CV / Resume Generator: How It Works
Most CVs are read first by software and then, if they survive, for about seven seconds by a human. Both readers want the same thing — evidence, quickly, in a predictable place. This page covers the structure that satisfies both.
Structure that survives automated screening
Applicant tracking systems parse a document into fields. Anything that confuses the parser can drop your application before a person sees it.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Single-column layout | Two-column designs — parsed as interleaved gibberish |
| Standard headings: Experience, Education, Skills | Creative headings like 'My Journey' |
| Text-based contact details | Details inside a header, footer or image |
| Common fonts, 10–12 pt | Decorative or embedded custom fonts |
| .docx or a text-based PDF | Scanned or image-based PDFs |
| Dates as 'Mar 2023 – Present' | Dates only in a graphic timeline |
Write achievements, not duties
A job description states what the role involved. A CV should state what changed because you were in it.
Duty: 'Responsible for managing the company social media accounts.'
Achievement: 'Grew combined social following from 4,000 to 27,000 in 14 months; social-sourced signups rose from 3% to 19% of the total.'
The pattern is action verb + what you did + measurable outcome. Where you have no metric, use scale or scope instead: number of people, size of budget, volume handled, systems replaced. 'Improved efficiency' means nothing; 'cut monthly close from 9 days to 4' means something.
Length and ordering
- One page for under about ten years of experience; two is acceptable beyond that. Three is almost never read.
- Reverse chronological. Most recent first, because that is what is assessed.
- Front-load. The top third of page one decides whether the rest is read. Put your strongest evidence there, not your education.
- Education moves down once you have real experience. It belongs at the top only for recent graduates.
Tailoring, efficiently
Read the job advert and note the terms it uses for the skills you have. If it says 'stakeholder management' and your CV says 'client liaison', change yours — both automated matching and human skim-reading work on the words in front of them. This is not keyword stuffing; it is using the reader's vocabulary. Ten minutes of tailoring per application beats fifty untailored submissions.
What to leave out
- A photograph, date of birth, marital status or nationality — required in some countries, actively discouraged in others including the UK and US, where they raise discrimination concerns.
- 'References available on request' — assumed, and a waste of a line.
- Objective statements that describe what you want. A short professional summary describing what you offer is more useful.
- Skill rating bars. A visual claim of '85% Python' conveys nothing and does not parse.
- Every role from twenty years ago. Summarise early career in one line.
Before you send it
Save as PDF unless the advert asks otherwise, and name the file properly — Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf, not cv_final_v3.pdf. Copy the text out of the PDF and paste it into a plain text editor: if it comes out scrambled, an automated parser will see the same scramble. Then read it aloud once. Anything you would not say in an interview should not be on the page.