Why CVs are hard

Most CVs are weak not because the work was weak. They are weak because the evidence is buried or phrased without force.

Many people list what they did. Hiring managers want to see what happened because of it.

"Responsible for product planning" and "Diagnosed a retention ceiling and lifted conversion by 148%" describe the same work. One gets interviews. The other does not.

This guide shows how to turn weak lines into strong evidence.

Structure comes first

There is a standard order. Hiring managers spend an average of 6 seconds scanning a CV. If the structure is unclear, they move on before reading the content.

Recommended order:

1. Contact — Name, email, phone. LinkedIn or portfolio if relevant.
2. Summary — The most important section. Who you are, what you do well, why you fit this role. Three lines.
3. Experience — Most recent first. Company, title, dates, then bullet points.
4. Education — School, degree, year. Keep it brief unless you are a recent graduate.
5. Skills — Only skills already proven in your experience. A list without proof means nothing.

Stay within 1–2 pages. Length is not depth.

Weak lines vs strong lines

The most common problem: describing what you did without showing what happened. The pattern is simple: Action + Scope + Evidence.

No numbers? Make them.

Not every role has obvious metrics. But every role has measurable impact.

How to find numbers:

• Time saved: "Automated weekly reporting, saving 5 hours per week"
• Errors reduced: "Introduced QA process that cut post-launch bugs by 60%"
• Scale: "Led a team of 5", "Managed a $200K budget", "Ran a service with 300K DAU"

Approximate numbers beat no numbers. "Handled roughly 30 customer enquiries per week" is stronger than "Handled customer enquiries."

If there truly is no number, describe the state change. "Before X, there was no process. After X, the team had Y."

Use the job description as a mirror

The job description tells you what evidence to foreground. This is not keyword stuffing. It is alignment — describing your work in the role's language.

If the JD says "data-driven decision making," your bullet should show a data-driven decision you made.

Gap analysis: what does the JD need that your CV does not yet prove? distil.work's Audit automates this check.

5 common mistakes

1. Listing responsibilities instead of achievements — Bullets that end with "responsible for" prove nothing.
2. No summary, or a generic one — "Passionate professional" or "dedicated team player" could describe anyone.
3. Skills without proof — Writing "Leadership" means nothing without showing where and how you led.
4. Same CV for every application — A CV that does not speak the role's language cannot prove relevance.
5. Too long or too dense — No white space means no reading. Stay within 1–2 pages with clear spacing.