Yes, even yours.
Unless you have 10+ years in a specialized field (medicine, academia, senior engineering), one page is the standard. Cut: hobbies, “references available on request,” your high school if you have a degree, jobs older than 10 years that aren’t relevant. Recruiters scan in 6 seconds — page 2 doesn’t get read.
“Managed” → Led, Directed, Oversaw
“Worked on” → Built, Developed, Designed
“Helped with” → Contributed to, Supported, Drove
Same accomplishment, completely different impression. Recruiters notice.
“Managed” → Led, Directed, Oversaw
“Worked on” → Built, Developed, Designed
“Helped with” → Contributed to, Supported, Drove
Same accomplishment, completely different impression. Recruiters notice.
Most companies use ATS software that filters resumes by keywords from the job posting. If the listing mentions “Excel, data analysis, reporting” multiple times and your CV says “spreadsheets, numbers, documentation,” you get rejected automatically. Tailor each CV to each job. It’s annoying but it works.
Most companies use ATS software that filters resumes by keywords from the job posting. If the listing mentions “Excel, data analysis, reporting” multiple times and your CV says “spreadsheets, numbers, documentation,” you get rejected automatically. Tailor each CV to each job. It’s annoying but it works.
Every recruiter has seen this 10,000 times. Your summary should answer 4 things in 3 lines: who you are, your experience, one specific achievement, and what role you want next. Generic adjectives get skipped. Specific outcomes get read.
I spent a years training 90+ people on CVs through a career program in Lebanon. One mistake showed up on almost every single resume:
People write duties, not achievements.
Example:
❌ “Responsible for managing social media accounts”
✅ “Grew Instagram following from 2K to 12K in 6 months through weekly content strategy”
The first tells the recruiter what your job was. The second tells them what you did with it. Recruiters spend 6–7 seconds scanning a CV — if every line reads like a job description, their eyes glaze over.
The formula for every bullet point:
Action verb + What you did + Measurable result
“Managed” → “Led”, “Built”, “Launched”, “Reduced”, “Increased”
No exact numbers? Estimate honestly. “Served \~50 clients per week,” “cut process time by roughly 30%,” “trained 4 new hires.” Approximations beat vagueness every time.
Try it now: Open your CV, take your top 3 bullets, and ask yourself for each one: “What was the result?” If you can’t answer, that bullet needs a rewrite.
Good luck out there 🤝