Mastering the CV: How to craft a CV that gets results

In today’s competitive job market, your CV is more than just a list of your history – it’s your personal marketing leaflet.

To get noticed by recruiters, you need a document that is clean, professional, and strategically written. Here is how you can transform your CV from standard to stand out!

Think of the top of your CV as your elevator pitch. Start with a punchy, professional profile that summarises who you are, your core strengths, and your career goals. Since this is the first thing a recruiter sees, make it count!

Stand out!

To stand out, avoid the trap of ‘one-size-fits-all’ applications. Tailor your CV to every role by creating a master version and then creating sector-specific versions as needed.

Gone are the days of the full life story style CV. To keep your profile sleek and secure, our careers team suggest using a partial address – just your town and postcode are plenty for recruiters. We also recommend leaving out your photo and date of birth. This simple step helps remove unconscious bias from the hiring process, making it easier for your true talent to shine through.

Layout and structure

Structure is arguably the most important element of readability. If a recruiter can’t find your contact information or your last job/ relevant experience in the first few seconds, they might move on.

• Bullet points are your friends. Avoid long, dense paragraphs. Use bullet points to list your achievements and responsibilities from previous experiences, volunteering or jobs.

• A 2-page CV is perfectly fine. It gives you enough space to showcase your value without it becoming a chore to read.

• Always match your keywords to the employer’s job description to ensure you pass both automated filters and human review.

• Don’t reinvent the wheel; use free, professional templates from Microsoft Word or Google Docs to ensure your formatting stays consistent.

Selling the truth

While honesty is non-negotiable, your CV should still be a powerful sales tool. Focus on achievements rather than just duties and highlight the impact you had. For example, rather than saying you just handled customer complaints, try saying something like: ‘I resolved over 20 customer queries daily, helping to maintain a 95% satisfaction rating’.

Explain your hobbies. Don’t just list that you like reading or playing football. Explain why you like them, or what they have taught you. For example: ‘I am the head of our local football team, which has developed my leadership and team-collaboration skills’.

The final polish

Check grammar and spelling, use tools like Grammarly or spellcheck, but also read it out loud to catch phrasing issues. Finally, make sure to keep your CV updated; don’t wait until you’re looking for a job to update your CV. Add new responsibilities or certificates as you earn them.

If you would like any further support on writing your CV, each campus has a dedicated careers team. Make sure you pop on by and make an appointment to speak to them. When booking an appointment, it will help the team if you can provide information on what you need help with.

Contact us for support

To book a careers guidance appointment, please contact the team:

Email careerslounge@rotherham.ac.uk
Call 01709 513355

Careers and employability support at University Centre Rotherham