How to rectify your CV!!!
Reviewed a bunch of CVs this week, and here are the patterns I keep seeing (and how to fix them)
Been helping people with their CVs privately and the same issues keep coming up across almost every single one regardless of field, experience level, or background. Thought I'd write this up properly so everyone benefits.
- Your title is either wrong or working against you
This is the first thing a recruiter reads. If it says something like "Graduate", "Student", or is completely misaligned with the job you're applying for, you've already lost their attention.
Your title should reflect what you want to be hired as, not what you studied or what your contract said. If you did real work, call yourself what the work was. Not what the paperwork said.
- The experience section is either empty or vague
This is the most common issue by far. Writing "worked in several roles" or "entry level experience 2017–2023" with no details tells a recruiter absolutely nothing. Six years of your life summarised in one sentence is not a CV, it's a gap.
For every role you list, you need three things: what the job was, where you worked, and what you actually did there. Not what the job description said. What you personally did and what came out of it.
If you don't have formal experience, your projects become your experience section. But even then, write them like jobs, not like homework.
- No numbers anywhere
"Managed social media accounts" means nothing. "Grew Instagram engagement by 40% over 3 months" means something. Every bullet point that describes work should answer the question: how much, how many, or so what?
Even rough estimates are better than nothing. Recruiters are scanning for impact, not job descriptions.
- Your skills section is either too weak or inconsistent with your summary
If your summary says you specialise in something, that thing needs to be in your skills section. If it's not there, it looks like a mistake or an exaggeration.
Also, listing Microsoft Word as a skill in 2025 is not a differentiator. Everyone can use Word. Go deeper and be specific. Name the actual tools, platforms, and methodologies you use.
- Irrelevant information is taking up prime space
Elementary school, hobbies that have nothing to do with the role, short online courses given their own dedicated section, vague personal statements that could apply to any human being on earth. All of this is noise.
Every line on your CV should be earning its place. If it doesn't add something meaningful to your case, cut it.
- Two fields on one CV
If your CV is trying to be two things at once, it ends up being neither. A recruiter hiring for a specific role needs to immediately see that you are the right person for that role. If your CV reads like you're deciding between two careers, they'll move to someone who has already decided.
Pick your direction. Tailor the CV to it. Keep the other version for other applications.
- Your email looks unprofessional
If your email has numbers, nicknames, or random words in it, change it before you send anything. Create a clean one with your name. It takes five minutes and it matters more than people think.
- No LinkedIn and no portfolio
If you're in a technical, creative, or data-related field and you don't have a LinkedIn profile or a portfolio link on your CV, you're leaving evidence on the table. Recruiters check. Give them somewhere to go.
And if you do have a portfolio, make sure it's actually ready to be seen. A broken link or an unfinished page is worse than no link at all.
- Certifications from unknown platforms
A certificate from a platform nobody has heard of carries very little weight. If you're going to certify yourself in something, go for the recognised ones. Google, Microsoft, Meta, IBM, Coursera's professional certificates. These are names a recruiter will recognise immediately.
- The CV template doesn't match the field
If you work in a creative or technical field, a generic free template says something about your eye for design and detail whether you intend it to or not. Your CV is the first piece of work a recruiter sees from you. Make sure it looks like someone who thinks carefully made it.
The one thing that fixes almost everything
Stop writing your CV as a record of where you've been. Write it as a case for why you should be hired. Every section, every line, every word should be answering the question: why this person for this role?
I hope this helps someone in need, and if anyone else have something to add to it , please share down in the comments as it may help someone, may Allah bless you all and may you get your dream job !