Microsoft Word CV Templates Guide And Tips

The easiest way to make a CV with Microsoft is by accessing Word’s pre-made templates. Open a new document, click on ‘more templates’ then select ‘Resumes and Cover Letters’. This is the same for UK users, despite resume being a US term!

You can then choose from a range of professional Word templates and personalise them with your own details, skills, and experience – including a brief personal statement to introduce and summarise your background, qualifications, and personal qualities.

PDF and Word documents are the two most popular formats for downloading and sending your CV. To decide between the two, you should firstly check whether the recruiter or employer specifies a file type on the job listing or application form.

If you’re still left to choose between PDF and Word, consider how the CV is being submitted. If it’s being sent through a company website or online portal, it’s most probably going to be scanned by an ATS. Word CV templates are much better in this respect.

On the other hand, if it’s being sent directly to a recruiter or manager, PDF might be the better option. Word CV documents can be affected by formatting if a company is using an old version of Microsoft Word, or an alternative like Open Office. By downloading your CV as a PDF, you can make sure it appears as intended.

Some of the best CV templates in Word come pre-designed with a space for your own photo. To customise it, simply right click on the image, select ‘fill’ and choose ‘picture’. You can then select the right file from your computer and insert it, before cropping and positioning it correctly.

Alternatively, if you’re adding a photo to the basic CV template on Word, you’ll need to click insert on the top menu, choose a picture and then position it appropriately. CV photos should be placed on the top third of the page, ideally in the top right or left corner. Doing so allows plenty of room for the main body of the CV.

To design a CV in Microsoft (MS) word, you should start with a blank CV template. From here, you can add your own personal statement, experience section, skills, and education or qualifications.

You can then customise the colours and fonts used. However, it’s best to stick with one simple font such as Arial, Helvetica, or Cambria to keep things professional and easy to read. You should also avoid too many font sizes, with the ‘rule of three’ generally the best advice.

Similarly, keep all text black for easy readability, adding one different colour (or two different shades of another colour) for sub-headings, paragraph borders, or margins.

The professional Word templates on our CV builder have a number of advantages over designing a CV on word. First and foremost, they’re easier to format and customise than Microsoft Word templates, with pre-written text tailored to a wide range of sectors and job roles.

We also have a better variety of formats and styles, so you can always find one that’s the perfect fit for you and your background. Above all else, our Word templates are designed for UK recruiters, with everything they need in concise bullet-point lists. Then when you download your completed CV template in Word, it’s compatible with every version of the software.

Here are some of our best tips when working with a Microsoft Word CV template:

• Follow a reverse chronological order to put your most recent, relevant experience at the top of your work history section.
• Use bullet points for your work history and skills to keep things concise and to the point.
• Tailor your application to the job description and person specification, including any keywords that may be required to pass an ATS.
• Include relevant sub-headings for each section of your Word CV so recruiters can skim to find the information they need with ease.

For every role a recruiter posts, they typically receive over 250 CVs in response. If recruiters manually sorted through all these CVs, they wouldn’t have time for anything else. So, to make it easier to select the most suitable applications they use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System).

By comparing your CV to the job description, an ATS scores your application based on your suitability for the role. The recruiter will then contact the candidates identified as a ‘top match’. If your CV isn’t formatted in a way that an ATS recognises or if it is missing important details, there’s a high possibility it will be filtered out, meaning you miss out on a role - that’s where Word CV templates come into play.

We’ve designed our Word CV templates to be ATS compatible by carefully selecting appropriate fonts, incorporating headings and spaces to make the CV easy to scan, and using bullet and numbered lists to highlight key skills and qualifications. So, yes, a Word CV template can help you get over that first hurdle!