Writing a CV that gets shortlisted.
Recruiters often spend under 10 seconds on a first look at a CV, and many companies use software to filter CVs before any human sees them. Today you'll learn to write a CV that passes both.
CV vs resume vs biodata
In India people use these words loosely. For jobs, what you need is a one-page CV (for freshers) focused on skills and achievements. "Biodata" with height, religion, father's name and a photo is for marriage proposals, not for companies.
The ATS: your first reader
Most medium and large companies use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS): software that reads your CV, looks for keywords from the job description, and ranks you. If it can't read your CV, a human never sees it.
ATS-friendly means: single column, normal fonts, clear headings (Experience, Education, Skills), no text inside images, no tables for layout, saved as PDF (or Word if asked).
The structure
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| Header | Name, target job title, city, phone, professional email, LinkedIn |
| Summary | 2–3 lines: who you are, key skills, one proof, what you want |
| Experience | Jobs, internships, part-time, freelance. Newest first |
| Projects | Very important for freshers: what you built, tools, result |
| Education | Degree, college, years, CGPA if good |
| Skills | Specific tools and skills matching the job |
| Certifications / Achievements | Recognised ones only |
The bullet point formula
Action verb + what you did + result (with a number).
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Responsible for social media | Grew the college fest Instagram from 800 to 4,200 followers in 2 months with 30 reels |
| Worked in family shop | Managed billing and stock for a 2-person kirana store, cutting stock-outs by keeping a weekly Excel tracker |
| Did a project on attendance | Built an attendance web app in Python used by 3 classes (180 students) |
Which bullet point is strongest?
Specific action, scale and result. The first one says nothing a recruiter can check.
Tailor for every job
Read the job description and use its exact words for skills you really have. If the ad says "MS Excel, VLOOKUP, pivot tables", don't just write "computer knowledge". Small changes for each application can greatly improve your chances.
Don't add skills, degrees or experience you don't have. Companies run background verification, and fake details can get an offer cancelled or you fired later, even years later.
Mistakes that get CVs rejected
- Photo, date of birth, religion, marital status, father's name (not needed, and can lead to bias).
- "Objective: to work in a reputed organisation…" (everyone writes it; use a real summary).
- Two pages for a fresher, tiny fonts, spelling mistakes.
- Email like
cuteboy786@gmail.com. Makefirstname.lastname@gmail.com.
Why should you use the job description's keywords in your CV?
Matching keywords (for skills you really have) helps you pass the ATS filter.
Your task (40 min)
Open our free CV Builder at /cv. Fill every section using today's formula. Make sure the checker shows all green ticks. Download the PDF and ask one working person to review it in 5 minutes.
Lesson 4 complete!
You know the right CV structure, how to write strong bullet points, how ATS works and the common mistakes. Next: making LinkedIn work for you.
Next: LinkedIn that recruiters notice →