How to Write a Good CV

April 7, 2026

The days of the CV are over! Right? Wrong! The vast majority of our clients are still CV driven. With the rise of AI, CVs are all starting to look the same, so people are arguing that they’re pointless. But this exact point is why it is SO important to make yours standout. A great CV is your first step to getting noticed, and to get the company or recruiter to take your application to the next stage. It’s the first place to sell yourself, so take time in putting it together and read it out loud and think – would I interview this person? As the job market continues to become more competitive, here are Dovetail’s top tips on how to write a good CV and more importantly, to make your CV stand out!

Where to start?

At the beginning of course! If you’re struggling for ideas on format, then just take a look at Canva by clicking here- https://tinyurl.com/Dvtlrec . They have an abundance of free templates to put you on the right path.

Whatever format you decide on for your CV, make sure you start with the all important contact information. Put your name, address, telephone number and email address at the top of the page. If you have LinkedIn or a website, add that too. You will be amazed how many people forget to put these key details on.

The first paragraph should be a Personal Profile – a short statement about yourself, describing your strengths, achievements and the area of work you are looking for. Make it really bespoke to you. Name the sectors you’ve worked in, the number of years of experience, anything that makes you unique as a candidate.

For example, a designer could write ‘experience with both in-house and agency environments, across multiple product sectors including FMCG, Engineering and Marketing. My proudest moment in my career so far is…’. Think about what drives you, what you want long term, and make sure it matches to the kind of roles you are aiming to apply for.

Skills/Achievements

Skills are important to allow the reader to understand how easy it will be to transfer you into the role and what your strengths are. However, how you list them and the way you write them is important. Most relevant skills should go at the top, and the ‘softer’ skills at the bottom.

For those with experience, think about what the skill is and HOW you used it. For example, instead of just writing ‘Negotiation Skills’ try, ‘Negotiated supplier contracts worth £2m annually, improving margin by 8%’.

For those without experience, for example graduates, it could be based on your education. For example, instead of listing communication and problem solving, relate it to something you’ve done. For example: ‘Presented a group marketing project to an audience of 30+, receiving a top 10% grade’, or ‘Managing my time effectively – completed multiple projects ahead of deadline achieving a 2:1 grade across several modules’.

Work History

If you have many years work experience then your next heading should be Work History. List your jobs with the most recent first, including start and finish dates, job titles followed by bullet points or a paragraph describing your responsibilities and, remember, achievements. If you are a Student or have recently Graduated, we suggest you put your Education after your profile and list your qualifications followed by your Work History.

With work history, bullet points are your friends. Recruiters and employers look for key words and phrases that will stand out and relate to the job they are recruiting for. Try and stick to around 8 – 10 points that give a good overview of your different duties and responsibilities.

Before bullet points, you can put a summary of the business, your role, and how you fit in, for some context. Try not to just list duties such as ‘credit control’ or ‘admin tasks’ but go into a little more detail. For example, for credit control ‘reducing aged debt by 30 days and recovering £xxx within a period of x weeks’. Think about the impact you’ve made in the business, and add this in too, giving demonstrable examples of why you’re great!

If you are a senior candidate and climbing the ladder then I would suggest a tailor-made CV for each job role you are applying for so you are able to home in on the experience and skills that the company requires. Achievements under each role will be essential to demonstrate your success.

Education

Education is last if you have some good work history behind you. Make sure you list the institution, dates, level of qualification and grades/classification. For graduates, list your modules, and ideally the grade you got in each. If you’re lacking on work experience, going into more detail about what each module entailed, and treat that as your experience.

Gaps in employment

Try and put a positive spin on employment gaps, and address them. Changing phrases from ‘I couldn’t find a job’ to ‘ I decided to take time out to refocus myself and pursue a career within a desired industry’ – which can allow these gaps to look deliberate rather than negative against you.

Also, try and make these gaps sound positive. Focus on what you have learnt within this time and what skills you were able to develop from the new experiences. Use this time to turn a potentially negative situation into a positive one where you come across as being possibly more employable.

If you’ve been travelling round the world in that time, write that in – what a great talking point for you at interview stage!