How to write a CV that gets you hired faster

Changing jobs to increase your income can feel like a painfully slow and uncertain process.

It might feel like your CV gets lost in a sea of applicants, and it can take hundreds of applications just to gain an interview.

However, there are steps you can take to accelerate your job search, get a better success rate with your applications and find that income-boosting career change faster and more efficiently.

In this article, we’ll discuss how to write a CV that stands out from the crowd and gets you hired faster, with five top tips for more effective job applications.

Choose a suitable CV format

When you’re looking to create a professional CV, the best format depends on your experience level and how relevant your career history is to the role you’re applying for.

Conventional CV structures tend to start with a professional profile or summary, then list work experience, followed by education and skills.

However, if you’re just starting out in your career or lack relevant experience in your chosen field, this structure could harm your prospects.

An alternative approach is to use a functional, or ‘skills-based’ CV format. Rather than putting the employment history section up-front and potentially highlighting your lack of experience, this layout focuses on your key skills.

It gives you the chance to show how you’ve developed and applied these skills in various settings — not just in the workplace.

If, for example, you have leadership experience from participating in a team sport, or you’ve managed budgets while volunteering for a local community organisation, the functional layout gives you the opportunity to showcase this.

Top tips:

• If you’ve got a few years’ relevant experience, a traditional CV format tends to be best for you, as employers will want to assess your performance in similar roles.
• If you’re short on experience, or changing careers, consider switching to a functional layout and leading with your skills and examples of how you’ve used these in different walks of life.

Tailor each application

It can feel like volume is the key to success when applying for jobs.

Churning out applications and hoping one sticks can eventually lead to success, but it’s usually an inefficient job-search tactic.

Focusing on sending as many applications as possible can mean you don’t focus enough on tailoring each one to the job description. Taking a little extra time to adapt your applications and make sure they fulfil the employer’s requirements can make your job search much more efficient.

This might mean sending fewer applications, but with each one being more likely to succeed.

Top tips:

• You don’t need to write your CV from scratch every time. Start with a basic CV that includes all your previous jobs and qualifications, and adapt it accordingly for every application.
• Read the job description carefully before starting your application, and make sure your CV reflects the employer’s requirements. Include keywords that mirror the job description’s language and show you’ve got the relevant skills and experience.
• Check your CV with an AI tool to ensure it’s a strong match to the job listing. Simply paste your CV and the job description into any AI assistant and ask it to assess how closely the two match. You can then tweak your CV based on the tool’s suggestions and refine it until it’s a stronger match.

Focus on skills, not duties

Whether you’re experienced or not, recruiters and hiring managers need evidence of your ability to do the job.

While you might think your CV needs to show the reader you have experience of the key duties and responsibilities of the role, the best way to prove you’re a match is to showcase your skills.

Providing lists of your responsibilities in your current or previous roles will do little to differentiate you from other candidates of similar experience levels.

However, focusing on skills can help you create a strong CV, whether or not you have relevant previous experience.

So, when you’re writing your work experience section, rather than detailing your everyday duties and working patterns, concentrate on showing the employer you’ve developed and used the key skills required for the role.

Top tips:

• The job description will give you all the key skills the employer is seeking in candidates. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of them, but look to feature as many as possible in your CV.
• Use bullet points under each entry in your work experience section to show how you’ve used the skills required for the role. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb that shows how you’ve utilised a key skill (for example, ‘Collaborated with cross-functional teams’, ‘Analysed complex datasets’, ‘Presented key research findings’ or ‘Managed a team of UX developers’).
• Add references to other key skills throughout your CV, including your personal statement/professional profile, education section and optional sections like volunteering and hobbies and interests.