All guidesBy SuitedCV TeamUpdated
What actually belongs on a CV — and what to cut
A CV is not an autobiography; it is an argument that you can do a specific job, made in about six seconds of a stranger's attention. Most CVs are too long because they include things out of habit rather than because those things argue for anything.
Sections that earn their space
- Contact details. Name, one phone number, one email, city, and a profile link if you have one worth reading. Not your full street address.
- A short profile. Two or three sentences saying what you do and what you are aiming at. This is the section most worth rewriting per application.
- Experience. Newest first, with employer, title, dates and a few bullets each. This is the CV; everything else is supporting material.
- Education. Institution, qualification, year. It shrinks as your experience grows — a first job needs detail, a fifteen-year career needs two lines.
- Skills. Concrete and checkable. “Python, PostgreSQL, Terraform” is information; “problem solving, team player” is not.
Writing bullets that say something
The common failure is describing duties rather than outcomes. “Responsible for the reporting pipeline” tells a reader what you were assigned. “Rebuilt the reporting pipeline, cutting the nightly run from six hours to forty minutes” tells them what changed because you were there.
Numbers help when they are real. If you do not have a metric, a scale or a scope still works: how many people, how many customers, how large a system. What does not work is inventing a percentage because the advice said to include one.
What to cut
- Objectives that are about you. “Seeking a challenging role that allows me to grow” takes prime space and says nothing to the employer.
- Skill rating bars. Nobody knows what four-out-of-five stars in SQL means, including you.
- Every job from fifteen years ago. Older roles compress to one line, or disappear.
- References available on request. Assumed. Delete it.
- Full home address. A city is enough, and it is safer.
- Interests, unless they say something. Marathon running or a maintained open-source project can be worth a line; “reading, travel, music” is filler.
Length and order
One page for early-career, two for most experienced candidates, more only in academia or where a publication list is expected. The second page is not a problem; a second page of filler is.
Order follows relevance, not chronology of your life: whichever of experience or education makes the stronger case for this role goes first. For anyone more than a couple of years out of study, that is experience.
Common questions
How far back should my work history go?
Roughly ten to fifteen years in detail. Older roles can be listed as a compact block of titles and employers, or dropped if they no longer support the argument.
How do I handle an employment gap?
State it briefly and move on — study, caring responsibilities, travel, illness, a failed venture. An unexplained hole invites worse assumptions than the truth usually does.
Should I include a photo?
Market-dependent. Common in Israel and much of Europe, generally discouraged in the US and UK. When in doubt, look at what people in your field and country actually do.
Do I need a different CV for a career change?
You need a different argument, which usually means a rewritten profile, reordered sections, and bullets chosen for transferable work rather than for the industry you are leaving.