How to Build a CV from Scratch

Starting a CV from nothing can feel paralysing, but it is really just a sequence of decisions: what sections to include, what order to put them in, what to write in each one, and how to make it readable for both a recruiter and an automated screening system. Once you know the structure, it becomes a writing task rather than a guessing game.

The Sections Every CV Needs

A CV built from scratch needs five core sections: contact details, a profile summary, work experience, education, and skills. Beyond those five, additional sections (volunteer work, certifications, languages, publications) should only be added if they are actually relevant to the roles you are targeting. A CV that runs to three pages because it includes every certificate you have ever earned is harder to read than a focused two-pager that stays on point.

How Long Your CV Should Be

One to two pages is the standard. Early-career candidates with under five years of experience should aim for one page. More experienced candidates can stretch to two. There is no benefit to a third page for most roles: if a recruiter is spending 15-30 seconds on an initial scan, everything that matters needs to be visible without scrolling to a third page. Be ruthless about what you include. If a piece of information does not help the reader understand why you are a strong candidate for the target role, cut it.

What Order to Put the Sections In

The standard order that works for most candidates is: contact details at the top, then a two-to-four sentence profile summary, then work experience (most recent first), then education (most recent first), then skills. If you are a recent graduate with limited work experience, it makes sense to move education above work experience. If you have a specific certification that is essential for the roles you are applying to, it can sit just below skills. Everything else follows the standard order.

How to Write Each Section

Contact details should include your name (larger than the rest of the text), email address, phone number, city and country, and a LinkedIn URL if your profile is complete. No photo, no date of birth, and no home address.

The profile summary is two to four sentences that tell the reader who you are professionally, what you bring, and what you are looking for. Write it last, once the rest of the CV is done. It is easier to summarise something that already exists than to write the summary first.

Work experience is where most of the weight sits. For each role, include the job title, company name, dates (month and year), and three to five bullet points describing what you did and what you achieved. Lead each bullet with a verb in the past tense. Include numbers wherever you can: percentages, amounts, team sizes, time periods. Numbers give the reader something concrete to hold on to.

Education should list your degree, institution, and graduation year. If you graduated more than ten years ago and have substantial work experience, your education section can be brief. If you are a recent graduate, expand it to include relevant modules, dissertation topic, and any academic awards.

Skills should be a short, scannable list of the tools, technologies, and capabilities that are relevant to your target roles. Twelve to fifteen items is usually enough. Generic items like "Microsoft Word" or "good communicator" take up space without telling the reader anything useful.

ATS vs Human Reader

Most applications now pass through an applicant tracking system before a human sees them. ATS software scans for keywords that match the job description, and if yours are missing, your CV may be filtered out before anyone reads it. The way to pass this filter without gaming the system is to read the job description carefully and make sure the skills and experience you have are described using the same language as the listing. If the job says "stakeholder management" and your CV says "working with clients and senior staff", add the phrase stakeholder management where it accurately reflects what you did.

For the human reader who comes after, the priority is clarity. Short paragraphs, consistent formatting, standard section headings, and a readable font all help. Avoid columns, text boxes, tables, and graphics: many ATS systems cannot read them, and they create visual clutter that slows a recruiter down.

The Most Common Mistakes

CV mistakes that cost people interviews tend to be about format and clarity rather than content. A CV with different font sizes in every section, responsibilities listed without outcomes, no contact details above the fold, four pages instead of two, or visible typos is harder to act on than one that avoids all of that. Write it, format it consistently, ask someone else to read it once, and then use it.