The executive CV that survives a thirty-second read

A search consultant reviewing a long list will often give each CV less than a minute on first pass. That is not carelessness. It is triage. The question being asked is simple: is there enough evidence here to justify a phone call?

The executives who get that call are rarely the ones with the longest CVs. They are the ones whose first page answers three questions without making the reader work: what level do you operate at, what kind of problems do you solve, and what changed because you were there.

Open with a summary that could only be about you

Three or four lines at the top should set out your scope and your signature. Avoid adjectives that everybody uses about themselves. 'Results-driven leader' tells the reader nothing. 'Group finance director who has led two carve-outs and a listing in a regulated business' tells them almost everything.

Write achievements, not duties

Duties describe the job. Achievements describe you. For each role, choose the four or five outcomes you would want a board to know about, and lead each one with the result.

• Weak: 'Responsible for European sales team.'
• Stronger: 'Rebuilt a 60-person European sales team and grew regional revenue from €80m to €130m in three years.'
• Weak: 'Managed IT transformation.'
• Stronger: 'Replaced a 20-year-old core platform on time, cutting outages by two thirds.'

Numbers help, but only where they are real and you can talk about them. If the figure is confidential, describe the scale in relative terms: doubled, halved, top quartile, first in the market.

Make the shape of your career obvious

Put the employer, a one-line description of the business, your title and dates on a single line for each role. Readers want to see progression at a glance. If a title undersells the job, add a short phrase in brackets explaining the reporting line or the size of the remit.

Cut ruthlessly beyond fifteen years

Early roles can be listed in a few lines. Nobody hiring a chief operating officer needs a bullet-point account of a graduate scheme. Two pages is ideal for most senior candidates; three is the outer limit.

If a line would not survive being read aloud to the board that might hire you, it probably does not belong on the page.

Check it the way a reader would

Print it. Give yourself thirty seconds. Then turn it over and write down what you remember. If the answer is not your level, your speciality and two or three outcomes, keep editing. Our free CV review tool runs a similar check automatically, and it is a sensible place to start before you speak to a consultant.