A CV maker with CV examples

A CV for a UK job is usually two pages long, opens with a short profile and lists your work from newest to oldest. Employers in Ireland expect much the same, and so do many in Australia and New Zealand, where the same document is often called a resume. Where people go wrong is in the smaller points: which personal details to include, how to describe qualifications from another country and which spelling to use. Settle those first and the CV maker takes care of the layout.

Which personal details belong on a UK CV?

Put your name, phone number, email address and the town or city you live in at the top. A full street address is optional, and a link to a professional profile helps if it's up to date. Leave off your date of birth, marital status, nationality and anything about your health. UK employers don't need them to judge your application, and leaving them off keeps the reader's attention on your work.

How do I write a personal statement for a UK CV?

Most UK CVs open with a personal statement, also called a profile: three or four lines on who you are, what you do well and the role you want next. Write it last, once the rest of your CV shows what to highlight. Name your field and level of experience, add one result you're proud of and finish with the job you're aiming for. Write it without "I". For example: "Retail supervisor with six years' experience leading teams of up to 12 in a busy high-street store."

How should I list qualifications from another country?

An employer may not know another country's qualifications, so describe yours as well as naming them. Give each one's original name, where you earned it and the year you finished, then add a short plain-English description, such as "a four-year degree in accounting". If an employer asks for proof, UK ENIC, the UK's agency for international qualifications, can compare yours with a UK level.

For UK qualifications, put your degree and its class first, such as a 2:1, then sum up A levels and GCSEs in a single line.

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Should I use British or American spelling?

Match the country of the job. For a UK, Irish or Australian employer, write organise, colour and centre; for a US employer, write organize, color and center. Whichever you pick, use it all the way through, from your profile to your job titles. Write dates as a month and year, such as March 2022, so readers in any country take them the same way.

How do I adjust one CV for jobs in different countries?

Start from a master CV that holds every job and result. For each country, change only what local employers expect: the spelling, the profile, which results lead and, for a US employer, a shorter version. In the CV maker, duplicate your saved CV in My Library so the master stays as it was. Our guide to CV vs resume sets out what each country tends to ask for.

How do I check a CV for an employer abroad?

Check it as that employer would: read it once on screen and once out loud. Check that every date runs newest first, that the spelling matches the country you chose and that your phone number and email address are right. Then hold it up against the job ad: the skills the employer names first should be easy to spot near the top. For more on each section, see how to write a CV, and for skill and work history suggestions from roles like yours, browse our CV examples.