How to write the perfect CV to get an offer?

The main blocks of a CV

1. Contact information

A CV must contain up-to-date contact details, including:

• Name and surname (it is better not to indicate the patronymic: this information can be used by fraudsters)

• Phone number (check the spelling. It is advisable to have messengers linked to it, such as Telegram, Viber, or WhatsApp, to make it easy to contact you)

• E-mail (make sure the address looks professional. For example, addresses like pupochek@gmail.com or caramel-kisa@gmail.com may not look serious. It is better to use a concise email that contains your first or last name)

• LinkedIn (if you have an active and up-to-date page)

• Посилання на соціальні мережі (optional. For example, Instagram or Facebook: only if the profile is open and does not contain content that may raise doubts about your professionalism).

Avoid including overly sensitive information such as patronymic, home address, or address of registration. Remember: a CV that is posted on the Internet can stay there forever. So take care of your personal data — at this stage, the employer has no right to demand it.

2. Career objective

This section is a brief description of your professional aspirations, ambitions and key skills. It helps the employer to quickly understand the direction you want to develop in and whether your objective is relevant to the position you are applying for.

It should be a concise 2-3 sentence paragraph immediately following the contact information block. Avoid general phrases such as “I want to work in a friendly team” or “I am looking for an interesting job”. Write specifically and to the point: what area you are interested in, what you already know, and what value you can bring to the company.

For example: “I am a young specialist who wants to develop in the field of customer service. I have experience in communication, documentation, active listening and conflict resolution skills. I am open to learning and professional growth. I am interested in vacancies for a sales manager, customer service or internal communication.”.

Tailor your career goal to a specific vacancy. If you are applying for a position in an international consulting company, mention that you are looking for opportunities in this particular field. This will show your focus and motivation, as well as set you apart from candidates with “typical” template wording.

3. Work experience

For this section, it is important not only to list your job responsibilities (although this is also useful information), but also to focus on the achievements you have made in your current position. If you only list the functions you have performed in the past and are capable of performing in the future, this will not fully reveal your value to a potential employer.

Instead, if you describe specific results of your work: for example, “increased sales by 30% in three months” or “optimised workflow, which reduced order processing time by half” — it will immediately set you apart from other candidates. Such wording demonstrates your efficiency, initiative, and the real value you can bring to the company in the future.

Remember: an employer is looking for not just a performer, but a person who brings results.

What should you include in your CV for this section?

Follow a clear structure and indicate for each relevant job:

• Company name

• The position you held

• The period of work from—to

• Main responsibilities and your achievements.   

This structure with achievements will help you show not only what you did, but also your value to the employer.

Here are some tips on what not to include in this section:

The number of employees in the company, unless you held a managerial position, and it does not mention the number of subordinates you had under you — this information does not add value.

Physical address of the company: this information is optional and does not affect the assessment of your experience.

Companies where you have worked for less than a month, if applicable:

• Relevant project or contract work related to the position you are applying for

• Internships from the university

Example:

Editor, XYZMedia (2022-2024)

• Prepared over 100 articles for an online publication

• Optimised texts for search engines (SEO), which increased website traffic by 25%

Note: In your resume, it’s important to mention not just your functional responsibilities, such as “writing articles” or “optimizing texts to increase website traffic”, but the results of your actions. Phrase the information so it answers the question: “What did my efforts lead to? What result did I achieve by performing this function?”

Please note: your CV should not just list functional responsibilities, such as “writing articles” or “optimising texts to increase website traffic”, but rather the results of your actions. Formulate the information so that it answers the question: “What exactly did my efforts lead to? What result did I achieve by performing this function?”.

For example, instead of the general “creating content for the blog”, it is better to say: “I wrote more than 50 SEO articles that increased the blog's organic traffic by 40% in 3 months”.

This approach demonstrates your contribution to the company's development and immediately emphasises your value to a potential employer.

4. Education

In this section, you should provide all the information related to your education, such as

• Name of the educational institution (university, academy, etc.)

• Speciality

• Year of graduation (or period of study)

• The degree you have obtained (e.g. bachelor's, master's, etc.).

It is also appropriate to mention additional education in this section: professional courses, certificates, trainings that are directly related to the position you are applying for. This will demonstrate your willingness to learn, professional development and up-to-date knowledge.

Important:

• Do not mention secondary school or high school - they are not required on a professional CV

• Avoid mentioning non-core courses that are not relevant to your future job. For example, if you are applying for a position as a designer, acting, or improvisation courses will be irrelevant and superfluous

5. Skills

This section is a short list of what you can do based on your professional and life experience. It is appropriate to include both hard skills (technical skills) and soft skills (personal qualities related to communication, emotional intelligence, etc.)

Important: this block must be adapted to each specific job, as even within the same position, different companies may have different expectations for skills.

For example, an office manager in one company may be expected to perform secretarial functions (working with documents, receiving calls), while in another company, the functions of a happiness manager (organising internal events, maintaining a positive team atmosphere). Therefore, read the requirements in the job posting carefully and include in your CV exactly the skills that are really relevant to you.

Example:

If you're applying for an account manager position and the description mentions customer focus, then it's appropriate to include it in the Skills section:

• Communication with clients

• Friendliness

• Customer focus.

Don't overestimate your abilities. It's not worth misleading the employer by listing skills you don't have or qualities that don't reflect who you are. It's better to focus on the aspects of the job that truly align with your experience and personality, and emphasize those.

Do not exaggerate your capabilities. You should not mislead the employer by indicating skills you do not have or qualities that are not characteristic of you. It is better to find those points in the vacancy that really match your experience and personality and focus on them.