Recruiters spend a few seconds on a first read, and many companies run CVs through software (an ATS) that looks for the words in the job ad. A good CV handles both: it reads at a glance and contains what the job asks for, without making anything up.
The structure that works
Contact details: name, city, email, phone and LinkedIn link. No full street address.
A one-line headline: the role you want and your speciality, e.g. “Digital marketer, SEO and paid campaigns”.
A 2-3 line summary with years of experience, industry and one measurable win.
Experience, newest first, with 3 to 5 bullet points per role.
Education, languages at their real level and the tools you know well.
Write achievements, not duties
“Responsible for social media” describes a job. “Grew Instagram engagement 40% in six months with a new content calendar” describes a result. Companies hire results.
Use verb + what you did + result with a number. If you don't have exact figures, use honest orders of magnitude: a team of 5, 200 orders a day, 3 markets.
Tailor every CV to the job
Read the ad and mark the requirements that repeat. If you meet one but call it something else, use the ad's wording. If it says “vendor management” and you wrote “purchasing”, add the exact term.
Reorder bullets so the most relevant ones come first. You don't need to rewrite the whole CV each time.
A format machines can read
PDF or Word with selectable text, never a scanned image.
One column or two simple ones; avoid complex tables, icons with text inside and language-level bar charts.
Standard fonts at 10-12 pt and clear section titles: Experience, Education, Languages.
One page under about 10 years of experience; two at most in almost every case.
Mistakes that get a CV rejected
Typos or an unprofessional email address.
Unexplained gaps of more than a year: one honest line is enough (study, caring, own project).
Overstating languages or degrees: it comes out in the interview.
A photo or personal details in countries where they aren't used (see our CV by country guide).
FAQ
Should my CV have a photo?
It depends on the country. It's common in Spain, France, Germany and much of Latin America; in the UK, US, Canada and Ireland it's best left out to avoid bias.
How long should it be?
One page up to about 10 years of experience and two at most after that. Anything that doesn't help you get this job can go.
Do I need a different CV for each job?
You don't need to start from scratch, but do adjust the headline, bullet order and keywords. That's what your Jobersity agent does for every application.