CV Format

[Misterfox]

What CV format or template do people use today ?

I have been using the same template for 20 years, little old skool, but has worked well for me.

I am seeing so many different funky variants out there and wonder if my format has become outdated and I need to use a more update format ?

Ta

[ladymuck]

Mine is pretty old fashioned but the modern formats pushed by the likes of those CV writers out there have never worked for me.

• Name and contact details
• Summary paragraph that is the TL;DR elevator pitch for the role
• Relevant skills bullet list - max 5 plus a list of relevant technologies on a 6th bullet
• List of "interim engagements", 4 or 5 depending on how recent, relevant, etc. One sentence intro about what the project was and then bullet points of what I did
• List of professional qualifications and CPD courses
• Optional table of all contracts in reverse chronological order - client, role, dates only

2-3 pages, depending on whether I choose to include that optional table

[northernladuk]

Exactly the same as LM for me except for the optional table which I've never bothered with. If a gig requires something like 'public sector experience' I'll list the contracts, even if they aren't on the CV in the covering letter though.

The basic data a recruiting manager hasn't changed a jot in this day and age. Times and trends might change but the basic info to prove you can do the job haven't.

I think I know what you mean about funky though. Having helped my previous couple of clients with recruiting I see the odd CV popping up that tried to be different. The most common of these oddities appears to be starting the CV with some linkedin type rubbish about 'Helping clients yadda yadda' kind of bigging themselves up and putting flowers around their skill. Generally not a useful quantifiable fact in the couple of paragraphs they can go to, often followed with clearly a fairly short career history. To date I've not put a single one of these forward for interview. Not because Im old and I don't like it, but because they are trumped by a pile of CV's with straight cut info and long history of delivering the same as the client needs.

There are then the odd 5+ pages ones but I belive a lot of those get filtered out by the agents and occassionaly one in all sorts of fonts. Still can't believe this happens in this day and age but according to the recruiting partner at my current gig it's not uncommon. They commented that most of these generally don't make the cut that come to us so we don't see it. I can't imagine what other rubbish they get as well. Apparently photos on CV's is still happening as well. Being an SC gig none of those get through to us either for obvious reasons.

Being an old head I kind of fall in to thinking the industry has been around long enough to have settled to a norm and forget people are still starting out and making the same basic mistakes. That said we've had a handful of people on here that swear by their 5+ page CV's and have had end to end gigs. Even that bloke that had the 10 pager said that but I also think he'd been at JLR for decades so end to end gigs claim fell a bit flat.

[ladymuck]

The table comes in handy sometimes because I have a couple of repeat clients so it's good to show as evidence that I can hold down a contract for a decent amount of time and I often get asked to go back.

[Snooky]

little old skool, but has worked well for me.

This is the only important thing. As long as it gets you in the door for roles you want, why fix what isn't broken?

[ladymuck]

This is the only important thing. As long as it gets you in the door for roles you want, why fix what isn't broken?

That is 100% the right approach. You'd think there had been some kind of revolution in CV formats from all the webinars but, ultimately, people just want a simple view of your skills and experience.

[WTFH]

PDF (that way any intermediary will find it a smidgen more difficult for them to edit)
I know that's a flippant answer, but in reality, I've not changed the format in years. A summary paragraph about me, skills and experience, and then details about recent clients/projects, but not every detail on every project. Older projects are either left off, or summarised at the end of that section. Finally there's contact details for referees - a couple of end clients and a consultant.
Wording will get tweaked for certain roles, and I sometimes choose different referees, but 90% of it stays the same.
It's only ever been agents who have asked me to change the format of my CV - and that has normally been to fit their template with their logos, etc.
I've had agents ask me to re-write so that it emphasised certain key words, but I don't think my CV has stopped me getting interviews, so I've no plans to change it.

[sadkingbilly]

I can't remember when i was last asked for a CV.
'are you available'? is the usual question.

[Bluenose]

What CV format or template do people use today ?

I have been using the same template for 20 years, little old skool, but has worked well for me.

I am seeing so many different funky variants out there and wonder if my format has become outdated and I need to use a more update format ?

Ta

put it into Claude, set it to Opus 4.8 Max, give it a one paragraph description of who you are and what type of job or contract you want and what rate. throw it your CV, ask for a ATS compliance check and an end to end review and re-write with a limit of 4 pages. Tell it to not include any email, phone or linked in address, rate details (edit to suit) and add those manually at the end.

When you get a bite throw it (Claude Opus) the JD and any other information you have about the role from the Agent and tell Claude to re-roll your CV with the 4 page version and the older, longer version.

PDF or Docx doesnt matter as these days, if its PDF the agent will just right click and open it in word, export it into docx then upload it into Google Gemini and ask it to rewrite the CV to their own template.