Free CV Templates: Create a CV That Fits Your Career Goals

You can adapt the format of your CV to fit the type of job you’re applying for, the type of work you do and your career profile, or to change its emphasis if you’re moving into a different industry.

Below is some information about different CV formats, some tips on what to consider when updating your CV and some templates you can use to get you started.

Why Use Free CV Templates? 

Writing a CV can be harder than it looks – so to help you with basic formatting and structure, we have developed some example templates you can use to suit different needs.

Reverse Chronological CV Template: Highlight Your Career Progression 

The reverse chronological CV is the most common and traditional type. In this format, you list your relevant work experience in reverse chronological order, beginning with your most recent position and proceeding backwards.

For each job, you provide dates, location and the name of your employer, and succinctly outline your key responsibilities and achievements. The advantage of using the reverse chronological format is that it helps to highlight your upward career progression and continuous work history.

Functional CV Template: Emphasise Your Skills and Achievements 

Alternatively, those who have had gaps in their employment, who are changing careers or who have a long work history may wish to consider using a functional CV template format to better outline their most relevant skills and experience.
A functional format emphasises your skills and abilities, or ‘functional areas’, rather than chronological employment history and is especially useful when you are changing your career focus, when you are returning to work after a break, or when you want to highlight your skills and achievements from older jobs or from volunteer or extracurricular experience. The functional resume is all about relevance, enabling you to focus on what is most important for a particular position, so it should be tailored for each job application.

One-Page Career Summary Template: A Snapshot of Your Success 

Another resume layout option is to prepare a one-page career summary – a shorter, more targeted version of your resume that can be a very effective way of immediately grabbing a hiring manager’s attention. Providing a snapshot of your key achievements, strengths, competencies, experience and qualifications, it is particularly relevant for senior executives with many accomplishments and years of professional experience.

A one-page career summary can act as a useful marketing tool that can stand alone or can accompany a full resume providing more detailed information.