How to Structure a CV

Most CV advice focuses on what to write. The bigger problem is usually where to put it. A CV with the right information in the wrong order reads as disorganised, and recruiters making fast decisions on a first pass tend not to give it a second chance. Getting the structure right is the foundation everything else depends on.

The standard section order

For most candidates with some work history, the correct order is: name and contact details at the top, then a personal statement, then work experience in reverse chronological order, then education in reverse chronological order, then skills. This ordering reflects how recruiters read CVs. They want to know who you are and what you have done before they look at where you studied. The personal statement acts as the bridge between your contact information and the substance of your career.

Additional sections like languages, certifications, volunteer work, or publications should follow the skills section if they are relevant to the role. They are supplementary, not structural. Do not let a long list of certifications push your work experience further down the page.

What goes in each section

Name and contact details: your name at the top, slightly larger than the surrounding text. Email, phone number, city, country, and a LinkedIn URL if your profile is complete and up to date. No home address, no date of birth, no photograph (standard UK practice).

Personal statement: two to four sentences. Who you are professionally, what you bring to a role, and what you are looking for. Write it after everything else is done. It is far easier to summarise a complete CV than to write a summary of something that does not yet exist.

Work experience: list each role with the job title, company name, and dates (month and year). Under each role, three to five bullet points describing what you did and what you achieved. Lead with a verb. Include numbers wherever they exist: percentages, revenue figures, team sizes, time periods saved. Numbers give the reader something to hold on to. Responsibilities without outcomes read as filler.

Education: degree title, institution name, and year of graduation. Include grade if it is relevant and good. A-levels or equivalent qualifications below, with subjects and grades. If you graduated more than ten years ago and have substantial work experience, keep this section brief.

Skills: a short, scannable list of tools, technologies, languages, and capabilities relevant to your target roles. Twelve to fifteen items. Specific and verifiable beats vague and claimed.

When to move education above experience

Two situations justify placing education before work experience. The first is when you are a recent graduate or student with limited or no paid work history: your degree is currently your most substantial qualification and it should be visible early. The second is when your academic background is particularly prestigious or directly required for the role, and your work experience is in a different field. In all other cases, work experience comes first.

Reverse chronological versus skills-based layouts

Reverse chronological is the default and what most recruiters expect. Your most recent role appears first, followed by earlier roles in order. This layout works for candidates with a clear career progression in one or related fields.

A skills-based or functional CV groups experience by skill category rather than by employer. It is sometimes recommended for career changers or candidates with gaps, but it tends to raise suspicion with experienced recruiters precisely because it obscures the timeline. If you are changing fields, a reverse chronological CV with a strong personal statement that addresses the change directly is usually more effective than a functional layout that looks like it is hiding something. Skills-based CVs work better in a narrow set of circumstances, such as roles where demonstrating a specific technical skill set matters more than showing career continuity.

Length rules

One page for candidates with under five years of experience. Two pages for everyone else. A third page is almost never warranted for a job application CV. If your draft runs to three pages, the problem is not that you have too much experience: it is that you are including information that does not help your case for the specific role you are applying for. Cut roles older than fifteen years unless they are directly relevant. Shorten bullet points to one line where possible. Remove generic skills that every applicant would list. Two tight pages are always stronger than three loose ones.

Common structural mistakes

The mistakes that most often cost interviews are not about content. They are about structure and presentation. A CV that opens with a two-page skills summary before any work experience buries the most important information. A CV that lists duties without any outcomes reads as a job description rather than an achievement record. A CV that uses different formatting in different sections, or that mixes fonts and point sizes throughout, signals that not enough care was taken. And a CV that uses columns, text boxes, or tables creates problems for ATS software that cannot parse non-standard layouts, meaning it may be rejected before any human sees it.

The structural question to ask yourself about every section is: does this help the reader understand why I am a strong candidate for this role? If the answer is no, cut it or move it.