job first. Under each, write short bullet points that begin with an action verb and include a result where possible. "Reduced average ticket response time from 24 hours to 6" is stronger than "responsible for answering tickets". Numbers show scale and make claims believable.
Tailor it to the job
Read the advert and note the skills it asks for. If you really have them, use the same words in your CV. This helps both human readers and keyword-based screening. Remove details that are irrelevant to the role.
Final checks
Proofread twice and ask a friend to read it. Check dates, spelling of company names and contact details. Save as a PDF so the layout stays the same everywhere, and name the file clearly, such as firstname-lastname-cv.pdf.