A guide to the essential CV structure and format

A clear CV structure helps a reader find your relevant experience; formatting keeps that information readable in the file you submit. Choose the section order first, then apply consistent fonts, spacing and page breaks. The complete fictional example below shows how the sections fit together.

Choose the section order

• Experienced applicant: contact details → short profile → relevant skills → work experience → education and relevant training → optional additional evidence. Give the strongest recent experience room to explain your contribution.
• Early-career applicant: contact details → short profile → education and relevant projects → work, placements or volunteering → relevant skills or other evidence. Education can lead when it supplies the best match to the vacancy.

These are starting arrangements, not fixed recruitment rules. Move a required qualification where it is easy to find. Within work experience, keep a clear chronology. The National Careers Service also distinguishes education-first and experience-first arrangements.

One complete example CV

Fictional applicant: Aisha Patel, applying for an office administrator vacancy requiring accurate records, appointment coordination and clear customer communication. The numbers below refer to the notes after the example; leave those annotation numbers out of your own CV. Contact details are illustrative.

How the example fits together

• 1 — Contact: name and contact details are in the main document, where they are easy to find. A full street address is not needed for this example.
• 2 — Profile: three relevant sentences summarise the background, evidence and target contribution.
• 3 — Skills: each item names a capability and its use. “Exceptional communicator” would add less information.
• 4 — Experience: the recent role combines context, a responsibility and two outcomes. The older role is shorter because it is less relevant to this vacancy. Dates make the sequence clear.
• 5 — Education: the relevant qualification is named accurately. School qualifications are brief and include English and maths.
• 6 — Optional evidence: the event supports record checking and visitor communication. Remove it if stronger evidence needs the space.

Practical formatting defaults

Start with the settings below, then inspect the result with your own content. They are usable defaults, not requirements imposed by every employer.

• Page: A4 with margins around 2 cm. Start with a single main column for a straightforward reading order.
• Body text: 11–12 pt in a clear font such as Arial or Calibri. Do not squeeze the text down just to reach a page target.
• Headings: around 13–15 pt and bold; name around 18–22 pt. Use one consistent hierarchy.
• Spacing: start around 1.1–1.15 line spacing, with 4–6 pt after paragraphs and more space before section headings. Adjust for readability rather than inserting repeated blank lines.
• Bullets: use the document editor’s bullet controls and consistent indents. Keep most bullets to one or two concise sentences.
• Colour: dark text on a light background; restrained accent colour can distinguish headings. Check that meaning does not depend on colour alone.

One or two pages is a useful starting point for many UK applications. Specialist and academic CVs may need a different length. Follow the vacancy’s instructions and keep the evidence readable.

Keep headings and entries together

A heading at the foot of one page with its role on the next is difficult to follow. In Word, select the heading and use Paragraph → Line and Page Breaks → Keep with next. Apply the same setting to a job-title/date paragraph when it should stay with the following context or first bullet. Menu wording may vary by editor.

For a bullet splitting awkwardly across pages, use Keep lines together on that bullet, or shorten it. If an entire short job entry should move to the next page, insert a deliberate page break before its title. Do not apply “Keep with next” to every paragraph in the whole CV: that can create large blank spaces.

What each section needs

Contact details and profile

Use a phone number and email address you check, plus a relevant portfolio or professional profile if useful. Open each link to confirm its destination. Keep personal identifiers such as date of birth out unless the application specifically and appropriately requires them. A profile should be a few short, relevant sentences; use our personal statement examples for different career stages.

Skills and work experience

Name the tools and capabilities you actually use, then support them in a work or project entry. Keep official job titles accurate. Give the employer, role and month/year dates to explain the chronology; displaying dates does not eliminate a career gap. A brief, accurate career-break entry can clarify a gap without private detail or invented activities.

Select responsibilities that explain the role and achievements that show your contribution. Use numbers only with a reliable basis. For fuller examples of entries, promotions and agency work, see our work-history guide.

Education and qualifications

Give the correct qualification name, institution, dates and grade where relevant. Mark an unfinished course as in progress with an expected completion date if known. Recent graduates can add a relevant project or dissertation; experienced applicants can usually shorten older study. Do not imply that attendance alone means a qualification was awarded.

Use the awarding body’s official certification name. For example, PMI’s credential is Project Management Professional (PMP), rather than “Certified Project Manager”. State the award and current status accurately if it is relevant to your application.

Optional sections and references

Projects, volunteering, languages, professional memberships or interests can earn space when they add relevant evidence. Playing a sport does not by itself prove leadership: describe the relevant responsibility if you held one. References are often requested separately; you can omit the section or write “Available on request”. Obtain a referee’s agreement before supplying their details through the requested process.

Check the actual file you will submit

• Follow the employer’s requested Word, PDF or application-form format. A PDF should contain selectable text, not just a photograph or scan.
• Open the final exported file and review every page at a comfortable reading size. Check headings, split bullets, line wraps and blank pages.
• Click the email and portfolio links in that file. Check the filename and remove comments, tracked changes and leftover sample details.
• If the application extracts information, review the resulting fields and correct errors where possible.
• Use vacancy terminology only when accurate. No keyword or template can guarantee ATS selection; software and employer processes differ.
• Keep the submitted file and vacancy together for interview preparation.

For a starting layout, browse our free CV downloads. For the full application review, use our ten-tip CV guide and final checking sheet.