You now have a story bank full of specific achievements and a target role with a requirements map behind it. Time to write the CV! But before you type a single line, there’s a question worth answering. Who’s actually going to read this thing, and how?
You might picture one careful person reading your CV from top to bottom with a cup of tea. In practice, your CV is read at least twice, by different readers who ask different questions. And somewhere in between, software stores it and makes it searchable. Every decision you make in this section comes back to these readers, so it’s worth getting to know them.
The Skim and the Read
The first pass is often a recruiter’s quick skim for a match. That reader isn’t judging your character yet. They’re quickly checking a few things, like your recent titles, the dates, the employers, and whether the words from the posting show up. Most of that happens in the top third of the first page.
If the skim says “possible match,” a hiring manager reads more slowly. This reader wants evidence that you can do the work. They want to see what you did, how you did it, and what changed because of it. They read your bullets and project details and click your links.
Here’s a quick way to experience the difference. Grab a CV, either yours or a friend’s, and look at it for about fifteen seconds. Then put it face down. What do you remember? Probably a title, maybe a company name, maybe one tool.
