What your CV says about you

 The first page of your CV is the most important. It must be skimmable, readable, and digestible (a ‘Reader’s Digest amuse-bouche’ if you like). A precursory glance can get you elevated to the top of the pile or relegated to the bottom. (Nobody likes to be a bottom.) It might even get your CV thrown in the bin. For readability, you want to consider the structure and formatting of your CV. To rephrase, your CV needs that indescribable but vital je ne sais quoi.

The basics include everything you want the reader to see immediately: your name, contact information, and important summary of YOU. You will need to summarise your last/most relevant roles and rank your most important key (transferable) skills first. This gives a profile or an overview of you (in a nutshell). Then you want to bullet point your core skills (also according to rank).

From the second page onward you might list your job titles, company/employer, and experience, education and certifications, achievements, awards, hobbies and interesting facts about you (e.g. volunteer work, not that you have a birthmark ), and your references. In regards to your previous roles and experience, make sure you list your key responsibilities and scope of each role, what impacts you made and achievements you gained, your new skills learned with what software or computer systems, etc. And mention the structure, environment and stakeholders. People often want to know why you left each role too.

Combining all/the most important bits will give a hiring manager/recruiter an idea of who you are and what you have done in what timeline you have achieved it. (The interview is to see how you will fit and will likely perform.)