CV Examples
Finance Manager
Back-end Developer
Product Owner
Start Your CV Now
Use our AI CV writer to craft a professional CV that helps you land a job.
Finance Manager
Back-end Developer
Product Owner
Start Your CV Now
Use our AI CV writer to craft a professional CV that helps you land a job.
How to Create a Job-winning CV: General Advice
When we talk about general CV examples, we mean CVs that work for a wide range of applicants, roles, and hiring situations. They have standard CV sections and the most universally accepted CV layout and formatting.
CVs generally start with contact information at the top, followed by a professional summary, and then work experience as the main part of the CV. General CV samples also typically include sections for education, skills, and certifications.
If you're unsure how your CV should look for your specific situation, or you can't find a CV example for your target role, we suggest following our general CV rules and advice. Our CV examples reference different jobs, but they all share a common structure and writing style. Below, we'll address each aspect of a strong general CV example individually.
What Makes a Strong Professional Summary
A good professional summary does not describe what you're looking for or your ambitions. It briefly summarises your strongest skills, most significant achievements, and your overall professional identity.
Start with your role title, then explain in a few lines what you're good at and what your strongest professional results are. That way, even before seeing your work experience, the reader will know who you are and what you can do for them. Explaining your career goals is not a great general CV strategy.
Skills Examples for Your CV
Which skills to include in a CV depends mostly on the job you're targeting and the field of the company you're applying for. In addition to listing them in a dedicated skills section, we strongly suggest mentioning them in your work experience as well. Recruiters must see not only which skills you have, but also how you used them in your previous jobs.
Our general CV examples list industry-specific skills, but some professional skills are applicable across industries. Below are the most common examples.
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Problem Solving
- Time Management
- Organisation
- Adaptability
- Leadership
- Critical Thinking
- Attention to Detail
- Project Coordination
Importance of Keywords in a CV
The importance of correctly placed keywords is most noticeable when it comes to passing applicant tracking systems (ATS) that many companies use in the selection process. ATS scanners review every submitted CV and filter candidates who are the strongest fit for the job. Keywords are typically job requirements, so you need to carefully analyse the job posting.
As with the skills discussed above, the keywords most important for your CV depend on the job requirements. That said, we have listed below some keywords that appear in many different CV examples.
- Customer Service
- Data Analysis
- Process Improvement
- Project Management
- Team Collaboration
- Microsoft Office
- Stakeholder Communication
- Training & Development
- Performance Metrics
- Workflow Optimisation
General CV ATS Optimisation Rules
Our general CV examples can help you learn about the universal CV ATS optimisation rules. Besides using appropriate keywords as described in the previous chapter, it's equally important to make your CV readable for ATS scanners.
To avoid problems with organising information from your CV, avoid complex design and graphic elements, such as tables with multiple columns, text boxes, or images. Also, ATS platforms look for patterns and structure, so it's better to use standard section headings and fonts, as we did in our general CV examples on this page.
General CV Design & Formatting Principles
When there's a chance the company you're applying to uses an ATS to select new hires, it's recommended to use a traditional, simpler CV format and design.
That said, these decisions depend on the company culture, role type, and the importance of expressing your creativity in the application process. If you're applying for a design or a less conservative field, it's fine to play a little with colours or add some graphic elements that don't break the overall visual structure and flow.
Common CV Writing Mistakes
- Listing only your general duties and responsibilities on your CV, without emphasising your achievements.
- Using the same CV version for every application instead of tailoring it to the job description.
- Failing to connect your work experience to business results and failing to demonstrate your value as a potential employee.
- Using excessively designed CV layouts with graphics, tables, or multiple columns can reduce readability and create ATS formatting issues.
- Writing long job descriptions, rather than using concise bullet points, makes work experience easier for recruiters to review quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
When we talk about general CV examples, which means excluding special cases that don't need to follow standard norms, you should aim for a one- or two-page-long document. For beginners, one-pagers are typically the best option, while more experienced candidates can write longer CVs.
