Best Reviews logo
Best Reviews may receive compensation for its content through paid collaborations. See how we sustain our work & review products.
An Employer’s Checklist: Reviewing Your CV Like a Pro

An Employer’s Checklist: Reviewing Your CV Like a Pro

By Zoltán G.Zoltán G. Verified by Sander D.Sander D. Last updated: August 3, 2024 (0)
Table of contents

Six seconds: that’s the average time a recruiter needs to determine whether your resume passes “the test” or not. The thought of having your job application decided within such a short amount of time based on a ‘simple’ piece of paper could indeed put you under huge pressure, but if you create your resume following the criteria of employers, you have nothing to worry about.

Now, the only question is this: what are the things an applicant has to pay attention to?

Writing style

A common mistake is the use of personal pronouns, such as “me”, “I”, and “my”; granted, you have to write the resume in first-person, but somehow without these pronouns. The resume must also be devoid of typos, grammatical, spelling or syntax errors, and must present a logical, sequential flow of information.

Appearance

Speaking of the flow of information, your strictly one page-long resume must highlight the most important things about experience, skills and education in an inviting, easy-to-read way. In this regard you should use bullet points, various emphasizing techniques on important words, ensure you are consistent with fonts, margins and spacing, and if your resume has to be printed, use high quality (16–25lb.) paper.

Personal information

Here you should include your name (with the largest font in your resume), address, email, and phone number in the very first section. Remember: this section will be skipped during the first screening, but if the rest of the CV passes, it will help you to be contacted easier. And despite recent trends, including a photo is not necessary.

Experience

This is the most important part of your resume, therefore it needs extra care. This is why you should only include jobs that are relevant to the one that you are applying for, and in that regard any kind of employment is valid, whether that’s full, part-time or even an internship. Specify what your job title was, when and where you were employed and what responsibilities you had. Highlight the skills required for your previous jobs using power words and don’t forget to mention your accomplishments using quantitative and qualitative indicators.

Resume Checklist Experience Education Resume Genius

14-day trial of My Perfect Resume
My Perfect Resume logo
Pay $1.45 to enjoy the most important features of My Perfect Resume for 14 days, or $1.95 to try out the software at its fullest. And if you aren't satisfied with the provided services, just cancel your subscription within 14 days from purchase and be entitled to a full refund.
Try My Perfect Resume Risk-Free

Education

Leave out high school and the date of degree if graduation took place more than five years ago. The list of your degrees should always start with the most current one, with the highest attained level. For this section you should format the degree in bold, but not the name of the university. And for the placing of this section, put it at the bottom if you have five or more years of experience and at the top if you are a fresh graduate or applying for an educational position.

Relevance

Make sure you have a career objective in the resume relevant to the position you are applying for. Try using key words, industry acronyms, buzzwords (though don’t overdo them), and make use of action verbs. Omit irrelevant information such as hobbies and, for the love of God, do not under any circumstances send the same resume to each of the positions you are applying for. Customize your resume to the job position you’re applying for to have it highlight those skills and experiences that are key for this particular role. Resume builders make it easy to create customized versions of your resume and help you fine-tune your CV for the positions you want to go after.

Resume Checklist Keywords

Honesty

Be honest and truthful when writing your resume: your background will be thoroughly examined during the interview and if you lied on your CV, consider your chances ruined for good.


Best resume builders of 2025

Editor's choice
My Perfect Resume logo
Editor's rating:
(4)
Simple, straightforward editor
Pre-written phrases, sections
Full mobile browser support
High number of upload/download formats
Multimedia resumes
VisualCV logo
Editor's rating:
(4)
Creative and easy-to-use editor
Spectacular visitors' chart
Fully accessible via mobile devices
Free version is available
User-friendly interface
LiveCareer logo
Editor's rating:
(4)
Simple dashboard
User-friendly editor
Numerous download formats
Pre-written phrases
Free
TopStack Resume logo
Editor's rating:
(4)
Pay only at the end
ATS-ready templates
Well-rounded packages
Seamless resume writing process

User feedback

 Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Best Reviews

Best Reviews may receive compensation for its content through paid collaborations and/or affiliate links. Learn more about how we sustain our work and review products.

©2012-2025 Best Reviews, a clovio brand – All rights reserved
Privacy policy · Cookie policy · Terms of use · Partnerships · Contact us