How to Make Your CV Stand Out | The Ultimate Guide

Applying for a job is rarely enjoyable, and the pain often begins with updating your Curriculum Vitae (CV). The main pain points are often associated with deciding on your CV layout and how to properly apply your early educational and work experience to convey your potential for a job that may have specific requirements.

This article provides analysis on how to boost your CV beyond the basics to counter these concerns and hopefully reduce the time spent in job-seeking limbo! Let’s recap first.

The definition of Curriculum Vitae is “a course of life”, which suggests it should provide a detailed summary of your achievements and qualities. If you’ve never made one before, consider reading our beginner's guide to writing your first CV.

Importantly, your CV must stand out from the very beginning. Studies show the average recruiter spends 5-7 seconds looking at your CV before they have decided to consider you as a potential candidate. You have to make it past this stage first!

In addition, an employer may be looking through hundreds of CVs a day, so making yours stand out from the beginning can put your name in the right direction early on. Here are the core aspects of a CV that are likely to help it be successful.

Nail the Basics

Your CV is the first barrier between you and a potential employer; so, making the basic information clearly presented and professional will make it stand out early on.

Contact Info

Your full government name, current home address, phone number and email address should be visible at the very top of your CV. The absence of these contact details becomes a burden for a recruiter, so they are unlikely to pursue them, and this is a simple error which can be avoided. Make sure your email address is workplace-friendly too!

Length

Your CV does not have strict requirements for its length, but ideally, it should be no longer than a page. It is much better to have a straight-to-the-point document full of achievements than multiple pages of waffle. It's also a surefire way to send your application to the bottom of the pile.

Alternatively, anything you wish to add in more detail can be actioned through a LinkedIn account, personal website or cover letter if requested. A LinkedIn account is wise to obtain because it enables recruiters to read up more about your profile and background.

Spelling

Most of the worst things to include in a CV can be avoided through proofreading. You must make sure you have read over your CV for any spelling or grammatical errors. According to Reed, over 50% of recruiters state poor spelling or grammar is their number one application turn-off. Writing a document with spelling mistakes is an indication that the person who wrote the CV does not pay attention to detail.

Tidyness

Your CV must be consistent in terms of font size and design to make a good impression at first glance. Sections with inconsistent font styles or sizes, margins or headings will appear confusing and unprofessional. Make it easy for recruiters to read the information they are looking for quickly. For example, describe your GCSE grades like: Maths - 9, English - 8, etc, rather than a long list of subjects and an ambiguous summary of how many 7's, 8's or 9's.

Be Truthful

Do not lie about experience, qualifications or grades. In the age of digital technology, many employers are able to complete background checks for the school you attended or the qualifications you achieved. Being caught can terminate your chance of securing the job, and the repercussions of lying are a high risk to your career. It is far better to be truthful and honest so the employer can understand your social skills and qualities.

Use the Right Structure

According to Reed (recruitment website), 50% of recruiters state a logical order is the most important thing to consider on a CV.

Image taken from myCVdesigner.com

There are 4 common CV formats that people use. Each format emphasises the most appropriate information for the type of role you are applying for at the top of the page, so it gives a good first impression:

1) Reverse Chronological Format

This is the most popular CV format and is ideal for people with plenty of work experience that is relevant to the position they’re interested in. So it may not be the best choice if you are coming straight out of school. It prioritises employment history at the top, with more detail for each specific role.

2) Functional / Skills-based Format

This is the most appropriate format for trade workers, creatives or recent graduates and students straight out of school, as it prioritises the core qualifications and skills at the top, summarising any experience you have using those skills.

3) Combination Format

The combination CV is a great choice for job-seekers with a very diverse skill set or those who are changing career paths. It’s useful if you’re applying for a role that requires expertise in 3 to 4 different fields, and you want to show all that you can do. It prioritises the skills and experience, followed by the employment history, to show where you've successfully used these skills in a professional setting.

4) Infographic Format

The infographic CV is a good choice for any designer to exhibit their skills, provided the role is relevant to these design skills. It prioritises a unique layout using graphic design elements to convey information, like using a progress bar to convey proficiency in Photoshop or a programming language.

A word of warning: unless you possess some clear graphic design skills and experience, steer clear of trying this yourself. While it can catch the eye in a pile of black and white and interestingly convey information, a poorly presented or polarising design can do more harm than good. Alternatively, you can hire a designer on sites like UpWork or Fiverr to beautify it for you with some context and direction.

Good Use of Visual Elements

This stage is very much optional, but an important point, considering that the first barrier is getting your CV noticed at all. You don't have to be a graphic designer to understand some key fundamentals of what makes a document compelling or easy to read - you will instinctively have noticed this while reading any online or printed content.

Some of the basic principles laid out below can help your CV jump out from a printed stack of CVs and create a positive first impression and a favourable reading experience for the person you are trying to impress. This can make a lasting impression, making it easier to recall your CV out of a crowd.

Visual Hierarchy

This is the most relevant principle to apply to a written document. The hierarchy of a document describes the natural flow of where your eye looks first when put in front of you. While we know to start reading from the top left of a page, the order of where a reader naturally is drawn to next is determined by:

• The closer it is to the top left of the page.
• The relative size of the object of text compared to the page as a whole.
• The contrast of the object or text with the surrounding area.

As the employer could potentially discard your CV within a few seconds if they can't find what they are looking for, this is a good thing to consider. Separate your CV sections using bold headings such as "Education" and "Qualifications", depending on which order and separation suits the chosen format and target role.

A good way to test for visual hierarchy is to stand about a meter away from the document and squint your eyes so the text becomes blurry. If the key sections still stand out in the correct order through the size and contrast of the various text and headings, then the hierarchy is well-balanced.

Colour & Contrast

Using colour sparingly can be especially effective to catch and lead the eye while being memorable to the reader. Keep the use of colour to a minimum and stick to one accent colour, as well as the main body being black text and the familiar white background.

Make sure to use quite a dark shade so that it contrasts well with the white of the page and maintains a professional look. Use it sparingly to create a standout section at the top or left side of the page that the reader will see first.

For that reason, it should contain your name, contact information and/or any cover note. You could also use it for the various section headings, like the example below. Ensure any text over the top of a coloured section is in white to keep it in high contrast so it reads well!

Alignment, Separation & White Space

This is usually taken for granted when using word processors to make documents, as they take care of most of this automatically. It's worth recounting in case you start to get creative with your CV format to maintain a professional look that's easy to digest.

Alignment is important to ensure a document looks neat and has a consistent distance between the edges of the page and the start of each section of text. Try to avoid alignment modes like "Justify", which may look neater, but are much harder to read outside of a newspaper column.

Separation and white space relate to the actual proportions of "white space" on the page between different sections. There should be sufficient white space between lines of text and each section to be easily distinguished, and further help the readability of the page. If you are trying to fit too much on one page and cram the sections tightly together, it will become too busy and difficult to see where one section ends and the other begins.

Keep in mind that any bold design choices beyond a normally formatted document are very subjective, so it's best to keep the use of these tips to a minimum to ensure they only help your chances. There are usually lots of examples available online to look at and draw inspiration from.

Selling Yourself to the Reader

Assuming you have got through the first barrier of getting your CV in front of the right person, the next challenge is to differentiate yourself from other candidates and make the information as interesting and impactful as possible to the reader.

Use these tips below to provide specific context relating your experiences to the job role to help the reader see how you will slot into their company:

Do Your Market Research

Before you start writing your CV, it is important to do some research into the role itself and the company that you are applying for. This will help you to tailor your CV to the specific requirements of each job and help prepare for any follow-up questions or interviews.

In addition, repeating any common 'buzzwords' and industry-specific jargon throughout your CV will subconsciously assimilate you with the recruiter's world through the language they use every day at work. Just make sure you understand it well!

Consider a Cover Letter

According to Reed.co.uk, 40% of recruiters won't usually consider an applicant's CV without a suitable cover letter. Carefully look through the application requirements for any mention of a cover letter and include this as a separate, written document like the template below.

Image taken from Reed.co.uk

The main benefit of including one is saving the space on your CV required for a cover note that gives context for your main motivations and suitability for applying to this role. This leaves more space on your CV for a concise description of your skills, experience, qualifications and interests that's easier to digest.

Highlight Specific Achievements

Job markets are competitive, and your grades and work experience are the main areas you will be compared to other individuals. However, it is the specific achievements that set you out from the crowd.

Firstly, school achievements may include scholarships, awards for specific activities, being a prefect, work-related awards, sport awards and accomplishments in co-curricular activities. Any additional roles and responsibilities indicate that you stood out in your year group as someone willing and capable of going above and beyond the required work.

These achievements give a much clearer indication of who you are as a person beyond just grades, and additionally, your exemplary behaviour and discipline outside of revision.

Such achievements are often talking points in an interview, and this enables a recruiter to understand your social skills and passion for applying. Critically, do not mention activities which any individual could do. For instance, stating general terms, including being friendly or sociable, are obvious qualities that anyone can possess, thus making it harder to set yourself apart.

Tailor Your Experience

Recruiters like to see facts, results and growth in the face of challenges. It is important to have these clearly communicated on your CV.

If you have minimal work experience, you could write a few sentences to reflect on how you managed to balance your extracurricular commitments, school subjects and revision to get your target grades, showing good organisation and project management skills to get the desired results. This communicates more desirable qualities for a potential employee than simply listing results.

Furthermore, if you have had roles that may not have turned out well or seem irrelevant to the role, there is usually at least one transferrable lesson you can reflect on that has made you a more capable employee. 

For example, it could be maturely dealing with a miscommunication with a colleague or proactively reporting a potentially disastrous issue to a manager with a ready-made solution.

Account for Long Gaps

Any gaps in employment of less than a year are unlikely to be flagged as suspicious, so if you have a lot of experience in an irrelevant field fields it's alright to 'cherry-pick' the roles you mention in your CV. 

Remember, even if you took a year out of work for travelling or upskilling, there are lessons and qualities you will have learned over that time that should be mentioned elsewhere in the CV.

Show Your Impact

Share 2-3 lines of evidence of a time you had a positive impact on a business or other people from each piece of work experience, even if it's outside of paid employment. You can use the STAR method in your CV or cover letter to stay on the right track:

• Situation you had to deal with.
• Task you were given.
• Action you took.
• Results that followed your action and what you learned.

Whether it was doing family 'tech support', devising a process that helped you cut the garden grass in half the time or making a social media video that helped raise money for a charity bake sale. These comments show you are innovative, resourceful and results-focused.

Be Enthusiastic

Above all, speak about your experience with passion and a willingness to learn. 

Not many employers for entry-level roles are looking too deeply into what you have done, but rather for clues about your character and how you approach challenges. 

Try to indicate you have applied these lessons in future employment to show your growth potential and self-management skills.

Be Concise

When writing a CV, you must get straight to the point. It's vital to write in short and precise sentences - rewrite them several times if you have to, until you've used the most efficient combination of words.

Be Interesting, Not Just Interested

When writing your CV for the first time, you may need to rely on some extracurricular endeavours or limited work experience to convey your potential.

Don't be afraid to mention some of your quirky hobbies and interests, or out-of-the-ordinary experiences (even if they were a one-time occurrence!) if they are likely to inspire some thought in the reader.

For example, you might have done some fundraising for a charitable cause close to your heart over the summer, completed a sky dive or learned to scuba dive on a family holiday.

Most employers want to work with people they find interesting, and you might even end up sharing a passion that works in your favour!

Become a Lifelong Learner

Other self-driven or extracurricular qualifications are considered the “cherry on top” to finish your CV on a strong note. They are especially important, however, if you have not had many professional job roles, internships or work experience outside of school.

These could be training, certificates, personal projects or courses you completed externally from school. These convey you as an enthusiastic lifelong learner, and this is an attribute employers like to see when they are looking for someone to train up. If you haven't already, consider building a professional-facing blog or website to give more evidence of your skills and interests without clogging up the page.

Check out our guide on suggested summer activities to boost career prospects for help in filling out your CV with professional skills and experience.

What if They Don't Contact You?

Apparently, 82% of recruiters say it reflects well on the applicant when following up after submitting their CV.

Different employers have different approval processes that can take a long time! By getting in contact with them a couple of weeks after submissions close, you will revive their knowledge of your application, which they could potentially have skipped over. In addition, they could be back to square one after some unsuccessful interviews and have you fresh in their mind for the next round for consideration.

The worst-case scenario is that they don't reply. If you ask, they may also give you valuable feedback on improving your CV for the next application. Keep in mind that in this day and age, it's important not to wait around for one employer to get back to you before you send out another application!

Sherpa has expert online tutors to help guide you on all of these qualities. To find out more, visit our tutoring services. With our professional online learning whiteboard, our tutors will guide you towards writing a professional and well-structured CV. Online learning is a great way to stay at home and have our professional tutors help you build your CV. Discover more by visiting our "find a tutor" page. You'll find specialists in ‘Personal Statements’, ‘UCAS Preparation’ and ‘Oxbridge Preparation’.