Seven common CV mistakes to avoid

After reading thousands of CVs, you notice the same mistakes again and again — and almost all of them are quick to fix. Here are the seven that cost the most interviews.

1. Duties instead of results. “Responsible for sales” says nothing. “Grew regional sales 22% in one year” says everything. Lead with outcomes.
2. Too long. Two pages is the ceiling for most people; one is often better. Nobody reads a five-page CV — they skim the first half of the first page.
3. A generic profile. “Hard-working team player seeking a challenging role” is invisible. Say what you actually do and for whom.
4. Typos and inconsistent formatting. They signal carelessness louder than any skill signals competence. Proofread, then have someone else proofread.
5. One CV for every job. Tailor the summary and top skills to each posting; a targeted CV beats a polished generic one.
6. Unexplained gaps or vague dates. Use clear month/year ranges and briefly account for long gaps — silence invites the worst assumption.
7. A photo, age, or ID number where they aren't expected. Keep the focus on your experience unless the market or role specifically calls for them.

You rarely win an interview with one brilliant line. You lose it with one careless one.

The five-minute audit

Read your CV back-to-front, bullet by bullet, and ask of each line: does this show a result, and would a stranger understand it? Delete anything that's a duty, a cliché, or a filler. What remains — sharp, specific, honest — is the CV that gets the call.