Crafting Your CV: Five Steps from Lightspeed’s Talent Acquisition Team

Many people mistakenly believe that having a good CV is enough to secure a job. In reality, a CV’s primary function is to capture the attention of potential employers and earn you an interview. Once you have secured an interview, your performance during the interview process will determine whether or not you’ll get the job.

Keep this in mind when creating your CV: its purpose is to open the door to job opportunities. Your CV is like a ticket, granting you access to an interview, where you can prove your suitability for the position.

Writing a great CV in five steps

At Lightspeed, we receive an average of more than 8,000 applications per month. In this article, we summarize our tips on how to build a great CV.

First off, always remember that your CV:

• Should be concise. You shouldn’t detail every task you ever completed in your current or previous roles.
• Is not a job description. More than describing your role, you should highlight the work and projects you delivered and your achievements.
• Is not a piece of art. Unless you apply for a design role , the more classic, the better. There is no need to put tons of colour or use fancy layouts. It will do more harm than good.

[Step 1] Build the content of your CV and keep it short.

Your CV needs to allow a quick read. Sell yourself by highlighting the main things we need to know about you.

• Use a maximum of 5 or 6 bullet points per role;
• Be concise, and avoid writing in first or third person;
• Make everything fit onto one or two pages;
• Put your current experience first and work your way back.

Don’t include your references’ contact details. If we need to contact your references, we will ask you directly.

[Step 2] Showcase your achievements and blow your own horn.

The next step is to make sure you’re highlighting your achievements. Remember that your CV is not a job description. We want to know what it’s like when you use your skills and how you performed in the past.

• Illustrate your experience and skills with achievements;
• Add metrics and specifics to quantify your performance;
• Mention any promotions you have received;
• Insert action verbs and avoid saying “responsible for”;
• Promote a relevant list of skills and use keywords;
• Be specific about your technical expertise

Here’s a good example…

[Step 3] Polish the top of your CV and insert a career overview.

The top of your CV is the first thing we will see when we open it. To catch our attention, place all important information in this section. This should include your contact details such as your email address and phone number, key links like your portfolio, blog, and LinkedIn profile, and a brief and concise career overview.

This strategic placement ensures that recruiters and interviewers can quickly see how to reach you and get a snapshot of your professional background and key qualifications.

Your career overview can really make you stand out. See it as the storefront of your CV. If it’s short and well-written, we will get curious enough to spend more time reading the rest of your resume (assuming your experience matches with the role). It should give a quick preview of your resume:

• Think about it as a movie trailer;
• One or two paragraphs are enough;
• It should be a snapshot of your background and skills;
• You can include personal attributes that best describe you;
• You should also add your career goal.

Here’s a great example of career overview:

[Step 4] Work on the formatting of your CV and keep it simple.

Your CV’s content isn’t the only thing you must pay attention to. We will look at your CV before we read it. It’s important you invest time in formatting your CV properly.

• Use a modern font: Avenir, Candara, Corbel, Cordia New, Helvetica…;
• 9–12 points font size for the body text is best;
• Use bold, caps and italics consistently to structure your text;
• Use shades of grey instead of only pure black text for a lighter look;
• Don’t use fancy layouts with headers, footers, or tables;
• Create margins to make it easy to read and avoid edge-to-edge text;
• Balance your text with white spaces.

Overall, don’t overuse anything. Instead, choose modern, neat, and classic formatting. It will help guide the reader’s eyes.

[Step 5] Look it over. And over again.

By now, you will undoubtedly have invested hours working on your CV. Don’t rush the proofreading steps!

• Double-check the dates in your experience and education sections;
• Double-check your email address and phone number;
• Remove any unnecessary info: age, marital status, religion, or nationality;
• Use a proofreading tool like Grammarly
• Ask someone to read through your CV.

For your peace of mind, look over your CV one more time and make sure to convert it into a PDF file before sending your application .

Curious to see what roles Lightspeed is currently hiring for? Visit our careers page to explore the latest job openings and see if any roles interest you. For more updates and news make sure to follow us on LinkedIn.