The CV Geek Strikes again.

Top Ten Tips for a UK Friendly CV.

August 2023

I know I say it time and time again, but I really am THE CV Geek. I just love analysing, scrutinising and editing CVs to make them better.    I am fascinated by how CVs differ across the globe and how they are reflect the cultural norms and values of each country.  My specialism is making CVs UK friendly and accomplishing this is highly complex and intricate work, which never ceases to amaze or excite me.   

I just can’t help myself but to dive straight in and start editing, deleting, restructuring a CV to give it a UK make over.  A lot of the CVs I work with are of strong promising international candidates, with impressive professional backgrounds and a lot to offer UK employers. Yet, this isn’t the impression you get from a quick scan of their CV. Often, they are written in a confusing manner, with overly complicated sections and a structure very unfamiliar and weird for a UK context.  This makes the CV unrelatable to the reader, and likelihood is that it gets instantly dismissed. It’s a shame and this frustrates me as it doesn’t have to be this way. 

My niche work of guiding international candidates with their UK job search,  has allowed me to acquire specialist knowledge on the specifics where people fall down on with their CVs, but also the WHY. I have come to understand a lot about other cultures through my work and can see how cultural differences influence how individuals formulate their CV and what they think they should include. However, the CV from your home country won’t work for you in the UK. Believe it or not, UK CVs are relatively straight forward and simple compared to some other countries. However, it’s also about striking the balance of highlighting your technical skills alongside your softer, interpersonal skills. The reader wants to get a sense of who you are.  It’s not an easy task. 

A UK CV is maximum two pages, with clearly headed sections. You don’t include unnecessary personal details; however, you are expected to get across your USP, personal qualities, professional values and career aspirations within these two pages.   If your CV is not written in an appropriate way for the UK, it’s going to give the impression that you don’t understand UK culture, and this subsequently raises red flags for employers about your ability to adapt and fit into a UK workplace if you were hired. 

So, to make it easier for you, below are my top 10 tips to make your CV UK friendly. Before I dive into these, I want to emphasise first and foremost that it’s called a CV in the UK, not a resume. This can be the first mistake people make. And the second is writing Curriculum Vitae in big bold letters across the first page of the CV. It’s safe to say that it’s obvious that’s what it is so don’t use up valuable space for useless, unnecessary information.  This may seem like a very simple thing, but it’s a huge downfall. 

Okay, so here we go… 

1. Your Professional Summary section provides context to your situation. What is your motivation and why are you applying for that role. It needs to be succinct but include your professional skillset, personal qualities, relevant experience, and what you want to do next. Do not bullet point your professional summary or make it too long or simply list your technical skills. It should be about eight well written sentences, which is personalised and void of cliches. I.e., motivated, passionate, enthusiastic; I am an asset to an organisation; I can work well in a team and independently. 
2. Do include volunteering experience on your UK CV. It is important as it demonstrates positive personal qualities and your willingness to help others. (Attractive for employers).
3. Do not include company icons (or any icons for that matter) as this doesn’t make for a ATS friendly CV and we just don’t do this in the UK. Columns are a no no as well as graphs, pie charts or any images (including a photo of you).
4. Be mindful of acronyms and whether the ones you are using will be understood by UK employers. If you aren’t sure, then simply write the word and have the acronym in brackets after.
5. If you are writing about anything to do with budgets, money, quantifying sales etc, then remember to convert to GBP £. (Or you can use percentages to quantify achievements and successes).
6. NEVER  include personal details such as, nationality, marital status, date of birth, passport number or visa status. You also don’t need to include your full address; your city is sufficient.
7. Don’t have some words in bold throughout the CV. Section headings can be bold but nothing else. Let them choose what they want to stand out to them.
8. Be mindful of your vocabulary. Sometimes I read CV’s and it’s although the person has used the thesaurus way too much and it just reads very strange. And remember to use British English spelling, i.e., organisation instead of organization (US).
9. I see a projects section on a lot of CVs, but this isn’t a familiar section on UK CVs, which will confuse employers and recruiters. Professional projects can be outlined in your bullet points, and you can elaborate on projects in your cover letter.  Academic projects, i.e., dissertation titles can be added in your EDUCATION section alongside the relevant degree/masters.
10. People often have a SKILLS or KEY SKILLS section, which normally repeats the skills they have in other parts of the CV. Listing a skill doesn’t evidence how you have used it so it’s more beneficial to include it in a bullet point under the relevant role to back up the claim and provide evidence to where you used the skill. 

One last thing; I get sent a lot of CVs which are the same format because the person has used a template. I am still to see a decent CV template. If you search CV or even UK CV templates on Microsoft word, none of them are UK or ATS friendly. I really don’t know what Microsoft are thinking to be honest. I would suggest formulating your own simple, well-structured, clearly laid out CV using a blank word document. This also makes it a lot easier when it comes to editing and adding to your CV- which you will always do.