Curriculum Vitae (CV) Format Guide - 21+ Tips & Templates

What Is a CV?

A CV is a formal document you submit as part of a job search or college application.

The word CV comes from the Latin term curriculum vitae, meaning “course of life," and around most of the world, it functions the exact same way as a resume.

In fact, in Europe and Asia, you can find the words CV and resume used interchangeably across different job advertisements.

However, if you’re applying for a job in the United States, a resume is a one-page summary of professional experience and relevant skills.

On the other hand, a CV is a completely different document. In North America, this document is meant to include all of your experience so far, which means all levels of education, any publications, projects you’ve been part of, and more.

While a resume should be one or two pages at most, a CV can be much longer.

That’s why a CV, in this sense, is usually only required when you’re applying for an academic or research position.

Our article will focus on how to format a CV for a regular job search. If you need help writing an academic CV for a position in academia, we recommend checking out that article instead.

Why Does Your CV Format Matter?

Your CV format can determine whether your CV reaches a hiring manager or not.

That’s because most companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that scan through hundreds of candidates in seconds and discard applicants that don’t meet certain criteria.

And a big part of making an ATS-optimized CV is the formatting.

Unless your CV format is on-point, the ATS won’t be able to read it, and it will automatically reject it, even if you’re the perfect candidate.

Reverse Chronological vs. Functional

When formatting your CV, you can choose between two popular CV formats:

• Reverse-chronological (also known as chronological)
• Functional (also known as skill-based)

Usually, we recommend sticking to the reverse-chronological CV format. It’s the most popular format worldwide, so it’s what hiring managers expect to see.

The reverse-chronological format has a standard structure that includes all the main CV sections, such as:

• Contact Information
• Personal Statement
• Work Experience
• Educational History
• Skills
• Other Optional Sections

While the functional CV format includes an extra section - the Skill Summary.

So, if you want to emphasize your varied skills or if you’re aiming for a career change, you might want to opt for the functional CV format.

Here’s how it looks in practice:

What to Include In Your CV

Once you’ve decided on your CV’s format, it’s time to start filling in each section.

Here are the must-have sections for any professional CV:

• Contact Information
• CV Headline
• Work Experience
• Educational History
• Skills

If you have any leftover space, you can also add any of these optional sections:

• Languages
• Volunteering
• Personal Projects
• Certifications
• Awards and Recognitions

Let’s go through each of these sections one by one and explain how to get each of them right.

#1. Contact Information

The first section is your contact information. While it’s easy enough to fill out,  you must get it right.

If you have any mistakes in your contact details, such as a single typo in your email or phone number, for example, the hiring manager won’t be able to reach you.

So, start by neatly placing your contact information in a designated CV header at the very top of your CV.

Here’s an example of a perfect CV contact information section:

#2. CV Headline

On average, hiring managers don’t look at CVs for more than six seconds.

This means that if you don’t make a good impression in six seconds, it’s likely that the hiring manager won’t even read your CV in depth.

This is why it’s crucial to have an eye-catching bit of information at the top of your CV.

Your CV headline (also known as a personal statement) is a short (2-4 sentences) pitch about your professional experience and expertise, and it goes right on top of your CV, like this:

There are two approaches you can take for your CV headline:

• CV Summary. This highlights your experience, achievements, and skills. 
• CV Objective. This focuses more on your educational background and aspirations.

If you already have some work experience, we recommend you stick to a CV summary. Your professional journey will be a better selling point than your knowledge and career goals.

You should only go for a CV objective if you either don’t have any work experience or if you’re in the midst of a career change.

Here’s a great CV headline in practice:

#3. Work Experience

Next comes the most essential section of your CV - your work experience.

You should start this section by listing your most recent job first and working your way back.

You don’t need to go all the way to your part-time jobs as a teenager. We recommend listing only your last three to four positions, not your entire career history.

Here’s an example of what a great work experience section looks like on a CV:

3 Work Experience Tips

Your work experience section can make or break a successful CV, so you have to do it perfectly.

Here are some tips you can apply:

1. Focus on Achievements. A role’s responsibilities tend to be the same across different companies. If you want to stick out, list your achievements instead - the times you went above and beyond will impress the hiring manager a lot more than your daily tasks.
2. Add Concrete Data. Whenever you can, include numbers to quantify any achievements listed on your CV. Percentages, budgets, or the amount of time specific projects took can all back up your accomplishments.
3. Include Keywords. If you want to make sure you beat the ATS, you need to go the extra mile. Carefully read the job ad to find the most important keywords and strategically include them throughout your CV.

#4. Educational History

Next, it’s time to work on your education section.

Here’s what an education section looks like on a CV:

6 Education Section Tips

Your education section should be short and sweet, but you can still make the most of it.

Here are some tried-and-tested tips to perfect it:

1. If you’re a recent graduate, list your education before your work experience. It’s better to lead with relevant education than work experience that isn’t related to the job you want.
2. When making a CV as a student, you can add your expected graduation date.
3. List your educational history in reverse chronological order, and always start with your highest degree on top.
4. If you don’t have a lot of space on your CV, you can list only your highest and most recent degree. So, if you have a Master’s degree that’s relevant to the job, there’s no need to mention your Bachelor’s degree.
5. Similarly, don’t add your high school degree to your CV if you’ve already graduated from a university. It’s not as relevant, and you can use that space for something else.
6. If your GPA isn’t above 3.5, don’t add it to your CV. You should only include it if it’s impressive; otherwise, it could undermine you.

#5. Skills

The skills section of your CV is relatively straightforward. You just need to create a designated section where you can list the skills you have that are most relevant to the job.

For example:

That said, the skills you list on your CV can be crucial to the hiring decision. So, you want this section to show the hiring manager that you’re the right person for the job.

For starters, make sure you include both types of skills:

• Hard Skills. These are learned skills and measurable abilities. They can range from knowing a specific coding language to baking, and they’re directly related to your role.
• Soft Skills. Sometimes called interpersonal skills, these include personality traits, career attributes, and more. Examples include critical thinking, time management, communication, and many others.

When listing skills on your CV, we recommend that you focus more on hard skills.

Specific hard skills are what hiring managers are usually looking for, so be sure to tailor yours according to the job advertisement. Soft skills are nice to have, but your “critical thinking” or “teamwork” won’t have as much weight as the specific technical skills the employer wants.

And, when listing your hard skills, consider adding experience levels so that employers can see your proficiency and know what to expect from you.

Now, if you have a lot of relevant skills you want to list, you can put them in subsections. This can help keep your CV neat and easy to navigate, like this:

#6. Other Optional Sections

Now that you know what the most important sections on your CV are, it’s time to talk about other, nice-to-have sections.

Optional sections for your CV include:

• Languages. List any foreign languages you know and write down your level of proficiency.
• Professional Organizations. Are you part of a club, guild, union, or other association in the field you’re applying for? Add it to your CV.
• Volunteer Experience. Listing volunteer experience is proven to impress hiring managers, and it’s especially useful if you don’t have a lot of work experience. Employees who volunteer enjoy meaningful work, and that tells hiring managers you’re likely to be a loyal employee.
• Projects. If you worked on anything relevant to the job you’re applying for, either during your studies at university or in your spare time, include it on your CV. Whether you created an app or did product reviews on a personal blog, it shows hard work and dedication.
• Certifications. Hiring managers love employees who work on their skills and knowledge. Even if you don’t have work experience in the specific field yet, certifications can show that you’re genuinely interested and willing to learn.
• Awards and Recognitions. There’s no harm in showing off a little on your CV. If you’ve received any awards or acknowledgments, like a prestigious scholarship, add them.
• Hobbies and Interests. This bit of extra information about yourself gives the employer insight into your personality and helps you stand out. We recommend listing hobbies that can back up your listed skills, such as team sports, which proves you can collaborate.
• Extracurricular Activities. If you have a lot of leftover space on your CV but don’t have a lot of experience outside of school, any clubs and activities you were part of can show potential employers how you managed your time effectively or gained certain skills.

How to Format Your CV’s Layout

Now that you know what to include in your CV, it’s time to pay attention to your CV’s layout.

You need to make sure your CV looks good when you put all your sections together. If the hiring manager sees a messy, unorganized document, they might skip reading it altogether.

So, follow these tried and tested tips to make sure your CV’s layout looks good:

• Stick to One Page. As a rule of thumb, your CV shouldn’t exceed one page unless you have decades of experience. The hiring manager only wants to read the most important details about why you’re the right person for the job, not your entire life story.
• Set the Page Margins. To make your CV look neat, set the margins on all four sides of your CV to one inch. This way, you can maximize the white space between sections without having a stretched-out or empty-looking document.
• Adjust the Line Spacing. Your text should be easy on the eyes instead of making your CV look cluttered. Set the line spacing to 1.0 between text and 1.15 between double lines and after subheadings.
• Use a Consistent Font. Choose a professional font and use it consistently throughout your CV. We recommend picking something easy to read but not overused. So, instead of Times New Roman, use something like Roboto, Lora, or Overpass.
• Set the Font Size. Make sure the hiring manager doesn’t have to squint to read your CV. Use 11-12 pt for most of your CV’s text, and 14-16 pt for section titles or headers.
• Use Bullet Points. When describing your work experience, education, or any other experiences you want to elaborate on, avoid paragraphs. Use between three and six bullet points, depending on how relevant the experience is, to make it easier to read.

Use a Professional CV Template Instead

Getting your CV format and layout right can be a hassle. 

You might end up spending hours tweaking the margins, adjusting the headings, and fixing the line spacing – all while making sure nothing spills over to page two. 

Why not just skip all that?

Instead, use one of our CV templates and create your CV in minutes.

Each of our professional templates is designed in collaboration with leading HR experts from around the world to make sure that your CV is ATS-friendly, formatted to perfection, and visually appealing.

Just take a look at how one of our templates compares to a standard text editor CV:

6 Well-Formatted CV Templates

Ready to work on your CV? Check out these different CV templates for inspiration!

#1. College CV Template

#2. Creative CV Template

#3. Professional CV Template

#4. Modern CV Template

#5. Minimalist CV Template

#6. Skill-Based CV Template

FAQs about CV Formatting

Do you still have some questions? Check out the answers to the most frequently asked questions about CV formatting.

Key Takeaways

And that’s a wrap! 

At this point, you know everything there is to know about formatting your CV.

Now, let’s do a quick recap of the most important things we’ve covered in this article:

• Your CV’s formatting is important if you want to make it through the ATS. Be careful when crafting your CV and don’t use quirky names for the CV sections.
• The most important CV sections include contact information, a CV headline, work experience, educational history, and skills. If you have space, you can add optional sections like languages, certifications, and volunteering.
• Always use standard practices when formatting your CV. Stick to a single font, use 1.0 or 1.15 line spacing, and set the margins to one inch on all sides of your document.
• Consider using a professional CV template to make sure your formatting is flawless and gets past the ATS with no hassle.