CV & Application · UK 2026
How to write a UK CV
Time
2 hours
Difficulty
Moderate
Steps
9
From twelve years of UK recruitment: most CVs I reject are not because the candidate is bad. They're because the CV doesn't follow UK conventions. The format is genuinely different from US resumes — different length, different sections, different rules. Here's the step-by-step that produces a CV that passes the 8-second skim and ranks well in any ATS.
Step-by-step
- 1
Set up the document
Open Word or Google Docs. Set page size to A4 (not US Letter). Set the document language to English (United Kingdom) to avoid Americanised spelling sneaking in. Use a clean sans-serif font (Arial, Calibri, or Helvetica) at 10-11pt. Margins of 1.5-2cm on all sides.
- 2
Build the header (5 lines max)
At the top: your name in bold 16-18pt. Below it on a single line: location (city, country — full address optional but increasingly omitted), phone number, email, LinkedIn URL. No photo. No date of birth. No marital status. No nationality unless visa-relevant.
- 3
Write a personal profile (50-80 words)
Three sentences immediately under the header. Sentence 1: who you are professionally — title, years of experience, specialisation. Sentence 2: what you specialise in or what you bring. Sentence 3: what you are looking for, tied to the role you are applying for. This replaces the American "objective statement".
- 4
Add a key skills section (5-8 bullets)
Mirror the skills exactly as they appear in the target job ad. ATS reads this section literally. Use the JD's phrasing rather than synonyms — "Customer Success" not "Client Engagement" if the JD says the former. Skip generic skills like "communication" and "teamwork" — every CV has those.
- 5
Build the experience section (full bullets for last 2 roles)
Reverse chronological. For each role: job title, company name, dates (Month Year–Month Year), then 4-6 bullet points. Each bullet: action verb + specific scope + quantified outcome. "Cut onboarding from 9 days to 3 by automating 4 manual handoffs" — not "Responsible for improving customer onboarding".
- 6
Cut older roles to graduated detail
Roles 3-5 back: 3 bullets each. Roles 6+ back: 1-2 lines summary. Anything beyond 15 years: single "earlier career" line. Hiring managers spend 80% of CV-reading time on the most recent two roles.
- 7
Add education (1-3 lines)
Degree, university, graduation year. Skip A-levels if you have a degree and are 5+ years out of university. List relevant certifications below education if they support the role (CIPD, CFA, ACCA, AWS, etc.).
- 8
Add right-to-work line if non-UK national
Single line at the bottom: "Right to work: UK Skilled Worker visa, valid until 2028" or "Right to work: ILR, no sponsorship required". This removes the recruiter's first concern. Skip if you're a UK or Irish citizen — it's assumed.
- 9
Save as PDF and check ATS-readability
Save as Firstname-Surname-CV.pdf. Avoid file names like "MY CV FINAL v3.pdf". Run the PDF through a free ATS checker (Jobscan free tier or our CV keyword match score) against the target JD to confirm 65%+ keyword match before applying.
Common mistakes to avoid
- ✗Using American spelling — UK ATS and recruiters notice "organization" or "color" within seconds. Set document language to English (United Kingdom).
- ✗Including a photo — opens employers to discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010. Most large UK employers auto-reject CVs with photos.
- ✗"References available on request" line — wastes space. Recruiters know references are available; you don't need to tell them.
- ✗Padding to 2 pages when 1 would work, or stretching to 3 pages when 2 would do. Tight CVs read as edited; padded CVs read as filler.
- ✗Using two-column layouts or design-heavy templates — many ATS parsers struggle with them and your CV gets de-prioritised in the human review queue.
Recruiter pro tip
The biggest single CV improvement I see candidates make is cutting older roles from full bullets to one-line summaries. A 3-page CV with everything detailed reads worse than a tight 2-page CV with graduated detail. The recruiter spends 8 seconds on the top half of page one. Make the top half count and let everything else recede.