How to Format Your CV — Professional CV document with labelled sections and formatting guidelines

You could have the most impressive career history in the world, but if your CV looks like a wall of text set in Comic Sans with 0.3cm margins, nobody is reading past the first line. Formatting is not just about making things look pretty. It is about making your information scannable, professional, and machine readable.

This guide covers the entire formatting process from choosing a layout to picking fonts, setting margins, ordering sections, and making sure ATS software can actually read what you have written.

The Three CV Formats (And When to Use Each)

Reverse Chronological

This is the gold standard. You list your most recent job first and work backward. Recruiters love it because they can immediately see your current role and trace your career progression. Use this if you have a steady career history in a consistent field.

Functional (Skills Based)

This format groups your experience by skill category rather than by job. It sounds great in theory, but most recruiters actively dislike it because it feels like you are hiding something. The only time it makes sense is if you are making a dramatic career change and your job titles would confuse more than help.

Combination

The best of both worlds. You open with a skills summary that highlights your key strengths, then follow with a standard chronological work history. This works well for mid career professionals who want to emphasize specific competencies while still showing a clear career timeline.

💡 The Safe Choice: When in doubt, go with reverse chronological. It is what 90% of recruiters expect, and it plays nicely with ATS software.

The Perfect Section Order

The order of sections on your CV matters more than you think. Here is the recommended order for most professionals:

  1. Contact information (name, email, phone, location, LinkedIn)
  2. Personal summary (2 to 3 sentences, tailored to the role)
  3. Work experience (most recent first, with achievement bullets)
  4. Education (brief for experienced professionals)
  5. Skills (grouped by category)
  6. Certifications (if relevant)
  7. Languages (if applicable)

If you are a recent graduate with limited work experience, swap positions 3 and 4 so education comes before work experience. Once you have 2+ years of professional experience, work history should always come first.

Fonts That Work (And Fonts That Do Not)

Your font choice sends a subtle message about your professionalism. Here is the breakdown:

✅ Great CV Fonts

Inter (modern, clean, excellent readability) Calibri (Microsoft default, safe choice for corporate) Arial (universal, works everywhere) Helvetica (classic, professional) Garamond (slightly traditional, great for law or academia)

❌ Fonts to Avoid

Comic Sans (never, ever, under any circumstances) Papyrus (the Avatar font, not for CVs) Impact (too aggressive for a professional document) Courier New (looks like a typewriter from 1985) Any decorative or script font

Stick to one font family throughout your CV. You can use the same font in different weights (regular for body text, bold for headers) to create visual hierarchy without introducing chaos.

Size, Spacing, and Margins

Getting these right is the difference between a CV that breathes and one that feels claustrophobic.

  • Name: 18 to 24 point, bold
  • Section headers: 12 to 14 point, bold
  • Body text: 10 to 12 point, regular weight
  • Margins: 2 to 2.5cm on all sides (1.5cm minimum if space is tight)
  • Line spacing: 1.15 to 1.3 for body text
  • Space between sections: 12 to 16 points

⚠️ Common Mistake: Shrinking the font to 8pt and reducing margins to 0.5cm to fit everything on one page. This makes your CV unreadable and signals that you cannot prioritise information. Cut content instead.

Layout: Single Column vs. Two Column

Single column is the safest choice. It is universally readable by ATS systems and works on every device. Two column layouts can look more modern and make efficient use of space, but they introduce ATS parsing risks because some systems read left to right across both columns, jumbling your information together.

If you want a two column layout, use it only for secondary information like skills and languages in a narrow sidebar, while keeping your main content (experience, education) in a full width column.

White Space is Your Friend

White space is not wasted space. It is what makes your CV readable. Think about the last restaurant menu you read. The good ones have plenty of space between items so your eye can find what it wants quickly. Your CV should work the same way.

Practical white space tips:

  • Leave clear gaps between sections (do not just separate them with a thin line)
  • Do not cram bullet points together with zero spacing
  • Use consistent spacing throughout (if you put 12pt after one section header, do it for all of them)
  • If your CV feels cramped, remove content rather than reducing spacing

Bullet Points That Pop

Avoid paragraph blocks under each role. Use bullet points to make your achievements scannable. But there are rules:

  • 3 to 5 bullets per role (more for your current job, fewer for older ones)
  • Start each bullet with a strong action verb (Led, Built, Increased, Reduced, Launched)
  • Keep each bullet to 1 to 2 lines maximum
  • Include at least one number or metric per bullet
  • Use simple round bullets, not fancy symbols or checkmarks (ATS compatibility)

Contact Information: What to Include

Your contact section should be clean and complete:

  • Full name (not a nickname)
  • Professional email (firstname.lastname@gmail.com, not partyanimal@hotmail.com)
  • Phone number (with country code if applying internationally)
  • City and country (no need for full address, privacy matters)
  • LinkedIn URL (customised, not the default string of numbers)
  • Portfolio or GitHub (if relevant to your field)

Do not include: date of birth, marital status, national insurance number, or a photo (unless applying in a country where it is expected).

One Page vs. Two Pages

The one page CV is not a universal rule, despite what your university careers service told you. Here is when each length makes sense:

One page works best for:

  • Early career professionals (fewer than 7 years of experience)
  • Career changers (focus on transferable skills, not lengthy history)
  • Graduate applications

Two pages are fine for:

  • Senior professionals with 10+ years of relevant experience
  • Technical roles with detailed project portfolios
  • Leadership positions where scope and scale of impact matter

The key word is "relevant." Two pages of relevant, impactful content is better than one page of fluff, but one page of strong content beats two pages of padding every time.

ATS Formatting Checklist

Before you send your CV anywhere, run through this checklist:

  • Standard fonts only (no custom or embedded fonts)
  • No tables, text boxes, or floating images
  • Standard section headers the system can recognise
  • Dates in a consistent format (Month Year works best)
  • Saved as PDF with selectable text (not a scanned image)
  • File named professionally (FirstName_LastName_CV.pdf)
  • Contact details in the main body, not headers or footers

Key Takeaways

  • Reverse chronological is the safest CV format for most people
  • Use clean fonts like Inter, Calibri, or Arial at 10 to 12pt
  • Keep margins at 2cm minimum and embrace white space
  • Single column layouts are the most ATS friendly
  • One page for early career, two pages max for senior professionals
  • Always save as PDF with selectable text
  • Name your file professionally

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CV format for 2026?+

The reverse chronological format is the most widely accepted and ATS friendly format. It lists your most recent experience first and works backward. It is the default choice for most professionals because recruiters are familiar with it and can quickly scan your career progression.

Should my CV be one page or two pages?+

One page for early to mid career professionals with fewer than 10 years of experience. Two pages are acceptable for senior professionals, executives, or those with extensive technical portfolios. Never go beyond two pages unless you are in academia, medicine, or a field that requires detailed publication lists.

What font size should I use on my CV?+

Use 10 to 12 point for body text and 14 to 16 point for your name at the top. Section headers should be 12 to 14 point. Going below 10 point makes your CV difficult to read and suggests you are trying to cram too much information onto one page.

What margins should I use on my CV?+

Standard margins of 2 to 2.5 centimetres (0.75 to 1 inch) on all sides work well. You can reduce to 1.5 centimetres if you need more space, but going below that makes the page look cramped and is harder to read.

Should I use a CV template?+

Yes, using a well designed template saves time and ensures professional formatting. The key is choosing one that is ATS friendly (single column, standard fonts, no complex graphics) while still looking polished. Avoid overly creative templates from design sites that prioritise looks over functionality.

What file format should I save my CV in?+

PDF is the safest choice because it preserves your formatting across all devices and operating systems. Some job portals specifically request .docx format, so it is good to have both versions ready. Never send a .pages, .odt, or image file.

Is a chronological or functional CV format better?+

Chronological is better for most people. Functional CVs (skills based) are sometimes recommended for career changers or those with employment gaps, but many recruiters dislike them because they make it harder to assess career progression. A combination format that highlights skills while maintaining chronological work history is often the best compromise.

Format Your CV Perfectly

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