By profession
The structural rules of a good CV are close to universal: reverse chronological, specific verbs, a number wherever one exists, nothing decorative that a parser can lose. What is not universal is which facts belong in the first fifteen seconds, and that changes completely from one field to the next.
An accountant is filtered on qualification stage before anyone reads a sentence, so it goes in the header. A nurse is filtered on registration and acuity, because the reader is mentally building next month’s rota. A software engineer’s skills block belongs above the job history; a sales manager’s quota record belongs above everything. Put the same four sections in the same order for all four of them and three of the four CVs are answering the wrong question first.
The metrics diverge just as sharply. Quota attainment, working days to close, cohort progress against a departmental average, p99 latency, retail doors, staffing ratio — a number only persuades when the reader recognises it as the right kind of number. Each guide below names the two to four that count in that field, and shows three real bullets being rewritten to use them.
A data analyst CV is read for the stack, then for evidence that your analysis changed a decision. How to write both, with three bullets rewritten and templates that parse.
Metrics that count: The decision or the money · Data scale and complexity · Time recovered · Adoption of what you built
How to write a software engineer CV: the order an engineering manager reads it in, the metrics that carry weight, three bullets rewritten, and templates that parse.
Metrics that count: Scale of the system · Reliability · Delivery speed · Cost and efficiency
An accountant CV is filtered on three things before anyone reads a sentence: qualification stage, the size of the ledger you handle, and the systems you work in.
Metrics that count: Working days to close, and the trend · Entity and ledger scope · Audit and control outcomes · Cash and working capital
A project manager CV is judged on the size of what you have run and whether it landed. Budget, headcount, duration, variance against plan — and how to write them honestly.
Metrics that count: Budget and headcount per project · Variance against the original plan · Complexity count · Benefits realised after go-live
A graphic designer CV has one job: get the portfolio link clicked and supply the context the work sat in — client, scope, distribution and constraints.
Metrics that count: Scope delivered end to end · Where the work actually shipped · Throughput and turnaround · Systems you built
A marketing manager CV is read for three things: the channels you own, the budget you control, and whether you can connect activity to pipeline rather than impressions.
Metrics that count: Budget under management · Efficiency: CPA, CPL or ROAS · Pipeline or revenue contribution · Funnel conversion, stage to stage
A sales manager CV without numbers is read as a bad year. Quota and attainment by year, team performance, deal profile — and three weak bullets rewritten properly.
Metrics that count: Quota and percentage attainment, per year · Deal profile · Team performance and retention · Pipeline and forecast quality
A nursing CV is read for three things: whether you can be rostered at all, the acuity you are used to, and the competencies that decide what you can be assigned to.
Metrics that count: Setting scale and ratio · Shift leadership frequency · Teaching and preceptorship · Quality improvement outcomes
A teaching CV is read by a head of department in a hurry: subject and key stages, registration status, evidence pupils progressed, and what you carry beyond your timetable.
Metrics that count: Attainment or progress against a comparator · Teaching load and range · Intervention outcomes · Responsibility scale
A student CV is read for evidence of reliability and initiative, not employment. What to include, how to write part-time work properly, and three bullets rewritten.
Metrics that count: Hours worked alongside study · Responsibility you were given · Scale of anything you organised · Academic results, where they help
Worked examples
Open the editor with a template that suits your field, work through the steps in the guide, and download a PDF when it reads the way you want.
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