A Necessary Introduction
Throughout my career as a university lecturer and researcher, I have reviewed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of CVs. Some have allowed me to glimpse the talent and dedication of their authors in just a few seconds; others, on the contrary, have been buried under a mountain of irrelevant information or careless presentation. This experience has enabled me to identify three aspects that I consider fundamental to a CV. They are not the only ones, but without them, you will hardly achieve your goal. These are: clarity and personalization of your professional objective, evidence of quantifiable achievements, and a careful selection of hard and soft skills with concrete examples
The first aspect, and often the most neglected, is the opening statement. Many candidates still include a generic "Objective: to develop my skills and grow professionally." This phrase adds nothing and wastes the most valuable space on your CV: the first few lines.
In my opinion, the CV should open with a brief summary (2 or 3 lines) that answers three key questions: Who are you professionally? What specific value can you bring to the company? And what exactly are you looking for? For example: "Data engineer with 5 years of experience optimizing SQL databases. I have reduced query times by 30% in my current role. I am seeking to join an analytical team where I can apply my cloud computing knowledge." The reason for this section is personalization. The same professional should modify this summary for each application, using keywords from the job posting. Recruiters spend between 6 and 10 seconds on an initial glance; if they don’t see an immediate match with the profile they’re looking for in that brief moment, the CV goes into the "no" pile. A personalized objective acts as a magnet that hooks the reader and shows you’ve done your homework.
The second fundamental aspect is how you describe your work experience. The most common mistake is listing responsibilities or duties, as if it were a job description. For example: "Responsible for managing social media" or "In charge of customer service." This is insufficient and boring.
A powerful CV transforms those tasks into measurable achievements. Instead of the above, it should say: "Increased social media engagement by 40% in six months through a new content strategy" or "Reduced average complaint resolution time from 48 to 12 hours, achieving 95% customer satisfaction." Why is this so important? Because concrete numbers and results generate credibility and allow recruiters to visualize the real impact you could have on their organization. Moreover, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and hiring managers increasingly value empirical evidence.
The third aspect, which completes the circle of effectiveness, is the skills section. It’s not enough to cram a column with isolated words like "teamwork." That’s just noise. To be truly useful, the CV should include a balanced mix of hard skills (technical, job-specific) and soft skills (interpersonal), but both must be supported by brief context. A good practice is not only to list them but to show where or how they were applied. For example, instead of just writing "leadership," you can mention in your experience: "Led a team of 5 people on a data migration project." Or, in a separate Key Competencies section, you can group them and, if space allows, add a very short example in parentheses. The deep reason for this approach is that isolated skills are suspect—they risk being invented or exaggerated. Anyone can claim to have "assertive communication," but someone who demonstrates that they "negotiated with three suppliers and achieved a 15% cost reduction" is offering proof. Recruiters look for evidence, not promises. Therefore, a list of skills without any grounding in reality loses all its persuasive power.
A Final Comment
Your CV is your cover letter. To achieve your ultimate goal, you must keep in mind that it needs to be objective, practical, verifiable, and leave no room for doubt in recruiters’ minds.
These three pillars are not the only ones, and perhaps you have others that have yielded better results for you. But from my personal experience, these three are essential to becoming part of a work project, business, or position you wish to attain.
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