How to write a CV
The structure recruiters expect, what belongs in each section, and the two mistakes that cost the most interviews.
Start with the job, not with yourself
Read the posting twice before writing anything. The wording an employer uses for a requirement is the wording they will search for later, so it is worth borrowing — where it is honestly true of you.
Your CV is not a career history. It is an argument that you can do one specific job. Everything that does not support that argument is competing with the parts that do.
Lead every bullet with a verb and end it with a result
"Responsible for the campaign budget" describes a job description. "Cut campaign turnaround from nine weeks to five" describes you.
Numbers do the work here. If you cannot quantify something honestly, say what changed instead — a process that stopped failing, a team that stopped churning.
Keep it to two pages
One page for early-career, two for most people, more only in academia and senior specialisms. Nobody has ever been rejected for being concise.
If it will not fit, cut the oldest roles down to a single line each rather than shrinking the type until it is unreadable.
Make it parseable
Single column, ordinary headings, no text inside images, real dates. Applicant tracking systems read your CV before a person does, and they are not clever about unusual layouts.
Save as PDF, not as an image of a PDF. If you cannot select the text with your cursor, neither can a parser.