Tips for Concise CV Writing

I recently worked on refining a 5-page resume for a seasoned CPA with 20+ years of experience—think C-suite roles, multimillion-dollar savings, and a laundry list of skills. The challenge? Turning it into a sharp 2-3 page document that still wows recruiters/hiring managers in under 10 seconds. If you’re stressing about your resume being too long or not hitting the mark, here are some tips I shared that can help you too: * Cut the Fluff, Keep the Wins: Ditch repetitive tasks (e.g., “created reports”) and lead with results. * Swap “Managed budgeting process” for “Slashed costs by $43M through streamlined budgeting.” Numbers grab attention. * Cap It at 10-15 Years: For senior pros, detail your last decade of roles deeply, then summarize older jobs in an “Early Career” section with 1-2 standout achievements. No one needs the play-by-play from 2002. * Slim Down Skills: That 20-item list? Group them into 3-4 buckets (e.g., “Financial Systems,” “Leadership”) and cap it at 8-10 must-haves. Recruiters skim—make it easy. * Punchy Summary: Shrink your intro to 2-3 sentences. Skip generic buzzwords (“hardworking”) and spotlight what sets you apart (e.g., “CPA driving $350K+ savings in 90 days”). * Visual Power: Bold key metrics ($2M saved, 12-to-3-day close), use bullets (3-5 per role max), and leave white space. A wall of text scares readers off. The result? A resume that’s half the length but twice as powerful—proof you don’t need pages of detail to shine. :) #CareerTips #ResumeWriting #JobSearch #Leadership #PreferredPartnerSearch

People have always asked me how to build the best CV or resume. No document guarantees anything. But avoidable mistakes can stop a qualified person from getting an interview. For most industry roles, here is what I recommend: • Know the role or job family you are targeting. • Keep one master resume, then tailor it to each opportunity. • Make your level, specialty, and value clear within seconds. • Use a clean, readable, single-column layout with standard headings. Avoid tables, skill bars, text boxes, and complicated formatting that may confuse an ATS. • Opinions on photos differ. Many recommend leaving it off but some true experts like Ethan Evans think it can make you memorable. I leave this to your call. • I also like a statement of purpose of leading paragraph at the top that wraps everything together, especially if you won't use a cover letter. • Keep it concise. One page is often enough early in your career; two pages are reasonable when relevant experience warrants them. No more. • Use short bullets, not dense paragraphs. Readability helps in general and with the ATS • Focus on accomplishments, not only responsibilities. Show what changed because you were there. • Start bullets with strong verbs and quantify impact when truthful and meaningful. • Never invent a metric. Clear qualitative impact is better than a fake number. • Give more space to recent, relevant work and less to older or unrelated experience. • Include important skills, tools, platforms, certifications, and keywords naturally and in context. • Prove qualities such as leadership, collaboration, and initiative through evidence rather than adjectives. • Include relevant projects, freelance work, volunteer work, open-source contributions, and community leadership. • Make your portfolio, website, reel, ArtStation, GitHub, or work samples easy to reach. • For games, name shipped titles when permitted and explain your platforms, engines, discipline, scope, and contribution. • Keep titles, employers, dates, and major facts consistent with LinkedIn. • Never inflate titles, ownership, skills, dates, or results. Be ready to explain every bullet. • Check every link, proofread every word, and follow the requested file format. Then know when to stop. Build it properly. Get credible feedback. Tailor it intelligently. Then focus on relationships, referrals, outreach, targeted applications, portfolio quality, and interview preparation. Set it and forget it - most waste way too much time going in circles over materials once set. A great resume helps someone quickly understand why you deserve the conversation. That is all you are trying to accomplish: going from A pile to B pile.

I’ve looked through hundreds of CV’s in the last few weeks. So, I wanted to share a few of my practical tips for anyone currently job hunting that might help you stand out and get shortlisted👇 1️⃣ Details matter more than you think I saw many strong applications undone by simple mistakes, like poor CV formatting or the wrong company name or hiring manager added to cover letter. 👉 Action: Before you submit, do a final 2–3 minute check: company name, role title, spelling, and formatting. Personalise the CV for the role you’re applying to. It makes a huge difference 2️⃣ Design for the skim Recruiters and hiring managers don’t read CVs top to bottom, they scan for relevance first. I read far too many CVs which were 3 or 4 pages long and unfortunately they don’t cut through. 👉 Action: Use clear headings, bullet points, and concise achievements. Make your most relevant experience impossible to miss in the first half of page one. If you can fit everything on one page, do it! 3️⃣ Initiative stands out Candidates who reached out to me on LinkedIn showed genuine interest and confidence. I was able to reply to pretty much every message, and it adds that extra effort that makes you more noticeable. 👉 Action: Send a short, thoughtful message to the hiring manager. Mention the role and one specific reason you’re interested… but no generic copy-paste tactics! 4️⃣ Generic won’t get you noticed I read a lot of cover letters, and many could have been sent to any company. In some instances, cover letters mentioned the wrong brand name and hiring manager. In my application sifting, I usually read a cover letter first before the CV. 👉 Action: Use your application or cover letter to connect your experience or passion directly to that role. Specific notes or comments will immediately make you stand out. 5️⃣ Tap into your network I’m a firm believer that the power of a recommendation can have a huge impact on someone’s ability to stand out. Using your network can really help you get deeper insights and perspective on the opportunity. 👉 Action: Find relevant connections and reach out to them for support in learning more about the hiring manager, role or company. Don’t be shy or cautious to get yourself seen and heard. Job searching is tough, but small, intentional improvements can significantly increase your chances. If this helps even one person land an interview, it’s worth sharing. Good luck to everyone applying right now 💪

I've helped craft over 1000 CVs & about 78% successful in cracking a role. How? Let's dive in. 🚀 Your CV is more than just a document—it's your personal brand. It's the first impression you make on recruiters and hiring managers. Here’s how to build a standout CV that gets noticed (and gets you interviews): 1. Highlight Your Hard & Soft Skills PMs are like APIs—they connect different stakeholders, making collaboration seamless. Your CV should reflect this balance: 👉 Hard Skills: Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban), tools (Jira, Trello), certifications (CSPO, SAFe POPM). 👉 Soft Skills: Resilience, creativity, negotiation, presentation skills. 2. Use Keywords Strategically Most companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan resumes. To beat the system: 🔑 Identify keywords from job descriptions (use tools like Jobscan). 🔑 Incorporate them into your work experience naturally. 🔑 Customize your CV for each job (e.g., Technical PM vs. Marketing PM vs. Growth PM). 3. Focus on Visual Appeal A well-structured CV makes a lasting impression: ✅ Use clean fonts and simple formatting. ✅ Keep it to 1 page (short CVs are more likely to be read). ✅ Use strategic white space for readability. ✅ Bullet points are your best friend—keep it concise and clear. 4. Personalize Your CV Tailor your CV for each job application: ✨ Customize your professional summary to align with the role. ✨ Highlight relevant achievements with metrics. ✨ Show cultural fit—research the company and align your CV to their values. 5. Showcase Your Achievements Don’t just list job duties—focus on impact: 📈 Quantify your contributions: "Increased user retention by 15% through feature improvements." 📊 Demonstrate results: "Led a team to deliver a product roadmap ahead of schedule, driving a 10% revenue increase." 6. Common Mistakes to Avoid 🚫 Generic professional summaries—make it personal and engaging. 🚫 Overloading skills—focus on key, relevant skills. 🚫 Industry jargon—keep it simple and understandable. 🚫 Typos and errors—proofread thoroughly. 7. Seek Feedback & Iterate 💡 Get insights from mentors, friends, or even AI tools like ChatGPT. 💡 Join communities like Product School’s Slack for peer reviews. Final Checklist Before you hit submit, ensure your CV: ✅ Clearly highlights your product management skills. ✅ Is optimized for ATS with relevant keywords. ✅ Looks visually appealing with strategic formatting. ✅ Is customized for the job you're applying for. ✅ Tells your story with impact-driven achievements. 🔄 Over to You! What’s one tip you swear by for crafting a standout CV? Drop it in the comments or DM me for feedback! Let’s nail this together. PS: I run a program that helps folks get better at product management and crack product roles, both in India and abroad. If you want to apply for the program, check out the links in comments. 🚀 #ProductManagement #CVTips #CareerGrowth #JobSearch

I just reviewed 150 resumes. Here’s my brutally honest tips for writing a better resume from the perspective of a hiring manager: 1. Keep it to one page. Make me want to learn more in the interview. Don’t make me scroll because chances are, I won’t. 2. Save it as a PDF. Don’t let applicant systems turn your carefully formatted Microsoft Word resume into a disaster. 3. Put the most important info at the top. Don’t make me hunt for it because I won’t. And unless you’re an inexperienced new college grad, your university and degrees don’t belong at the top. 4. Skip the “Core Competencies” list at the top. If you must have it because you think applicant systems love that (not sure if they do), do it at the bottom. Also if you have 30 core competencies, you might be mistaken about what a “core” competency is. 5. No photo. This isn’t Instagram. Plus you’re wasting so much precious space. 6. Update your LinkedIn. I will check it if I’m on the fence or can’t really understand your resume. Even better if you have professional references and recommendations from colleagues and managers. 7. Include what the company does when listing your past jobs. Saves me a Google search, if I’ve got the energy to do that. 8. Tailor your summary to the role. Generic = forgettable. If you have biotech experience and you’re applying to a biotech company, put that in bold in the first line. 9. Write a cover letter that’s actually unique. If you’re going to bother writing one, make sure it really shines. Longer does not actually mean better. 10. If you share a portfolio, make sure it’s current and well-designed. Outdated work hurts you more than it helps. 11. Use standard formatting. Full length text, left to right. Company and job titles together. Circlar bullet points for your work impact. No two-column or four-quadrant designs. Think less Canva, and more Google Doc Arial 11 point font single-spaced. It is so difficult to read a resume that has information all over the place. To my fellow seasoned hiring managers, did I miss anything? For those weekend warriors working on their resumes and looking for their next role, I hope this helps! #resume #jobsearchtips #hiringtips

Over the past 4 years, I’ve reviewed over 100 resumes written by law students, and I always see the same handful of mistakes. This is AFTER both the student and their school’s Career Office have signed off and think the resume is “final.” ➡️ Please do not rely on Career Services to proofread your resume. That is not their job. The job is yours alone. So I created this checklist for you. It targets the 10 mistakes I see the most often. Please make sure your resume passes this checklist BEFORE you send out to any legal employer! CHECKLIST 1: Don’t tell me what your responsibilities were; tell me what you DID. Generalities are dirt. Specifics are gold. Make your resume interesting for your reader! 2: Use a readable font. Write in a font size that will be easy for your reviewer to read, and keep in mind that people over 40—including this one—cannot see tiny print. The last thing you want to do is make your reader work hard! 3: Don’t repeat that you did an activity for the company or your school when that is clear from the context. In a bullet entry under a job at a school or firm, you don’t need to specify you did something for the school or firm, and the context makes doing so redundant. 4: Be as concise as possible in your experience entries. Remove articles (the, a, an) before nouns. Convert “of the” clauses to possessives. See Dear 1L ch 13.3 for further guidance and examples. 5: Align your date ranges perfectly with the right margin. If you aren’t using a template (and I hate templates), you will need to set your right-facing tabs. See Dear 1L ch 13.2. 6: Use en-dashes for your date ranges. Note that lawyers do not use spaces around en-dashes, but as long as you are 100% consistent with your spacing throughout, doing so is not wrong per se for resume purposes. 7: Be consistent with your bullet formatting. Don’t mix square and circle bullets. Make sure all bullets are an identical size. 8: Be consistent with your vertical spacing. Err on the side of having more vertical spacing to make clear where one entry block ends and the next starts. Don’t cram entry blocks up against each other vertically. Adding a return that’s shorter than a full, 12 pt return can free up space. 9: Be consistent with your use of bold/italics & commas and other punctuation marks. These are probably the hardest nits to catch. Do a separate proofread to look exclusively for these types of inconsistencies. Consider using a magnifying glass. 👉 Look out especially for inconsistent bolding of commas and periods and inconsistent use of straight and curly quotes. 10: Don’t use adverbs. Don’t tell me that you “meticulously prepared” or “diligently organized” things. It makes me think you’re exaggerating. (But if you received particular recognition for your meticulousness or diligence, do mention that!) *** I hope this helps. I am sending so much luck to all of my new 2Ls during this stressful job-application period! 💌 Amanda

Looking to make your resume shine and grab attention? With over a decade of recruitment experience and having reviewed nearly 250,000 resumes while working for industry giants like Amazon, Accenture (Avanade), Cognizant, and various startups through my agency, Proven Patterns, I’ve seen what truly makes a resume stand out. Here are some top tips to help you create a powerful resume that will leave a lasting impression: ☑ Keep It Concise: Aim for 2-3 page resume when possible. Focus on your most relevant experiences and achievements without overwhelming the reader. ☑ Tailor for Each Job: Customize your resume for every position you apply for. Incorporate keywords from the job description and highlight skills and experiences that match the role. If you don't have enough time at least match the resume summary section with the job description. ☑ Showcase Achievements: Use specific numbers and examples to quantify your accomplishments. Instead of saying "improved sales," say "boosted sales by 20% within six months." ☑ Professional Format: Opt for a clean, professional layout with consistent fonts and spacing. Save the flashy graphics for creative fields. ☑ Include a Strong Summary: Start with a compelling summary that highlights your key qualifications and career goals. Make it engaging and tailored to the job you're targeting. ☑ Highlight Skills: Clearly list your core skills and competencies. Be honest and focus on those that are directly relevant to the position. ☑ Proofread Carefully: Ensure your resume is free from typos and grammatical errors. A polished resume reflects attention to detail and professionalism. ☑ Add a Personal Touch: Include a brief section on your interests or volunteer work. This can help convey your personality and values beyond your professional skills. Your resume is your first impression; make it count! 🚀 If you found these tips useful, please repost ♻ and follow me, Kumud Deepali R. for more insights and advice on jobs and career!

As a seasoned recruiter with over 18 years of experience, I've seen it all when it comes to resumes—some shine, and others fall flat. I’ve spent countless hours helping people rewrite their resumes. When it comes to your resume, clarity, conciseness, and impact are key. It's not about listing duties; it's about showcasing accomplishments and measurable results. Your resume should be your interview agenda, highlighting what you've achieved, not just what you were supposed to do. Remember, it's results and metrics that count, not just tasks. For instance: STRONG EXAMPLE – Managed a $200MM portfolio, owning a $50MM marketing budget, leading to a +1.7-point share increase and +6% profit growth year-over-year. WEAKER EXAMPLE – Responsible for a $200M portfolio, resulting in increased share and profit annually. To secure a strong salary, start by showcasing your value and achievements from the get-go—in your resume. Avoid vague claims or unnecessary visuals that clutter your resume. Make every word count by focusing on what sets you apart. #ResumeTips #CareerAdvice #RecruitmentInsights #brand #marketing

Hi Connections, This post offers guidance for recent graduates on how to make their CVs more concise and engaging. Here are some tips to help enhance and streamline your CV. 1. Begin with a strong summary or objective statement that highlights your skills, education, and career goals. 2. Use a clean and professional layout with clear headings and bullet points to make it easy for recruiters to scan through your CV. 3. Focus on your academic achievements, projects, internships, volunteer work, and part-time jobs that are relevant to the position you are applying for. 4. Emphasize any extracurricular activities, leadership roles, or awards that demonstrate your skills, work ethic, and dedication. 5. Include any relevant coursework, certifications, or skills that showcase your knowledge and abilities. 6. Use action verbs and measurable outcomes to describe your accomplishments and responsibilities in each section. 7. Tailor your CV to the specific job you are applying for by highlighting the skills and experiences that are most relevant to the position. 8. Proofread your CV carefully to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors, and ask a friend or mentor to review it as well. 9. Consider including a link to your LinkedIn profile or online portfolio to provide additional information about your background and skills. 10. Be honest and authentic in your CV, and make sure to present yourself in the best light possible while staying true to who you are as a candidate.

You’re busy, and so are HR professionals. Recruiters spend just 6 seconds looking at a CV, so it's important to make it count. Your CV is your first chance to impress, and it could be the deciding factor between landing an interview or getting rejected. A strong CV highlights your skills, achievements, and personal brand in a clear, strategic way. Here are 4 steps to improve your CV and boost your job search: 1. Understand What Recruiters Want: Recruiters like CVs that are clear and to the point. Make sure to tailor yours for each job, include relevant keywords, and show how your career has progressed. 2. Build Your Personal Brand and USP: Your personal brand is a mix of your skills, values, and personality, while your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is what makes you valuable to an employer. Highlight these to make your CV stand out. 3. Use an Easy-to-Read Layout: A neat, organized CV is easier to read. Use headings, bullet points, and list your details in a clear order: contact info, summary, education, and work experience. Stick to a simple format and list jobs in reverse order (most recent first). 4. Highlight Achievements and Skills: Show what you've accomplished using specific examples. Use numbers when possible to show your impact. List your skills and certifications to prove you're the right person for the job. For more career tips, follow Smriti Gupta #JobSearch #ResumeTips #CareerAdvice #CVWriting #PersonalBranding