How to Write an Effective CV: Dos and Don’ts for Success

Your CV is often the only conversation you get before you’re either called for an interview or ruled out entirely. Recruiters spend just a few seconds scanning each one, so the difference between a shortlisted CV and a rejected one usually comes down to two things: how it looks and what it actually says about you. Get the formatting wrong, and even a strong career story gets ignored. Get the content wrong, and a beautifully formatted CV still won’t land you the interview. Here’s how to get both right.

CV formatting essentials 🔗

Before a recruiter reads a single line of your CV, they form an impression from its layout. A cluttered, inconsistent, or overly decorated CV signals carelessness, even if your experience is impressive. The goal is simple: make the document effortless to scan.

Choose fonts that are easy on the eye 🔗

Stick to clean, legible fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Bookman Old Style. Avoid decorative or script fonts entirely, since they can look unprofessional and are harder for both humans and applicant tracking systems to read, as Microsoft’s own guidance on resume fonts points out. For sizing, keep your main content at 11 or 12 points, and reserve larger sizes of 14 to 16 points for your name and section headings. This range is echoed by most professional CV guides, which recommend a similarly modest jump in size between headings and body text, as seen in this breakdown of how CV font size affects readability.

Keep your margins even and generous 🔗

Set margins of one inch on all four sides. Beyond just looking neat, equal margins on the left and right, and equal margins on the top and bottom, create a balanced, professional appearance, a point that career guidance from resume margin best practices emphasises strongly. If you’re struggling to fit everything, resist the urge to shrink your margins to almost nothing. Trim your content instead. A CV that looks cramped is harder to read regardless of how good the information inside it is.

Make your headings uniform and skip the extra styling 🔗

Every section heading, whether it’s Work Experience, Education, or Skills, should follow the same format: a slightly larger font, bolded, and consistent throughout the document. Avoid italics and underlining altogether, since they add visual noise without adding clarity. Pick one date format, such as “Month Year,” and use it everywhere. Switching between formats like “05/2023” and “May 2023” within the same document makes your CV look unpolished, even if the content is strong.

Don’t let graphics get in the way of readability 🔗

Icons, progress bars for skills, and colourful graphics might look appealing on a template, but they often confuse applicant tracking systems and distract from your actual qualifications. Recruiters consistently favour clean, professional, single-column layouts over heavily designed ones, and this preference holds even for creative roles, according to detailed guidance on resume formatting standards. When in doubt, simplicity wins. A CV printed in black ink on plain white paper, with no graphics competing for attention, remains the safest and most professional choice.

Build content around achievements, not duties 🔗

Formatting gets you noticed, but content gets you shortlisted. The most common mistake students make is listing job duties instead of demonstrating impact. A recruiter already knows what a “sales intern” or “content writer” typically does. What they want to know is what you did differently, and how well you did it.

Let action verbs carry the weight 🔗

Replace passive phrases like “responsible for creating reports” with direct, active language such as “created,” “analysed,” or “implemented.” Action verbs make your contributions sound deliberate and confident rather than incidental. Career resources consistently note that combining strong action verbs with measurable outcomes gives recruiters a clear, quick sense of the effect your work actually had, rather than just a description of your role. Instead of writing “Responsible for social media,” you’d write “Managed and grew a college fest’s Instagram page to 5,000 followers in three months.”

Tailor your CV to every job posting 🔗

Sending the same CV to every recruiter is one of the fastest ways to get overlooked. Read the job description carefully, note the specific skills and phrases the employer repeats, and mirror that language in your own CV where it’s honestly applicable. This includes highlighting experiences that weren’t your primary responsibility but are still relevant to the role you’re applying for. As detailed in this step-by-step approach to tailoring your CV, anything mentioned more than once in a job posting is usually a genuine requirement, not just a nice-to-have, and deserves a direct match in your CV.

Cut what isn’t relevant 🔗

It’s tempting to list every certificate, workshop, or hobby you’ve ever had, but irrelevant details dilute your CV rather than strengthening it. If a detail doesn’t support your case for this specific role, leave it out. A tighter, more relevant CV is far more persuasive than a longer one padded with unrelated information.

Building your CV, section by section 🔗

Once your formatting and content strategy are in place, structure your CV around sections that build a clear, logical case for why you’re the right fit.

Open with a focused personal profile statement 🔗

Your personal profile statement sits right at the top of your CV, and it’s often the first thing a recruiter reads properly. Keep it to roughly 100 words, and use it to summarise your career stage, your strongest relevant skills, and why you’re a strong fit for this particular role. Guidance on writing an effective personal profile suggests including your educational background and a brief note on relevant experience, while keeping the tone confident and specific rather than generic. Avoid vague statements like “hardworking and dedicated.” Instead, name the actual skills and experiences that make you a fit.

Make your work experience section do the heavy lifting 🔗

For most candidates, work experience is the section recruiters scrutinise most closely. Each entry should focus on achievements rather than a list of tasks, use action verbs, and be tailored to the job posting. Where possible, quantify your impact with numbers, percentages, or specific outcomes. A resume that clearly states measurable results, rather than vague summaries of daily work, is significantly more compelling to hiring managers, as outlined in this practical guide to building a resume with examples. Even internships, part-time roles, or college projects can be framed this way if you focus on outcomes.

Keep your education section clear and complete 🔗

List your graduation year, the name of your institution, and any honours or distinctions you’ve earned. If you’re a student or recent graduate with limited work experience, your education section carries more weight, so don’t understate it. Structuring this section clearly, in reverse chronological order alongside your other qualifications, is standard practice recommended in most guides to building an Indian resume.

Choose skills that match the job, not just your strengths 🔗

Include a balanced mix of hard skills, such as software proficiency or technical know-how, and soft skills, such as communication or teamwork. The goal isn’t to list every skill you have, but to include the ones most relevant to the specific opening. Most CV experts recommend narrowing this down to around eight to ten targeted, job-specific skills rather than an exhaustive list, since a focused skills section is easier for recruiters to scan and match against the role.

Use additional sections to add depth 🔗

If you have relevant awards, certifications, publications, professional affiliations, conference participation, or training programmes, consider adding a dedicated section for them. These additions can be especially valuable for students who don’t yet have extensive work experience, since they demonstrate initiative and specialised knowledge beyond the classroom. Just apply the same filter as everywhere else on your CV: include only what’s genuinely relevant to the role you’re targeting.

What do you think? Looking at your current CV, does it read like a list of duties or a record of achievements? And if you had to tailor it for one specific job right now, what would you change first?

References

1. https://word.cloud.microsoft/create/en/blog/best-resume-fonts/
2. https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/learn/blog/cv-font-size
3. https://resumeworded.com/blog/resume-margins/
4. https://www.cvowl.com/blog/resume-format-fonts-margins-and-spacing
5. https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/action-verbs-list
6. https://www.jobscan.co/blog/tailor-resume-job-description/
7. https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-to-write-personal-profile-for-cv
8. https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-to-make-a-resume-with-examples
9. https://resumegenius.com/blog/resume-help/indian-resume
10. https://www.hiration.com/blog/indian-resume/