How to Write a CV: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

First: what is a CV for?

A CV has one job — to get you an interview. It isn't the full story of your life; it's a short collection of your strongest evidence for a specific vacancy. Employers often spend less than a minute on a first look, so a CV has to read fast, with the most important information at the top.

Step 1: choose the right sections

In most cases this order works best:

• Contact details: full name, phone, a professional email, city, LinkedIn (or portfolio).
• Professional summary: 2–4 sentences on who you are, what you do well and what you've achieved.
• Work experience: most recent job first, working backwards.
• Education: university, subject, years; graduates should add their thesis and a strong grade.
• Skills: the technical and personal skills relevant to the job.
• Languages, certificates, projects — only when they add value for this vacancy.

Step 2: write results, not duties

The most common mistake is a list of duties: "Responsible for sales". Write what you achieved instead: "Grew regional sales by 18% in 12 months". A simple formula: strong verb + what you did + result (with a number where possible). Three to five of these bullets per job are enough.

Step 3: tailor the CV to the job

Sending one CV to every vacancy wastes more time than anything else. Read the job ad carefully, pick out the main requirements and keywords, and reflect them honestly in your CV. Many companies filter applications with an applicant tracking system (ATS) that looks for the job ad's words in your CV.

Step 4: keep the design simple and readable

• One page (two if you have more than ten years of experience) is enough.
• One or two fonts, clear headings, plenty of white space.
• Keep text as real text, not an image, so an ATS can read it.
• Use one date format everywhere (for example, 03/2022 – 08/2024).

Step 5: what to leave out

• Marital status, religion, height or weight — unless the job specifically requires it.
• Empty phrases like "hard-working team player" that prove nothing.
• Long descriptions of old jobs that don't relate to this one.
• Anything untrue — it always comes out in the interview or a background check.

Step 6: check before you send

Read your CV out loud, fix every typo, name the file "First_Last_CV.pdf" and send it as a PDF. Ask a friend to look at it for 30 seconds and tell you what they remember — if it isn't your strongest achievement, move that achievement higher.

The short cut

CodexCV has all these steps built in: sections come in the right order, every field has guidance, your CV downloads as an ATS-friendly PDF automatically, and the free ATS check shows you where it's weak.