I’ve read thousands of CVs over the years, and the same thing happens again and again. The person who wrote it has plenty to offer, yet the page makes them sound ordinary.

It’s rarely a lack of experience. It’s a habit of brushing aside the very things an employer would value most.

If you’ve ever stared at a blank document wondering what on earth to put down, this is for you. There’s a simple test further down that most guides never mention, and it changes how you see your own work.

Why Your Own Experience Feels Dull to You

When you’ve done something a hundred times, it stops feeling like a skill. It just feels like Tuesday.

A café worker who calms down an angry customer doesn’t think, “I’ve just handled a complaint.” They think, “Well, that was awkward.” Yet that is exactly what an employer wants to read about.

I once helped a woman who had spent six years caring for her father before returning to work. She was convinced she had nothing to show. She had managed his medication, dealt with the council and the NHS, and run the household budget. None of it was on her CV.

Job titles mislead us too. A university group project can show more initiative than a year of quietly ticking boxes in an office. What matters is what you did, not where you did it.

What an Employer Is Actually Asking

A recruiter’s first read of your CV is often brief. They aren’t hunting for perfection. They’re asking one question: can this person do the job, and can I see proof?

So your CV isn’t your life story. It’s a small set of evidence, chosen to match one particular vacancy.

That means leaving good things out, and that’s fine. Cutting is part of the skill. It only feels uncomfortable the first time.

Start with the job advert. Underline any skill it mentions more than once. Those are your targets, and every line on your CV should either hit one or make room for one that does.

The “What Would Have Gone Wrong?” Test

Late at night, plenty of people type write my CV for me into a search bar. Usually it isn’t because they can’t write. It’s because they can’t see what is worth saying. Once you can see it, the writing gets much easier.

Here’s the method I use with almost everyone, and it’s the part I’d most like you to keep.

For each job, project or role, ask yourself: what would have gone wrong if I hadn’t been there?

Not “what was I responsible for?” That only gives you a list of duties. This question gives you impact.

Here are a few honest examples:

• Stockroom job: Shelves would have been empty by Saturday, so I checked stock every Friday and flagged shortages.
• Group project: Nobody would have tracked the deadlines, so I built a shared schedule and chased updates.
• Volunteering: New starters would have felt lost, so I showed them the ropes in their first week.

Each answer holds a problem, an action and a result. That’s your bullet point, nearly written.

Sometimes the honest answer is “nothing much would have changed”. That’s useful to know as well. Drop that task and look for a stronger example.

Try it on something you think is too small. A Saturday job. A society role. Helping a neighbour with their paperwork. Small things often give the most believable evidence, because they’re real and you remember them clearly.

Gather Everything Before You Write a Word

Don’t open a blank CV yet. Open a notes app and brain-dump.

List every job, placement, society, volunteering role and project. Add dates, tools you used and anything you were trusted with. Don’t polish anything. Just record it.

Then scroll through old emails, your calendar and your phone photos. They jog memories brilliantly. You’ll find the manic week you survived, the event you helped run, the system you had to learn from scratch.

Add numbers only if you really know them. If you served roughly eighty customers a shift, say so. If you can’t remember, don’t guess. An invented figure is the quickest way to come unstuck in an interview.

Turning Notes into Strong Bullet Points

Now match your notes to the advert and pick the best three or four examples for each role.

Write each one as what you did, how you did it and what it led to. Keep it plain.

Weak: “Responsible for customer service.”

Better: “Dealt with around 40 customer queries a day, in person and by phone, and resolved most without passing them to a manager.”

The better version isn’t grander. It’s just clearer. And it only works if the numbers are true.

Keep your profile at the top short: two or three lines on who you are, what you’ve done and what you’re aiming for. Skip “hard-working and passionate”. Everyone writes that, and nobody believes it.

Then check the basics. Dates, spelling, contact details. Small slips can undermine strong content, so read it slowly, ideally out loud.

Finally, keep the layout simple. Clear headings, a readable font and some white space do more than fancy design ever will.

A Quick Before and After

Imagine Priya, a second-year student who worked weekends at a garden centre. Her first draft said: “Served customers and watered plants.”

After asking the test question, she remembered that regulars often asked her which plants suited shady gardens, and that she’d started a chalkboard showing what was in season.

Her new line read: “Advised customers on plant choices and created a weekly seasonal display to help staff answer common questions faster.”

Same job. Same weekends. But now the reader can see someone who notices problems and does something about them.

Mistakes I See Constantly

• Vague claims. “Excellent communicator” means nothing without an example behind it.
• Exaggeration. If you contributed to a project, say what you did. Don’t imply you ran it.
• One CV for every vacancy. Your history stays the same, but the order and emphasis should shift each time.
• Over-formal language. Long words rarely make ordinary work sound impressive. Plain English sounds confident.
• Ignoring instructions. If an employer asks for a PDF or a particular format, give them exactly that.
• Unexplained gaps. One honest, brief line beats leaving the reader to wonder.

Before you send it, read each bullet and ask: could a stranger tell what I actually did? If not, add detail. If it claims something you couldn’t explain in an interview, change it.

One Last Thought

Your CV doesn’t need to be clever. It needs to be true, specific and relevant.

You’ve almost certainly done more than you think. Look again at the jobs you shrug off, ask what would have gone wrong without you, and write down the answers. They’re usually your best material.

Then go and send it. A good CV in the post beats a perfect one still sitting in your drafts.