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CV Builder

Please read before starting

Please be aware that if the CV Builder is left unused for 30 minutes, all information will be lost. This procedure is in place for security reasons.

To avoid losing work, please log in or open a Lifelong Learning Account, and at regular intervals use the ‘Save your CV’ buttons on the right hand side of the screen. This is especially important if you plan to get up and leave your machine for a while. You can only save your CV if you have an account and are logged in.

Please note: the ‘Save your CV’ buttons in the right hand column are different from the save buttons at the end of each section. Only the ‘Save your CV’ buttons in the right hand column will fully save all of your work.

Fill in as much information as you can at this stage. If your CV gets too long you can cut it down later, leaving only your most relevant skills and experience for the jobs you're applying for. If you need help with a section, look out for our handy tips and hints on the right hand side of this page.

* Some sections of this tool are mandatory if you want to add the section to your CV.

About you

Personal details

Contact details

You can enter up to 1000 characters here

Why do I need to add my personal details to my CV?

Employers need this information so they can contact you. The essentials are your name, address and contact details. People used to put other details like age, marital status and nationality but this isn’t needed these days.

Top Tip

Remember: the more contact methods you put in, the easier you make it for employers to contact you to offer you an interview. If you’ve got a mobile number, landline number and an email address, include all these.

Employers can be in a hurry to recruit, so don’t be hard to reach. When you’re job hunting, don’t ignore calls from numbers you don’t know – it could be an employer trying to contact you for an interview.

What makes a good personal statement?

Employers read hundreds of personal statements, so try to make yours different. It needs to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read on. Try to avoid describing yourself as ‘hard-working’, ‘reliable’ or ‘a good team player’ – many people put these, so they don’t help you to stand out. See our example CVs for some ideas on how to make your personal statement memorable.

Don’t forget to save your CV!

Your web session will be automatically closed after 30 minutes of inactivity on this page. Save your CV to a Lifelong Learning Account to be sure you won’t lose your data.

Your work experience

Position details

You can enter up to 1000 characters here

Not worked before or for a long time?

You can include any experience in this section, not just experience in jobs. All experiences are relevant if you can show what you learned from them. So if you’ve been travelling, volunteering, caring for someone, bringing up children, job seeking, on a training programme, or on a work experience placement, put this down. Put the dates, what the main activities were and what you learned.

In which order do I put the jobs?

Start with your present or most recent employer and work backwards through your previous jobs.

What if I’ve had a lot of jobs?

You can group them together, so you don’t have to list them all. For example, if you worked on a number of different construction sites over three years, you could put ‘various construction roles’ and include a selection of the employers and your main duties.

Adding experience to your CV

You need to make sure that you click the 'Save position' button at the end of this section to make sure the information gets put into your CV.

How many years do I need to go back into my work history?

It’s normal to include your last ten years of jobs. For jobs further back than this you can summarise them in one line putting in the dates, ‘various employers’ and the job titles.

Your qualifications

Qualification details

Interests and hobbies

You can enter up to 500 characters here

Why would an employer want to know about my interests?

An employer might look at this section to see if you’ve got any interests that are relevant to the job. So, if you read fashion magazines and you want to work in a clothes shop, put it in. They might also read about your interests to see if you’re a well-rounded person. So if you have any interests that use different skills from those that you use in your job, put them in.

What if I haven’t got any qualifications?

You can also include details of any training you’ve done at work or any learning you’ve done at home.

And don’t forget that many people without qualifications have gone on to be successful, so don’t be concerned if you haven’t got anything to put in this section.

Saving qualifications to your CV

You need to make sure that you click the 'Save qualification' button at the end of this section to make sure the information gets put on to your CV.

Your references

Referee 1

Do I need to include references on my CV?

No, you don’t need to list your referees’ details on your CV, unless the employer specifically asks you to do so. Many employers will only want to contact your referees after they’ve made you a job offer. This is why these days most people put ‘references available on request’. The tick box on the left is there for you to choose this option. In fact, if you include your referees’ contact details it can take up valuable space on your CV that you could have used to include more of your skills and experience. So if you’re short of space and the employer doesn’t ask for referees’ details, don’t include them.

A referee is someone who can comment on your character, skills and suitability for a job.

Saving referees to your CV

You need to make sure that you click the 'Save referee' button at the end of this section to make sure the information gets put on to your CV.

What if I haven’t worked for a while?

A referee doesn’t always have to be an employer. You could use another responsible person who has known you for some time. Or if you’ve been on any courses or government training schemes, you could get references from the staff there.

Don’t forget to save your CV!

Your web session will be automatically closed after 30 minutes of inactivity on this page. Save your CV to a Lifelong Learning Account to be sure you won’t lose your data.

CV design

Choose from our selection of CV designs...

We have created a number of different designs - if you click on the magnifying glass icon on each then you can see how each would look.

Which design should I use?

How your CV looks is down to personal choice. Depending on the type of job you're going for you might like to use a traditional design and font, or a more modern design and typeface. Regarding the information on your CV, you can draw attention to your particular strengths by using different sections and running orders. See our pages on CV formats for more advice on how to tailor your CV.

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In association with the European Social Fund

In association with the European Social Fund

© 2012 A service of the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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