If you’ve ever found yourself agonising over the perfect font or endlessly tweaking your bullet points or even wondering whether to include your part-time job from 2012 – you are definitely not alone! At Shepherd Stubbs, we speak to candidates every day and some of you feel confused about what to include and how to go about writing your CV to give you the best chance of securing your next (or first) position.

This is the truth: a great CV doesn’t need to be perfect – it just needs to be clear, honest, and easy to read.

 

The Purpose of a CV

Let’s start from the beginning. The aim of a CV is straight forward: to show you’re suitable for the role you’re applying for, and that means highlighting your relevant experience, skills, and achievements – not writing your life story or impressing with design flair. [And on this note, be careful with elaborate templates, block colours, designs, columns, etc., – recruiters and client hirers know this is a template and can spot from a mile if you’ve used AI!!  Better to lay it out simply in Word or a PDF with minimal formatting so this doesn’t detract from the content].

A hiring manager will typically spend less than 30 seconds scanning a CV before deciding if it’s worth a deeper look, so instead of obsessing over every word, focus on the essentials:

• Is it easy to read? (think clear headings, logical layout and no walls of text)
• Is it tailored to the role? (highlight the experience that matches what they’re looking for)
• Is it accurate and honest? (don’t overinflate – confidence beats exaggeration.)

 

What Matters More Than Perfection

We’ve placed many candidates over our 37 years as a respected recruitment business and rarely has it come down to whether someone used bold or italics in the right spot, but what does matter is:

• Relevance: demonstrating how your skills match the role.
• Clarity: making it easy to scan and understand.
• Personality: and it’s okay to let a little of you come through – just remember to keep it professional.

And if you’re then thinking, “But what if I leave something out?” – that’s what interviews are for! Your CV opens the door. The interview tells your story.

 

Our Final Piece of Advice? Keep It Simple.

We’ve seen CVs in every shape and size and the ones that work best are the ones that don’t try too hard. A well-structured, honest CV with relevant content always stands out more than an over-engineered one.

If you’re unsure about your CV, we’re happy to take a look. Sometimes, a second pair of eyes is all you need to stop overthinking and start applying. 😉

 

Need help with your CV?
Reach out to our team for feedback or advice or a full review. We’re here to help you put your best foot forward.