Free CV templates to edit online

To fill in a CV template, work in this order: contact details and job facts first, then results under each job, then education and skills, and your profile last. The template already handles the layout, so all your effort goes into the words.

Start with the facts

Fill in your name, phone number, email address and town or city first. Then list each job you want to include with its title, employer and dates, newest first. Facts first means you never stall on an empty profile box, and seeing your dates in a row shows any gap you’ll want to explain.

How to handle a gap in your dates

Fill it with what you did. Study, caring for family, travel or freelance work can each go in with dates and a line on what it involved. A single honest line is enough for a longer break, and a gap of a few months needs no explanation at all.

Replace each sample bullet point with a result

Template previews and sample CVs show examples written for an invented person. Don’t copy them. Write something you actually did, and say what changed because of it.

• Sample: “Responsible for stock control.”
• Yours: “Cut stock shortages by reorganizing the weekly count across both stores.”

In the builder, type each job title to see suggestions for that role. Treat them as a starting point, then add the figures, tools and outcomes from your own work.

How many bullet points to put under each job

Three to five under your latest job, two or three under the one before, and one line or none for jobs from long ago or far from the role you want. Start each line with a verb and put the strongest result first, because many readers only get that far. Our guide on how many bullet points to give each job compares two ways to split them.

Add education, skills and certificates

List qualifications with the most recent first. Give each certificate or license its full name, and add when you earned it; if you’re still studying, give the date you expect to finish. Choose skills the posting names and your work history backs up; a skill that no line on the page supports reads as padding.

Make My CV

Write your profile last

Two or three lines are enough: who you are, what you’re good at and the kind of job you want. It’s far easier once the rest of the page is done, because you can lift your strongest result straight into it.

What if the template’s section order doesn’t suit me?

Change it. The builder lets you move sections up or down, so a recent graduate can put education above work history and someone changing careers can bring skills to the top. A design’s order is a starting point, not a rule.

Can I change the template after filling it in?

Yes. Switch to another design at any point and everything you’ve typed moves across, so you can fill one in now and compare looks later. Try your finished CV in two or three designs; one usually suits your details better than the rest.

Make it fit each job

Before each application, reread the job ad and move the matching skills and results higher. A template makes that quick, since the layout stays put while you change the words. Save one version per kind of job you apply for, and the next application begins with most of the work done.

Check it before you send it

Read it through once in the preview and once aloud, looking for these four things:

• No sample or placeholder text left anywhere
• Dates in the same format all the way down
• Spelling that suits the country you’re applying in
• Your strongest section close to the top

Want tips for your field? Browse CV examples for your job, or read our full guide to writing a CV.