How to Write a CV That Gets Interviews

Your CV should make it easy for an employer to understand what you can offer and why you are relevant to the role. It does not need to include everything you have ever done. It should focus on your most relevant experience, skills and achievements, presented clearly and concisely.

This guide covers how to structure your CV, describe your experience, tailor it to a job and avoid common mistakes.

Understanding What a CV Is For

A CV should give an employer a clear picture of your experience, skills and suitability for the role. Every section should help answer a simple question: why are you a relevant candidate for this job?

Focus on information that supports your application and leave out details that do not add value.

Choosing the Right Structure

A clear, predictable structure helps readers find what they need quickly. A typical CV can follow this order:

1. Contact Details

Include your:

• Full name
  
• Phone number
  
• Email address
  
• Location
  

A town or district is usually enough. There is generally no need to include your full postal address or personal details such as date of birth or marital status unless specifically requested.

2. Professional Summary

Write a short paragraph summarising who you are professionally, your main area of expertise and what you are looking for.

For example:

• Weak: "Hardworking and motivated professional seeking a new opportunity."
• Stronger: "Hotel receptionist with four years' experience in guest services and reservations for a mid-sized resort. Skilled in front-desk operations, booking systems and resolving guest concerns calmly and efficiently."

3. Work Experience

List your roles in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position.

For each role, include:

• Job title
  
• Employer
  
• Dates of employment
  
• Concise bullet points describing your main responsibilities and achievements
  

Focus on what you contributed, not just what you were responsible for.

4. Education and Qualifications

List your qualifications, starting with the most recent. Include the institution, qualification and relevant dates.

As your professional experience grows, this section can become shorter and focus on your most relevant qualifications.

5. Skills

Include a short, relevant list of skills that relate to the role you are applying for.

Prioritise specific skills that you can demonstrate through your experience rather than a generic list of soft skills.

6. Additional Sections

Depending on your background, you may also include languages, certifications, volunteering or professional memberships where they are relevant to the role.

Only include additional sections when they add genuine value to your application.

Writing Strong Bullet Points

The work experience section is where many CVs either succeed or lose impact. A list of duties tells an employer what you were expected to do, whereas stronger bullet points show what you actually contributed.

A useful structure is: Action + context + result

• Weak: "Responsible for customer service."
• Stronger: "Handled an average of 40 customer enquiries daily, resolving most issues on first contact and maintaining a customer satisfaction score above 90%."

Where appropriate, use figures to show scale or results, such as percentages, amounts, team sizes, timeframes or volumes.

Start bullet points with strong action verbs such as managed, developed, coordinated, resolved, implemented or improved.

Tailoring Your CV

Read the job post carefully and identify the experience and skills the employer is looking for.

Where your background genuinely matches, make those points clear in your CV and use relevant terminology from the job post where appropriate. Do not exaggerate your experience. The aim is to make your most relevant experience easy to find.

Quick tip: Keep a master CV containing your full experience and achievements. Create a tailored version for each application rather than repeatedly editing your master copy.

Formatting for Readability

A CV that is difficult to read can make strong experience harder to assess. Keep the design simple and consistent.

• Aim for two pages where possible. More experienced jobseekers may need additional space, but focus on relevance rather than length.
  
• Use a clean, professional font at a comfortable size.
  
• Keep formatting consistent throughout, including headings, dates and bullet points.
  
• Leave enough white space so the document is easy to scan.
  
• Use bold sparingly for job titles and section headings rather than entire sentences.
  
• Avoid complex tables, text boxes, multiple columns and decorative graphics if you expect your CV to be processed by applicant tracking software, as these can sometimes affect how information is read.
  
• Save and send your CV as a PDF unless the employer specifically requests another format.
  

A template can help with formatting, but the content should be specific to your experience and the role.

Common CV Mistakes

Even a strong CV can lose impact because of mistakes that are easy to avoid.

• Spelling and grammar errors. Proofread carefully and, where possible, ask someone else to review your CV.
  
• Generic content. Avoid sending the same unedited CV for every application. Highlight experience that is relevant to the specific role.
  
• Listing duties instead of achievements. Explain what you contributed or improved, not just what you were expected to do.
  
• Unexplained employment gaps. A gap is not necessarily a problem, but a short explanation can help provide context where appropriate.
  
• Inconsistent formatting. Use consistent fonts, spacing, dates, headings and bullet points throughout.
  
• Overly long CVs. Including every job and responsibility in full can make your strongest experience harder to find.
  
• Missing contact details. Check that your phone number and email address are correct before submitting your CV.
  

Writing a CV With Limited Experience

If you are early in your career, a shorter work history is expected. You can still create a strong CV by focusing on the experience and activities that demonstrate your skills and potential.

Consider including:

• Academic achievements and relevant coursework or projects
  
• Part-time work, internships or volunteering
  
• Transferable skills demonstrated through specific examples
  
• Extracurricular activities that show initiative or responsibility
  

You do not need extensive professional experience to create a strong CV. Focus on what you have done, what you learned and how it relates to the role.

Reviewing Your CV Before You Apply

Before submitting your CV, take a final look at it. Check that:

• Your most relevant experience is easy to find.
  
• The CV is tailored to the role.
  
• Every bullet point adds useful information.
  
• Your dates are accurate and consistent.
  
• Your spelling and grammar are correct.
  
• Your phone number and email address are correct.
  
• The file is named clearly and professionally, such as FirstName-LastName-CV.pdf.
  

Once your CV is ready, browse current job vacancies in Seychelles and apply through SeyCareers.