List of Must-Have (and Nice-to-Have) CV Sections

A standard CV written in accordance with the modern-day hiring standards has to

include the following sections:

A CV must include:

1. Contact information

2. Personal Statement (Personal Profile)

3. Work Experience

4. Education

5. Skills

These are the basics. However if you want to outperform other candidates, your CV will
benefit from some extra sections. If you can showcase any of the following, make sure to
include them:

A CV could also include:

1. Professional Certifications

2. Professional Associations

3. Languages

4. Additional Training and Courses

5. Conference Participation

6. Publications

7. Awards

8. Blogging and Influencing

9. Volunteer Experience

Two CV sections that seem to confuse candidates most are: Hobbies and
Interests and References.
Should You Include Hobbies and Interests in a CV?

If you’re writing a CV with more than a year of professional experience under your belt, the
hobbies section is redundant. On entry-level CVs, the hobbies section is more acceptable.
When written well, it can suggest you are a good cultural fit for the company. What
you don’t want to do, though, is put a CV section with generic hobbies.

Long story short:

“Reading, Sports, Films,” is a no-no.

“Harlem Renaissance Poetry, Vittorio De Sica’s Films, Table Tennis”—that’s more like it.

Should You Put References on a CV?

Unless explicitly asked for in the job ad, don’t list references on your CV. You can add
a “References Available Upon Request” clause at the bottom, but it's not recommended as
HR managers already know they can request references.

Order of Sections for a Standard CV

1. Contact information

2. Personal Statement (Personal Profile)

3. Work Experience

4. Associations and Certifications (Optional)

5. Education

6. Skills

7. Extra Sections

Order of Sections for a CV with Little or No Experience

1. Contact Information

2. Personal Statement (Career Objective)

3. Education

4. Work Experience (Including Internship and Volunteer Experience)

5. Skills

6. Extra Sections
Order of Sections for a Career-Change CV

1. Contact Information

2. Personal Statement

3. Relevant Experience

4. Additional Experience (Optional)

5. Education

6. Skills

7. Extra Sections

Key section a good CV

1. Contact Information
In the contact information section, at the very top of your CV, include:

• Your full name

• Your job title

• Phone number

• Personal email address

• LinkedIn profile

• (Optionally) Professional website

• (Optionally) Other social media handles.

Do not include:

• Physical address

• Date of birth

• Your work email address or any other current business-contact info

• Your photo (unless asked for in the job ad)

• Irrelevant social media URLs.

As for the last point, don’t get me wrong—

If you use Twitter to exclusively discuss things related to your industry, it’s okay to include
the handle. But if you only retweet football talk or post “Cool People Don’t Date Tottenham
Fans” (they don’t) memes, leave it off.

Also, make sure your email address is elegant. If you still use that
“[email protected]” email you thought funny in high school, get a new one.

2. CV Personal Statement/Profile
A CV personal statement (also called a CV personal profile or a CV profile) is a short, 2- to
4-sentence paragraph at the top of your CV. Its purpose is to give a synopsis of your career,
list your top skills and achievements and show what you can do for your future employer.

Here’s what to include in a CV personal statement:

• Who you are

• 2–3 skills

• 2–3 achievements

• The name of your target company

• What you hope to do for your new employer.

And here’s what to leave off:

• Salary requirements

• Reasons for leaving your past company

• An explanation of why you want the job

• An old-school CV objective a.k.a. “What I want out of the job.”

See this example for reference:

CV Personal Statement Sample

Inquisitive computer science specialist with 8+ years of experience. Looking to leverage

strong programming skills as a developer for Acme. Led a team of 11 coders at Halcyon-
Berth Systems. Delivered projects an average of 10% before deadline, with 15% less errors
than other teams. Trained 25 programmers in cloud computing skills.
3. Work Experience
Arguably, the most crucial section of your whole job application. According to a Jobvite
report, 67% of recruiters consider relevant work experience the most important thing they
look for on a CV.

In the CV work experience section, include up to 15 years of relevant job experience.

List jobs in reverse-chronological order. In each entry, include:

• Position name

• Company

• Dates worked

• Up to 6 bullet points outlining your achievements and responsibilities

• Numbers and metrics to back up your achievements

• (Optionally) A “key achievement” subsection at the bottom.

Do not include:

• Short-term employment (unless you have less than 2 years of experience in total)

• Present tense for a past job

• Explanation of employment gaps of time-off

• Tables, images or charts.

CV Work Experience Section Example

Java Programmer

Black Knight Financial Services, Glasgow, Scotland

2010–2019

• Designed and developed up to 10 applications projects per year.

• Designed project requirements in cooperation with data analysis teams.

• Participated in project meetings, with technical staff members, business analysts,

and external stakeholders.

• Trained and mentored over 15 junior programmers and developers.

Key achievement: Developed a test automation tool that reduced testing time by 55%.
4. Education
What you need to put on a CV in this section depend on your experience.

If you have more than 2 years of relevant job experience, in your education section, include
all postsecondary degrees. Enter:

• Graduation date

• Your degree

• The name of the institution.

And nothing else.

Like in this example:

2015 M.A. in Comparative Literature

King’s College, London

2014 B.A. in French

University of Southampton

For entry-level CVs with little work history, place your education section above your work
experience. You can add:

• Your honours

• Your dissertation title

• Relevant coursework

• Your best achievements

• Extracurricular academic activities.

Like this:

2018 B.A. in Psychology

Stirling University

1:1
Relevant Coursework: Business Communication, Social Psychology, English Language
Studies, Grammar and Editing
Extracurricular Activities: Captain of the Rugby Team
5. Skills
And now for the final mandatory section of a CV: skills.

Here’s what to list:

• 4–8 skills relevant to the job

• Soft skills and job-specific hard skills

• Indication of your proficiency level (Basic, Advanced, Expert)

• (Optionally) Examples of how you used your abilities.

And here’s what best to keep to yourself:

• Skills unrelated to the position

• Lengthy, unspecific descriptions.

Imagine the job description requires skills in: SEO, CRO, Data Analysis.

See this sample skills list:

• SEO—Expert

(grew organic traffic by 78% in 12 months)

• CRO and A/B Testing—Advanced

(optimized sign-up rates by 37%)

• HubSpot, Kissmetrics, Google Analytics—Advanced

Good skills to include on a CV vary most across positions, industries, and individual sets of
qualities. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula.

6. A Few More Good Things to Put on a Job-Winning CV

CV power words

Also known as CV action words or action verbs. These are the words you use to introduce
your achievements, instead of just listing responsibilities.

With CV action words:

• Responsible for becomes Improved...

• Worked with becomes Collaborated on a team that...

• In Charge Of becomes Directed 20 employees to…

Here are some sample action words to put on a CV:

1. Accomplished

2. Advanced

3. Boosted

4. Completed

5. Created

6. Delivered

7. Enhanced

8. Expedited

9. Improved

10. Lifted

11. Managed

12. Maximized

13. Produced

14. Stimulated

Good CV fonts

Use standard, elegant, and legible fonts such as Calibri, Cambria, Open Sans, Helvetica,
Georgia, or Bookman Old Style.

Don’t pick outdated fonts such as Times New Roman. Don’t ever think of using a “fancy”
curly-tailed font. Instead of adding a touch of class it will make your CV a nightmare to
read.

Keywords from the job description

Sending one generic CV to all prospective employers won’t do. Especially in the era of
Applicant Tracking Software, you need to tailor each curriculum vitae you send to match
the job on offer.
Read the description of the position carefully. Jot down all important responsibilities and
required skills. Then, use those keywords on your CV.

Good CV Layout

That means:

• Lots of white space

• Uniform formatting

• Big section headings

Key Takeaway
Here’s what to include in a CV:

1. Every CV should include the following sections: Contact Information, CV Profile,

Work Experience, Education, Skills.

2. Good additional sections to put on a CV are: Certifications, Associations,

Languages, Extra Training and Courses, Conferences, Publications, or Awards.

3. Things not ever to include in a CV are: date of birth, photo, salary requirements,
irrelevant social media links, more than 15 years of work experience, tables, images
and, obviously, lies.