Most CV advice online is recycled from 2015. The job market has changed fundamentally — ATS systems are smarter, AI is everywhere and UK recruiters have different expectations than they did even two years ago. This guide is based on current data: interviews with 50 UK recruiters and analysis of 10,000+ CVs submitted through our platform in 2025-2026.
This is the single biggest differentiator between CVs that get interviews and those that don't. "Managed a team" tells a recruiter nothing. "Led a team of 8 to deliver a £2.4M project 3 weeks ahead of schedule" tells them everything. If you can't think of a number, you're not thinking hard enough.
ATS systems match keywords from the job description. If the job says "stakeholder management" and your CV says "managing relationships", the ATS may not connect them. Read the job description carefully and use their exact terminology — especially for technical skills and job titles.
A generic personal statement is the first thing a recruiter skips. A tailored one that directly references the company and role takes 3 minutes to write with AI — and dramatically increases your shortlist rate. The first sentence should name the role and your most relevant qualification.
Multi-column CV templates look impressive but many ATS systems read them in the wrong order — your skills column gets merged with your job history in ways that make no sense. Single-column, clean layouts pass ATS reliably. Save the fancy design for your portfolio website.
Most CVs list experience in chronological order — which means your most impressive recent work is buried at the bottom of the first page. Lead with your current or most recent role prominently, and within each role, lead with your biggest achievement rather than your day-to-day responsibilities.
A job you had in 2012 is taking up valuable space on your CV. Unless it's directly and uniquely relevant to the role, cut it. For experienced candidates, a brief "Earlier career" section with employer names only is sufficient. Every line on your CV should earn its place.
This sounds trivial but it isn't. Recruiters still receive CVs with email addresses like hotmail accounts or embarrassing usernames from the early 2000s. If your email isn't firstname.lastname@gmail.com or similar, create a professional one specifically for job applications.
94% of UK recruiters check LinkedIn for every professional candidate. If your LinkedIn is out of date, inconsistent with your CV or has a weak profile photo, don't include the URL. Update it properly first — it's worth 2 hours of work.
Start every bullet point with a strong action verb. "Responsible for managing" → "Managed". "Was involved in delivering" → "Delivered". "Helped to increase" → "Increased". Passive language signals lack of ownership and confidence. Active verbs signal impact.
Before submitting any application, paste your CV and the job description into an AI tool and ask it to assess your ATS match score. Ask it what keywords you're missing and what you should add or change. This takes 2 minutes and can dramatically improve your shortlist rate.
Responsible for managing the social media accounts for the company and helping to grow our online presence.
Grew company Instagram from 2,100 to 18,400 followers in 9 months, generating £34,000 in directly attributed revenue through shoppable posts.
Was involved in the customer service team and dealt with various customer complaints and queries.
Handled 45+ customer interactions daily, maintaining 4.8/5 satisfaction rating while reducing average resolution time from 3.2 hours to 47 minutes.
🤖 The 2026 reality: Most competitive candidates are now using AI to write and optimise their CVs. If you're writing yours entirely manually, you're at a disadvantage — not because AI produces better content, but because AI helps you identify the right keywords, structure and language faster than manual editing.
Our AI CV writer applies all 10 of these tips automatically. Try it free.
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