14 Classic CV Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

14 Classic CV Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

If you've spent a lot of time and effort crafting your CV, not hearing back from dozens of applications can be discouraging.


We should all be able to spot a bad resume. The CV is unquestionably the most important aspect of a job application. However, if you make one of the most common CV mistakes, you will be turned down by a recruiter or a tricky HR manager. Prevention is critical, so here are the most common pitfalls, and how you can avoid them.

Poor Formatting

Employers are turned off by CVs that aren't clear and easy to read. Employers spend an average of eight seconds reviewing each CV, giving you little time to make a good first impression.

When considering how to format your CV, it is critical to help the reader get to the most relevant information as quickly as possible.

A good clear layout, consists of the following:

  1. Name and contact details at the top of your CV
  2. Personal summary,
  3. Education history
  4. Work experience (make sure you put the most recent work experience first!)
  5. Skills and achievements
  6. Hobbies and interests


So, make sure that you:

  1. Keep your CV concise so that it can be quickly absorbed.
  2. The template you use to create your CV should be eye-catching while remaining uncluttered.
  3. Avoid using different fonts and sizes and avoid confusing layouts. Don't use anything smaller than size 10 font and leave plenty of white space.
  4. Instead of prioritising style over substance, concentrate on the content.

Poorly Structured Job Descriptions

Recruiters will closely examine your most recent roles, so make them easy to read and understand. A role that is presented as one long paragraph with no logical structure is unlikely to impress readers or accurately describe your work. Begin your roles with a brief introduction that describes the company for which you work, your position within the hierarchy, and the overall goal of your role.

Then, bullet point your responsibilities to demonstrate the work you do and to highlight your skills and output.

Finish your role by highlighting some outstanding accomplishments you have made during your tenure in the position.

Not Doing Your Research

Failure to conduct research is one of the worst mistakes you can make before starting to write your CV. If you do not research the requirements of your target employers, you will be basing the content on what you think should be on your CV. If you don't know what your potential employers are looking for in a candidate, you'll be writing your CV on the fly and setting yourself up for failure.

Look through a tonne of relevant job postings before you start writing, make a list of the most sought-after candidate characteristics. Then you'll be able to pinpoint which knowledge and skills will appeal to hiring managers.

Failing To Tailor Your Application

When it comes to CVs, one size does not fit all. Everything you include should be completely tailored to the company and role you're applying for. Recruiters will be able to see right away that you are the best candidate.

Employers can tell if you've carefully considered the job requirements. Nothing irritates a recruiter more than a CV that demonstrates a lack of interest, connection, or time spent on it. Evaluating which of your skills best match the job requirements will give you the best chance of success.

Do not be afraid to discard irrelevant experiences. Even if you're applying for similar positions at different companies, make sure you check their specific requirements and adjust your CV accordingly. Consider your CV to be your personal highlight reel, with the most relevant info for each job you apply for.

You can have a master CV that includes everything, but you should tailor what you send for each application, especially if you're applying for jobs in different industries.

Tailoring shows that you care about the role enough to put time and thought into your application. It demonstrates your motivation, which is a key factor in what employers look for.

Spelling Errors

Even if English isn't your first language, there are no justifications for spelling mistakes. Verify everything, including your contact information, because a flawless CV is crucial to showcasing your accuracy and attention to detail. Remember to pay attention to the red squiggly lines that your spell-checking programme uses to indicate typos in text. Check your understanding of what they're saying and decide whether the alternatives they suggest will strengthen or weaken the impact of your writing.

By taking your time and never waiting until the last minute to write your resume, you can lower your risk of making mistakes. Examples that are hurried are quickly recognised and disregarded.

Lying Or Over-exaggerating

It's tempting to stretch the truth when you're trying to impress potential employers and get a foot in the door because, after all, who's going to check? Wrong. Never assume that recruiters won't ask questions to confirm the information on your CV because it is simple to do so.

Lying about your current job title, embellishing a period of work experience, inflating your university grade, or claiming to have attended university when you haven't will not benefit you in the long run. Your lies will be at best transparent, and your resume will be outright disregarded. At worst, you might be asked to an interview where you trip over your own words or are asked questions you are unable to answer.

Do you know that lying on your cv is a crime?

Instead of concocting half-truths and complete fabrications, use your time and energy to truly sell the qualifications, skills, and experience you do have.

Lack Of Evidence

Don't just focus on the things you did, but also on the things you achieved. When you're trying to meet a tight application deadline, it's easy to make generic, empty statements on your CV. However, failing to effectively demonstrate your skills, achievements, and experiences can be a costly error.

It's crucial to provide evidence to support how you meet the requirements because without it, an employer won't be sure that you'll be able to perform the job well. If you can't clearly describe how, you've applied specific skills or gained experiences, you can't be the trustworthy employee an employer wants to hire.

It's critical to demonstrate your work, but it's even more effective to demonstrate how your work affects your employers. You are passing up a significant chance to demonstrate the value you can bring to an employer if you don't emphasise the outcomes you attained in your previous roles.

For instance, a sales candidate might list skills like "networking, cold calling, and relationship building," but those actions are useless without any outcomes.

They should go into more detail and say that these actions "have resulted in growth in clients, sales, and profits" for their employer. You can give hiring managers concrete justifications for hiring you by using results to demonstrate your impact.

Not Explaining 'Why'

It is not sufficient to simply list your qualifications; you must also be able to back them up by citing the reasons why you have chosen to participate in particular activities for your personal and professional advancement. Then, be specific about the abilities you've acquired as a result. If you pay particular attention to any positions of responsibility you've held and outline what you've learned from the experience, discussing your extracurricular activities, for instance, is essential.

Ordinary CVs typically include the "what," such as the degrees or jobs held by the applicant. Great resumes also explain the "whys," such as the reasons a person chose a certain degree or qualification.

Ignoring Gaps in Your Work History

Gaps in employment history are fairly common and rarely a problem as long as they're explained. You don't need to worry about gaps of a couple of weeks but if you've been out of work for months (or even years) you need to clearly and concisely explain why. Many candidates have periods of unemployment, which isn't always a bad thing.

However, failing to explain the reasons for a job gap will give recruiters the impression that you haven't been doing anything. If you've taken a break between roles, be open about it and explain why. Maybe you've been travelling, maybe you've been studying, maybe you've been working on a personal project. Demonstrate to employers that you are proactive and have not squandered your tine.

There's also no shame in informing employers of a period spent away from work due to an illness, medical condition or redundancy. A good employer will not discriminate against you.

Too Much Information

Recruiters are frequently pressed for time because they must read dozens of CVs each day and adhere to strict deadlines. It won't be interesting to read if your CV is seven pages long and packed with information about your entire career.

Don’t go over two pages. The ideal CV length is two sides and recruiters are busy people and have a large number of CVs to go through.

Using Cliches

Don’t run the risk of a recruiter or hiring manager being put off by your CV simply because of the language you have used. Replace any overused clichés with real life examples of your skills in action to create a more impressive CV and heighten your chances of getting through to the interview round.


Works well independently: Any strong candidate will be expected to be able to do this; therefore, this doesn’t really add any value to your application. For instance, rather than simply stating, “I work well independently”, try “I independently designed and implemented a new strategy that increased customer engagement by X percent”


“A great team player": Stand out from the competition by providing evidence that you can work well with colleagues to reach a common goal.


“Results driven”: instead of simply stating you are results driven, you should support this claim with facts. Ensure that you give quantifiable evidence of your results


“A hard worker” : Whilst a strong work ethic is important, a hard worker isn’t necessarily a productive one. emphasise your productivity and time management skills, and give an example of these in action.


“Good communication skills": Not only is this phrase overused, but it’s also vague and demands context. Be more specific by giving examples of situations in which your communication skills have really shone through


“A fast learner": Describe a time you grasped a new concept quickly, for instance when starting a new role or teaching yourself a new skill to prove that you would learn quickly on the job.


“Strong attention to detail": Attention to detail is important in most roles. Remember that the first impression the reader will get of your level of competence in this area will be upon reading your CV. So make sure you proofread thoroughly and that it is error free.

Incorrect Contact Information

Despite your perfect CV, are you not getting any calls? There could be a very simple explanation for this. You might have written down the incorrect phone number! Make sure you check this.


Using a childish or inappropriate email address on your CV can turn off potential employers. Using an inappropriate email as a point of contact can instantly kill your application because it conveys an unprofessional image. Because your contact information is usually at the top of your CV, make sure you create or use an appropriate email address to avoid turning off potential employers. An appropriate email address should include your name, for example, '[email protected].'

Having a poor design

Unless you're applying for a design position, the layout of your CV should always come second to the content. If your CV is all text with five different font styles and sizes, the reader will get a headache. Don't go overboard with the black and white text on a clean design.

Show your CV to several people before sending it out to ensure that no one turns their head in disgust.

A Bad File Name

Give your CV a name that includes your name, and perhaps even today's date. That way, the company knows it's yours and how recently it was purchased. Calling your CV "resume.pdf" or "my cv final version v2 final.pdf" can make you appear clumsy and inexperienced. You want to appear so professional that it hurts.

Key Takeaway:

Your CV can make or break a job application. It’s time to cut the cliches, don’t waffle and demonstrate the impact of your work to employers. It's deceptively easy to make mistakes on your CV and exceptionally difficult to repair the damage once an employer gets it.

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