How recruiters actually read your CV

Recruiters spend an average of 6–10 seconds on a first pass. They scan, not read. Their eyes jump to a few fixed points: your current role, your most recent employer, your job title. If those don’t match the role, the CV is gone.

Structure isn’t cosmetic. It determines whether your best information gets seen at all.

The sections that matter (in order)

1. Professional summary (3–4 lines max)

This sits right under your contact details. It should answer in plain language: who you are professionally, what your strongest asset is, and what kind of role you’re targeting.

Don’t write a vague paragraph about being “a results-driven professional.” Be specific: “Senior data analyst with 7 years in fintech, specialising in Python and SQL. Reduced reporting time by 40%. Looking for a lead analyst role in financial services.”

2. Work experience (reverse chronological)

This is the most-read section. Lead with your current or most recent role. For each position include: job title, company name, dates (month + year), and 3–5 bullet points of achievements — not job duties.

The difference matters. “Responsible for customer support” tells a recruiter nothing. “Reduced average response time from 48h to 4h, increasing CSAT score from 67% to 89%” is what gets you an interview.

3. Skills

Keep this a clean list. Group skills by type (technical, languages, tools). Don’t pad it — listing “Microsoft Word” as a skill in 2026 wastes space and credibility.

4. Education

Unless you’re a recent graduate, this should be brief: degree, institution, year. No need for grades unless they’re exceptional or specifically required.

5. Optional sections

Certifications, publications, volunteer work, and side projects can strengthen your CV, but only if they’re relevant. Add them below education, not above work experience.

What to cut immediately

Objective statements (“I am looking for an exciting opportunity…”) — replace with a professional summary
Photos and personal details like marital status or date of birth (in most countries these can cause unconscious bias)
Hobbies, unless genuinely relevant (e.g., mentioning that you run marathons won’t help you get a software engineering job)
References available on request — everyone knows this; it just wastes a line

Length: the honest answer

One page if you have under 5 years of experience. Two pages is fine for most professionals. Three or more is almost always too long. Cut anything that doesn’t directly support your candidacy for the specific role.

Format rules that help ATS and humans

Single column layout (ATS can’t parse multi-column reliably)
Clean sans-serif font at 10–12pt
Consistent date formatting throughout
White space helps — a dense wall of text gets skimmed, not read

Let AI handle the structure

FitMyCV analyses your CV against the job offer, scores your ATS compatibility, and generates a role-specific CV with the right keywords and achievement-focused bullet points.

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