Every day, thousands of CVs are written in India. But very few actually work. Why? Because there are rules and best practices to CV writing — you need to write what the company wants to know, not what you think you should say.
1. Understand CV Structure
A CV consists of four main sections: contact information, summary, experience, and education. Some jobs may require additional sections (certificates, languages, projects), but mastering the four basic sections is sufficient.
- Contact Information: Full name, phone, email, LinkedIn (not mandatory but recommended), location/city.
- Summary (Profile): 3-4 sentences. Who you are and what you've accomplished.
- Work Experience: Your achievements — not responsibilities. Write with numbers and results.
- Education: Degree, institution, years. Most recent education comes first.
- Additional: Certifications, languages, projects (if you have them). If short on space, you can skip these.
2. Structure Your Experience Section
This is the heart of your CV. What employers care about isn't what you did — it's WHAT YOU ACHIEVED.
- For each job, write the job title, company name, start date, and end date.
- Add 3-5 bullet points. Each bullet must be an achievement.
- Achievement = number + action. Not 'Managed a team of 5 accountants' but 'Improved financial operations by 12% by managing a team of 5 people.'
- Be specific, not generic. Not 'Good communication' but 'Increased customer satisfaction from 87% to 94%.'
- If you don't have numbers, measure achievement another way: project duration, technology used, company growth.
3. Write Your Education Section Correctly
Education is straightforward. Add your bachelor's and master's degrees, with the year. High school is generally not included in a CV.
- Order: Most recent education first.
- Format: Degree (Bachelor's, Master's, etc.) + Field + Institution + Years.
- Example: 'BTech Information Technology, IIT Delhi, 2018-2022'
- If you have a GPA of 3.5+, you can add it, but it's not mandatory.
- If you have other important academic achievements (scholarship, internship), add them — but only if relevant.
4. Skills Section = The Heart of ATS
ATS (Applicant Tracking System) automatically scans CVs. If the keywords the company is looking for are in your CV, you pass. If they're not, your CV gets deleted without a human ever seeing it.
- Open the job posting. All technologies/skills listed there — add them to your CV.
- Be specific. Not 'Programming' but 'Python, Java, C++, JavaScript'.
- Don't lie — they will verify and they will find out.
- Put the most important skills first. ATS scans the first 20 skills with priority.
- For tech: Python, Java, React, AWS, Java Spring, etc. Don't write proficiency levels ('Beginner' etc.) — it confuses ATS.
5. Keep Format ATS-Compliant
ATS systems only read simple files. Fancy templates, colors, tables, columns — all of this breaks ATS — your CV won't be read, it will be deleted immediately.
- Use a single column. Tables, two columns, sidebars — ATS cannot parse these.
- Simple fonts: Arial, Calibri, DM Sans. Exotic fonts can cause issues.
- Minimize colors. Headings in dark gray/black, emphasis with one accent color. No purple CV with blue tables.
- Don't use icons. ATS can't read them — write 'Phone:' instead of a phone icon.
- Save and send as PDF. DOC format might cause ATS issues.
- Test for ATS: Open the PDF in Word. If text is readable, ATS will read it too.
6. Common CV Mistakes
Here are the mistakes most candidates make and how to fix them.
- Mistake: Not including achievements, only responsibilities. Fix: Write achievements, not responsibilities.
- Mistake: Long paragraphs. Fix: Use bullet points. Each point maximum 1-2 sentences.
- Mistake: Vague words like 'hardworking', 'team player'. Fix: Give proof. Not 'team player' but 'Coordinated 5 branch managers and achieved group targets.'
- Mistake: Mentioning titles you don't have (Director, Manager, Specialist). Fix: Write your real title, show achievements by describing duties.
- Mistake: Spelling and grammar errors. Fix: Reread your CV 3 times. Use spell-check.
- Mistake: Adding a photograph (potential discrimination). Fix: Don't add a photo, except in tech companies.
- Mistake: Not explaining why you left your previous job. Fix: Provide an explanation you can back up with evidence.
7. Optimize Your CV for Each Role
Sending the same CV for every job is a big mistake. The keywords from the job posting need to be in your CV.
- Read the job posting. Note down 10 keywords: 'Python', 'AWS', 'team leadership' etc.
- Make sure these words are present in your CV. If they are, move them higher.
- Add the missing keywords — but don't lie.
- While sending different CVs for each job is tedious, keeping 2-3 versions is useful (one for big tech companies, one for startups, one for finance).
8. Test and Convert Your CV
Before sending your CV, do a quality check.
- Ask a friend or family member to read your CV and give feedback.
- Open your CV in Google Docs and read it. Did the format break?
- Check that all keywords from the job posting are present and no important ones are missing.
- Send as PDF — Word format might confuse things.
- Evaluate for ATS: What percentage of the job posting keywords did you include in your CV? 60%+ is good.