Free CV builder for job seekers

To build your CV free, choose a design, work through each section using the suggestions for your job titles, and keep previewing until it reads well. The designs, the suggestions, editing and saving are all free while you build, so take each step at your own pace.

1. Choose a design

First, say how much experience you have, then pick a design. Every design is open to you while you build, so try two or three with your details in before you settle; switch later and your text stays put. To compare layouts side by side first, browse our free CV templates.

2. Add your contact details

Add your name, one phone number, one email address, and your city and country so employers know where you're based. Read each detail back once: a single wrong digit can cost you a callback.

An email address built on your name looks more professional than a nickname, and it's the address a recruiter types when they reply, so it's worth setting one up if you need to.

3. Add your work history, newest first

Start with your latest job. Type the job title, and the builder lists expert suggestions written for it. Pick the ones that match what you did, then make them specific by adding the team size, the number of customers or the result you achieved.

Give your recent jobs the most bullet points and older ones one or two. If a suggestion almost fits, change its verb or add a detail rather than deleting it.

4. Add education, skills and a short profile

List your qualifications, newest first, and the skills the job ad asks for. Finish with a two- or three-line profile at the top that says what you do and what you want next. If this is your first CV, school projects, volunteering and part-time work all count as experience.

The profile is easiest to write once everything else is in: by then you can see which two or three strengths come up again and again.

5. Preview, then download

Read the preview from top to bottom, check dates and spelling, and move a section up when your education or skills deserve the top spot. Reading it aloud once catches the words your eyes skip over. When it reads well, download the finished CV.

Build My CV

6. Tailor a copy to each role

Once your CV is saved, duplicate it in My Library for each kind of role you apply for, then bring the jobs and skills that matter most for that role nearer the top of each copy. The original stays as it is, so every new application starts from a finished CV instead of a blank page.

Keep every copy honest: the jobs, dates and results stay the same in each version, and only the order and the emphasis change to suit the role.

How do I pick the best free CV builder?

Pick the one that helps most with the writing. Check four things: whether its suggestions fit your job title, whether you can switch designs without retyping, whether it runs well on your phone, and whether you can see the finished page while you type.

Rocket Resume meets all four, and your CV stays saved in your account between sessions. For the writing itself, how to write a CV takes each section in turn, and our free CV examples show how others describe similar work.