How to Write a CV: Sections, Examples, and Country Rules

CV or resume? It depends where you are

In the United States and Canada, a CV is a long academic document: a full record of your degrees, publications, teaching, grants, and presentations that can run many pages, used to apply for research, medical, and university posts. The one or two page document Americans use for an ordinary job is a resume.

Almost everywhere else, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Kenya, Nigeria, India, Australia, and across Europe, "CV" is that everyday job document. It is what an American would call a resume, and it is what this guide is about. If you need the long US academic version, see the academic CV note below.

What goes in a CV

A working CV has six parts, in this order:

• Personal details. Your name, city, phone, and a professional email. A LinkedIn URL if it is current. What else belongs here, a photo or date of birth for instance, is the part that changes by country; the table below sorts that out.
• Personal statement. Two to four lines saying who you are, your strongest result, and what you are looking for. Write it last, once the rest of the CV tells you what to highlight.
• Key skills. Six to ten skills that match the job posting, in a short list. Use the posting's own wording so the same terms line up.
• Work experience. Reverse-chronological, newest first, each role with dates. Write achievements with numbers, not a list of duties: what you did, how, and what changed.
• Education. Degrees and qualifications, most recent first. Early in your career this sits above experience; once you have a few roles, it drops below.
• Referees. Whether you list them, and how many, depends on the country. The referees section below has the rule for each market.

The format mechanics, reverse-chronological versus combination layout and how to keep it readable by applicant tracking software, are the same as for a resume. Rather than repeat them, the resume format guide covers the three layouts and the ATS rules in full; a CV uses the same skeleton with the personal-details and referees blocks added.

What personal details to include, by country

This is where a single template fails. A photo and date of birth that are expected in Dubai will sink the same CV in London. Follow the local convention where you are sending it:

A few things behind the table:

• US, UK, and the rest of the Western column. Leave off your photo, date of birth, and marital status. In the UK the reason is legal: the Equality Act 2010 makes age discrimination unlawful, so a date of birth on the CV only creates risk and can feature as evidence in a claim. Leave it off, and US employers work under similar anti-discrimination rules.
• Philippines. Two conventions run side by side. A traditional local biodata carries a 2x2 photo, date of birth, and civil status, and many local employers still expect it. Drop all three for BPO, multinational, and international roles, which read the modern minimal resume instead. A "Character References" section is common on the local version.
• Gulf states. A headshot, date of birth, and nationality are standard, and many listings ask for visa status, because age and residency tie into visa and insurance rules. This is the opposite of the UK convention, not a lapse in professionalism.
• Germany and France. The traditional CV carries a photo and date of birth, though larger employers are moving away from the photo under their own anti-discrimination laws. When in doubt for a big multinational, leave it off.
• India. The older biodata block, photo, date of birth, father's name, and marital status, is still common for local roles, but drop it for multinationals and product companies, which read it as dated.

Referees: list them or not

In the UK, the US, and Australia you do not put referees on the CV. "References available on request" is assumed, so you can leave even that line off. Hold the names back until an employer asks, then send them on a separate sheet.

Across Kenya, Nigeria, and much of Commonwealth Africa the opposite holds: two or three named referees belong on the CV. A Kenyan CV usually lists one or two professional referees, a supervisor or head of department, plus one personal referee who can speak to your character. Older Kenyan CVs also carried the national ID number, but current guidance is to leave it off for privacy and give it only when an employer asks. Always ask a referee before you name them, and give each one a heads-up when you send an application their way.

A complete CV example

Here is a one-page professional CV in the international style, with a personal statement, achievements with numbers, and a named referees section. The .docx above holds this example plus a blank template.

A CV skeleton to build on

Type over the prompts, then go back to the country table above and decide whether the photo, date of birth, and referees lines stay or go. Leaving that decision to a template is what makes a CV read as sent from the wrong market.

The US academic CV

If you are applying for a research post, a faculty job, a fellowship, or a residency in the United States, the CV means the long version. It leads with education and lists, in full, your publications, conference presentations, teaching, grants and funding, and professional service. It carries no personal statement and no photo, it is not capped at two pages, and it grows over a career. For an ordinary job outside academia, use a resume instead.

A CV is also the best record you have of what you have already done, which makes it the right starting point when the question is not how to present a direction but which direction to take. The career task audit reads it that way.

Common CV mistakes

• Wrong personal details for the market. A photo and date of birth on a UK CV, or a bare US-style CV with no referees sent to a Kenyan employer. The table above is the fix.
• Duties instead of achievements. "Responsible for reporting" tells a reader nothing. "Cut the report cycle from three weeks to one" tells them what you can do.
• Too long, or too thin. Keep it to a single page when you are new and two when you have real experience to show. A five-page CV for a first job reads as padding; the academic CV is the only one that runs long.
• An objective statement or "references available on request" filler. Replace the objective with a real personal statement, and drop the references line where it is assumed.
• One CV for every job. Re-order your skills and rewrite your statement to match each posting's wording.

Length, file format, and sending it

Keep a job CV to one or two pages. Save it as a Word file or a searchable PDF, single-column with standard headings, so the applicant tracking software many employers use can read it; the resume format guide has the full ATS checklist. Name the file with your name and the role, and if you are new to the workforce, the first CV guide shows how to build one from education and projects.

Sources

• UK CV guidance (2026): two pages, personal statement, no photo or date of birth; Equality Act 2010 on age discrimination.
• International CV and resume differences by country (photo, date of birth, referees) for the Gulf, Germany, France, India, and the Philippines.
• Kenya CV conventions (two to three named referees; current guidance to leave the national ID number off) from Kenyan job-market references.
• Philippines biodata versus modern resume (2x2 photo, date of birth, civil status on the local version; dropped for BPO and multinational roles).