How to Write a CV: A Practical UK Guide

To write a CVin the UK, set out your details on one to two pages in reverse-chronological order — most recent first — with a short personal statement at the top, then work experience, education, and skills, each tailored to the specific job. Recruiters spend very little time on a first read, so the top third has to land instantly. This guide is a practical walkthrough of how to write a CV that gets read: what to put on it, how long it should be, and how to get it past both the software and the human who reads it.

If you have been applying for weeks and hearing nothing, you are not imagining it. People Management reports an Indeed survey finding that 55% of applicants hear nothing back at all, and a separate People Management poll found 89% of applicants would rather get a rejection than be left in silence. Sometimes that is the CV; often it is volume, timing, or an automated filter. This is practical CV help for the parts you can actually control.

Key takeaways

• Length:two pages is the safe default — Reed found 91% of recruiters call two pages ideal, and CV Genius found 50% prefer two pages, 25% prefer one.
• Format:reverse-chronological wins — 75% of hiring managers prefer most-recent-first (VisualCV).
• First impression:recruiters spend roughly 17–46 seconds per CV (Jan Tegze, 2023), so the top third must do the heavy lifting.
• Proofread:Adzuna found 87% of UK CVs contained at least one mistake — only 13% were error-free.
• Tailor every time: a generic CV gets filtered out; a targeted one earns the read.

What is a CV, and how is a UK CV different from a US resume?

A CV (curriculum vitae) is a one-to-two-page summary of your work history, education, and skills, written to win an interview for a specific role. In the UK the words “CV” and “resume” are not interchangeable the way they are in the US — here you almost always submit a CV.

The key British difference is what you leave off. A UK CV should not include a photo, your date of birth or age, marital status, or nationality. Leaving these out is the norm and helps keep hiring fair. Spelling matters too: use British forms throughout (organise, optimise, colour, programme), because mismatched US spellings read as a copy-paste from somewhere else.

What to put on a CV: the essential sections

A strong UK CV has a predictable structure, and that predictability is a feature — it lets a busy reader find what they need fast. The National Careers Service sets out the standard sections, and in order they are:

1. Name and contact details— name, phone, professional email, and city. No full postal address needed.
2. Personal statement— a short profile of around 100–150 words (more on this below).
3. Work experience— reverse-chronological, with achievements, not just duties.
4. Education and qualifications— most recent first, with grades where relevant.
5. Skills— the specific, job-relevant ones, not a generic list.
6. Optional extras— certifications, volunteering, or interests only if they add something.

You do not need to list references on the CV. “References available on request” is assumed and wastes a line — give them only when asked.

How long should a CV be?

Two pages. That is the answer for almost everyone. Reed found that 91% of recruiters consider two pages the ideal length, and the CV Genius hiring-manager survey backs it up: 50% prefer two pages and 25% prefer one. So unless you are an early-career graduate with little to fill a second page, aim for two.

In word terms, Reed notes that most two-page UK CVs run 700–1,000 words, with the personal statement around 100–150 of them. If you are spilling over, the fix is usually relevance, not smaller margins:

• Cover roughly the last 5–10 years in detail; summarise or drop older roles.
• Cut duties that any candidate could claim and keep the results only you delivered.
• Remove the obvious — “references available on request”, your full address, an objective that repeats the statement.

What should I write in a CV personal statement?

Your personal statement is a 100–150 word pitch at the top of the CV that says who you are, what you are good at, and what you are aiming for — tailored to the role in front of you. It is the first thing read and often the thing that decides whether the rest gets read at all.

The trap, as Prospects warns, is filler. Lines like “I work well independently and as part of a team” tell an employer “absolutely nothing about what you're capable of”, and copy-pasted ready-made examples read as exactly that. Make every sentence specific and evidence-backed:

• Weak:“A hard-working professional who is passionate about results.”
• Strong:“A marketing executive with four years in B2B SaaS, where I grew organic leads 40% in a year through content and SEO.”

If a claim could appear on anyone's CV, it is doing no work. Swap adjectives for numbers, named tools, and outcomes wherever you can.

Should I use a reverse-chronological or skills-based CV?

Reverse-chronological, in almost all cases. It lists your most recent role first and works backwards, and it is what readers expect: VisualCV reports that 75% of hiring managers prefer it over a skills-based layout. It is also the format that automated systems parse most reliably.

A skills-based (functional) CV groups achievements by theme rather than by job, which can help cover a career gap — but it makes some recruiters wonder what is being hidden, and software often struggles to read it. Unless you have a strong, specific reason, stick with reverse-chronological and address any gaps briefly and honestly in your statement or cover letter.

How do I get my CV past the ATS?

Most large employers screen CVs with an Applicant Tracking System before a human sees them, so an ATS-friendly CV is one a machine can read cleanly and match to the job's keywords. StandOut CV reports that around 70% of large UK businesses (and roughly 20% of SMEs) use ATS software, rising to 99% of Fortune 500 firms.

You do not beat the ATS by stuffing in keywords — that backfires with the human reader. You beat it by being clean and relevant:

• Use a standard reverse-chronological layout with plain section headings (Work Experience, Education, Skills).
• Avoid tables, text boxes, columns, and graphics— they scramble when parsed.
• Mirror the exact wording from the job advertfor genuine skills you have (if it says “stakeholder management”, use that phrase, not a synonym).
• Save as a .docx or a text-based PDF, never an image or scan.
• Spell out acronyms once: “Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)”.

Do this and you clear the filter without making the CV read like it was written for a robot.

How do I tailor my CV without rewriting it every time?

Tailoring means adjusting your personal statement, the order of your bullet points, and your skills to match each advert — and it is the difference between getting read and getting filtered. The data is blunt: People Management's coverage of the Robert Walters report found 86% of job hunters feel their applications are overlooked, and 62% of hiring managers reject for a lack of relevant experience. A generic CV invites exactly that verdict.

The honest problem is that StandOut CV puts the average search at roughly 27 applications per interview over about 122 days, and rewriting from scratch 27 times is exhausting. So work from a single, comprehensive master CV and tailor a copy each time:

• Keep a master document with every role, achievement, and skill in full.
• For each job, copy it, then cut and reorder so the most relevant experience sits highest.
• Rewrite only the statement and your top bulletsto echo the advert — the rest barely changes.

This is exactly the workflow our team built into Hireable: you keep one master profile, and Phil Jobs helps you tailor your CV to each role in minutes rather than starting from a blank page every time.

Is it OK to write my CV with AI, and can recruiters tell?

Use AI to draft, structure, and proofread — not to hand over a generic CV you never touch. The CV Genius trends survey found that 74% of UK hiring managers say they can spot AI-generated applications, around 80% view AI content negatively, and 57% are less likely to hire when they detect it. The penalty is for output that reads as machine-written: vague, repetitive, and impersonal.

The right use is as an assistant. Let it suggest structure, sharpen weak bullets, and catch the errors Adzuna found in 87% of CVs — then make it sound like you, with your real numbers and your own voice. AI that helps you write a specific, true, well-organised CV is an advantage; AI you copy and paste unread is the trap.

A final word before you apply

Most of what makes a CV work is unglamorous: the right length, a specific statement, clean formatting, no typos, and genuine tailoring for each role. Get those right and you have done your job — the silence that follows is far more often about volume and timing than about you. If you would like a hand turning one master profile into tailored, ATS-ready CVs for every application, that is exactly what Phil Jobs does at Hireable, and you can start for free. Now go and apply.