Produce a clean master CV and one tailored version ready to send.
Over the previous four lessons you built the parts of a CV one at a time: a plain-text test showing what software sees, five bullets rewritten as results, a list of things to cut, and a tailoring routine. The next job is to put them into one finished document that a recruiter can scan in seconds and that an applicant tracking system can read without scrambling. Set aside about forty-five minutes.
You will end with two files. The master CV is the full version, holding every result bullet you have in a plain single-column layout. You keep it as the base for every application. The tailored version is a copy of the master adjusted for one specific job ad: the profile line, the choice and order of bullets, and the skills checked against that ad. It runs to no more than two pages.
Start a new document. If you edit your old CV, its old formatting tends to come back.
Use a single column and a common font at a readable size, and make your name larger than everything else on the page. Put your contact details in the body of the page under your name, and leave the document header area empty. Use standard section headings in this order: Profile, Experience, Education, Skills. If you have relevant certifications, add a Certifications section after Education.
Leave out tables, text boxes, icons and skill bar charts. Lesson 3.1, "How your CV is read: software first, then a person", explains why. For each job, put the job title, the employer and the dates on their own separate lines so each stands out. Use one date format throughout, for example "Mar 2022 to present" (an example date).
The profile sits at the top and is aimed at the role you want. Three lines is enough. A structure that works is who you are now, then what you are good at with a hint of evidence, then what you are moving towards. Keep away from adjectives such as "passionate" or "hardworking". Every claim in the profile should be something a recruiter could check with you in an interview.
Wei Ling is an operations executive with five years in logistics, applying for supply chain analyst roles. The profile reads as an operations executive with five years in logistics, now moving into supply chain analytics; someone who builds Excel dashboards that operations managers use in weekly decisions; and someone completing a SQL course with a portfolio project on delivery data.
Arjun, the secondary school teacher introduced in lesson 3.2, "Turn duties into results", is aiming for learning and development roles. Arjun's profile describes a secondary school teacher with eight years designing lessons and assessments for mixed-ability classes, who designed programmes later adopted across the department, and who is moving into corporate learning and development. Neither profile leans on words like "passionate" or "hardworking", and an interviewer could ask about every claim in either one.
List your jobs newest first. Write each bullet with the verb, action and outcome pattern from lesson 3.2, starting with the five you have already rewritten. Put your strongest three bullets at the top of each job, judging strength by relevance to the target role. Older or less relevant roles can stay short: title, employer, dates and one or two lines.
List education in reverse order, with your highest qualification first. In Skills, list only the tools and skills you can back up, using the words from your market sheet in lesson 2.4, "Build a market sheet for your target role".
Then go through the checklist from lesson 3.3, "What to leave off a Singapore CV", and remove anything on it that has crept in:
photo NRIC number date of birth race religion marital status objective statement references line
If the CV runs over two pages at this point, cut from the oldest roles first. Save this full version, with every bullet, as your master CV.
Pick a real job ad and make a copy of the master. Work through the routine from lesson 3.4, "Tailor in fifteen minutes, not two hours": adjust the profile line for this employer, choose and reorder bullets for what the employer is asking for, and check your Skills section against the ad. Keep the result to no more than two pages. Save it with the company name and the date in the file name.
The thirty-second test shows whether the tailored version says what you meant it to say. Give it to a reader, ideally someone in or near your target field, such as a former colleague, a friend in the industry or someone from your network. Time thirty seconds, then take the CV away. Ask what role they think you are applying for and what they remember about you. Their answer shows what your CV actually says, which can differ from what you intended.
Wei Ling ran the test with a friend who works in a bank's operations team. The friend correctly remembered the dashboard and the vendor savings, but guessed that Wei Ling wanted an operations manager role, because the profile line was too focused on operations. Wei Ling moved "supply chain analytics" to the start of the profile line, and the next reader understood the target role immediately.
Fix whatever your reader missed, then test on a second person if you can.
In the activity you finish both files, the master CV and one tailored version, run the thirty-second test with a real reader and fix what they missed.
Finish your master CV and one tailored version. Give it to a reader for the thirty-second test, then fix whatever they missed.
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