What belongs in a CV — and what does not

A CV is not a biography. It is an answer to a single question: why this person for this job? Anything that does not contribute to that answer takes the space the answer needs.

What belongs, always

Name, an email address you actually read, phone number, city. Work experience with employer, title, and month and year of start and end. Education with the qualification and the dates. Skills that can be checked — tools, systems, languages with a level.

For the duties: two to four bullets that say something beat eight that say nothing. "Responsible for customer support" describes a job description. "Looked after around 40 existing accounts, renewed roughly 90 percent" describes you. Numbers don't have to be impressive, they have to give the scale: how many, how often, how long, for whom.

What can almost always go

The line "references available on request" — that is understood. A skill bar giving Excel four dots out of five; nobody knows what your four means. Your school qualification once a degree and ten years of work sit above it. Software everyone uses today. Hobbies that appear on every second application — unless the hobby relates to the job, in which case it suddenly matters.

What differs by country

There is no universal rule here, and this is the single most important point: photo, date of birth, marital status and nationality are a country question. In parts of Europe they are customary or expected. In the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada and Australia they are left out — partly because some employers will not accept applications carrying them, for anti-discrimination reasons. The signature at the bottom of a CV is regional too.

That is why in CVgogo this is a setting, not a rule: you decide whether a photo and personal details appear, depending on where the application is going.

Gaps

A gap is not a flaw; an unexplained gap is an open question. A period with a plain label — parental leave, further training, relocation, career change — settles it. Bent dates do not: they surface at the latest when references are checked.

Length

One to two pages, three for a long career. If you can't fill two pages, don't stretch — one well-filled page beats two half-empty ones.