Job descriptions

“Remove the rehashed job description for each role. Instead, write about where you have added value to the role, not about what the job looked like when you took it on.”

— John Lees, careers expert and author of How To Get A Job You Love

Photos

“Photos on a CV are a controversial subject, however it is a personal opinion they should be left off a CV. They can distract away from the contents. CV’s that are too wordy won’t get read. Keep your points concise and focused on impact and results. Leave off details of anything reads like a job description or a task.”

— Charlie Rudd, head of agency performance at Balance

Overly complex formatting

“Applicant Tracking System (ATS) have become increasingly popular over the years as more companies move their recruitment processes online and look to automate reviewing applicants through generative AI. The software breaks down CVs into individual data points such as contact information, work experience and education, and analyses this information against predefined criteria. This may include skills, or keywords to identify candidates matching the requirements of the job posting. It is therefore essential that your CV is created in a way that ATS can easily lift your experience and skills, or your CV might be rejected, even if you’re highly qualified for the job.

“Make it easy for the ATS and reviewing to scan your CV by using standard headings like ‘Work Experience,’ ‘Education’ and ‘Skills.’ Avoid using unconventional headings or getting too creative with your formatting as this might bury key information and lead to you selling yourself short.

“This helps make the CV easy to read and enables automated software to easily summarise and categories applicants’ details. This will ensure valuable skills and experience aren’t missed.”

— Jonathan Firth, VP of Recruitment Solutions at LHH

8 career experts on what you should drop from your CV