Free CV Builder
A CV builder produces the document you apply with — and the first thing to settle is which document that is. In the US and Canada a CV is a full academic record with no length limit; in the UK, Ireland, Australia and most of Europe it simply means a resume by another name. This builder handles both, and exports to PDF and Word so you can send whichever format the employer asked for.
It is free in the same way the rest of the site is: no account, no login, no watermark, no download limit.
- PDF and Word export
- No login or signup
- No watermark on downloads
- 100 ATS-friendly templates
The distinction
CV or resume — which do you need?
This is the most common source of confusion, and it is entirely geographic. There is no single correct answer, only the convention of the country you are applying in.
| Market | What to send | Conventions to check |
|---|---|---|
| United States, Canada | Resume for industry roles; CV only for academic, medical, scientific and research posts. | One to two pages. No photo, no date of birth, no marital status. |
| United Kingdom, Ireland | CV — the same document a US applicant calls a resume. | Two pages standard. No photo. Personal statement rather than summary. |
| Australia, New Zealand | CV, but closer to the US resume in length. | Two to three pages. No photo. Referees listed only on request. |
| Germany, France, much of the EU | CV (Lebenslauf / CV). | A professional photo is common. Date and place of birth are often expected. Sign and date the CV in Germany. |
| UAE, Saudi Arabia, wider Gulf | CV, usually longer than a US resume. | A photo and nationality are frequently expected. Visa status is often asked for directly. |
| Academic and research, any country | Full academic CV. | No page limit. Publications, teaching, grants and conference history all belong in. |
Section order
What goes in a CV, and in what order
The order below is the standard industry CV. Academic CVs move education to the top and add publications, teaching and grants.
- Personal details. Name, contact details, location. Add date of birth or nationality only where the market expects it.
- Personal statement. Two or three sentences. The UK convention calls this a personal statement rather than a summary, but the content is the same.
- Work experience. Reverse-chronological, three to five bullets per role, each ending in a result.
- Education. Qualifications with institution and dates. UK CVs typically place this above experience for recent graduates.
- Skills. Grouped by type and written in the literal terms a recruiter searches for.
- Certifications. Professional qualifications with the awarding body and year — often a hard filter in finance, health and project roles.
- References. "Available on request" is now redundant; omit the section entirely unless the employer asks for names.
The technical part
Making a CV that an ATS can read
Applicant tracking systems are used across Europe and the Gulf as widely as in North America, and the formatting rules are the same everywhere: the parser has to be able to find the fields.
- One reading column. Sidebar layouts are the most common reason a CV parses with the work history missing entirely.
- Standard headings. "Work Experience", "Education" and "Skills" map to fields. "Career History" usually does not.
- No photos unless the market requires one. An image where the parser expects text can displace everything below it.
- Consistent date formats. MM/YYYY, most recent first. Parsers build a timeline and inconsistency shows up as an unexplained gap.
- Real text, not graphics. Skill bars, icon fonts and certificate images are unreadable to the parser.
Test a finished CV with the free ATS resume checker, or read how to pass ATS screening.
Longer documents
Academic, medical and research CVs
An academic CV is a complete record rather than a summary, and it has no length limit. The sections below are the ones hiring committees expect to find, in roughly this order.
- Education. Doctorate first, then master's, then undergraduate, each with institution, year and thesis title.
- Research interests. Two or three lines. Specific enough that a reader can tell whether you fit the department.
- Publications. Peer-reviewed first, then chapters, then conference papers, in a consistent citation style throughout.
- Teaching experience. Courses taught, level, and any supervision of dissertations or doctoral candidates.
- Grants and funding. Awarding body, amount, period and your role — principal investigator or co-investigator.
- Conferences and talks. Invited talks and presented papers, with venue and year.
- Professional service. Journal reviewing, editorial boards, society membership, examining.
Use a serif or clean sans template such as Scholar Academic or Oxford Classic — dense, conventional and easy to scan at length.
Included
Tools that help with the writing
- Professional summary generatorDrafts the personal statement from your role and years of experience.
- Bullet point generatorTurns duties into achievement bullets with a verb and a measurable result.
- Skills generatorBuilds a grouped skills section from your job titles.
- Job match scoreCompares your CV against a specific job advert, keyword by keyword.
- ATS score checkerSection-by-section view of what is missing or unclear.
- AI resume builderAI drafting across the whole document, tailored to one job description.
- European CV builderCountry-aware guidance for A4 CVs, local terminology and European applications.
Questions
CV builder FAQ
What is the difference between a CV and a resume?
In the United States and Canada they are different documents: a resume is a one-to-two-page summary for industry roles, while a CV is a full-length record of academic and research history with no page limit. In the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe the word "CV" simply means the document you apply with, whatever the role — it is the same thing Americans call a resume.
How long should a CV be?
For an industry application in the UK, Australia or Ireland, two pages is the norm and three is the practical maximum. An academic or research CV has no limit and runs as long as the publication, teaching and grant record requires. The mistake to avoid is a long CV made long by padding rather than by content.
Should I include a photo on my CV?
It depends on the market. In the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland, no — including one can trigger anti-discrimination filtering and some employers will discard the application. In Germany, France, much of continental Europe and the Middle East, a professional headshot is common and sometimes expected. Match the convention of the country you are applying in.
Do I need a different CV for every country?
Usually a light adaptation rather than a rewrite. Check three things: whether a photo is expected, whether personal details like date of birth or nationality are customary, and whether the length convention differs. The substance of your experience does not change.
What file format should I submit a CV in?
PDF unless the application asks for Word. PDF preserves your layout exactly as you designed it. Some older applicant tracking systems parse DOCX more reliably, so where an employer explicitly requests a Word document, send one.
Is the CV builder free?
Yes. There is no subscription, no trial, no download limit and no watermark on the exported file, and you do not create an account. Your CV is stored in your own browser rather than in an account database.
Build your CV now
Pick a template, fill in seven steps, and export to PDF or Word. Nothing is uploaded to an account — the document lives in your own browser.