CV format
The CV format Indian employers expect, ready to fill in.
In India a CV and a resume are the same document: one or two pages, newest first, with your education, experience, projects and skills. Pick a layout, fill a short form and download it as Word and PDF.
Free. No sign-up to download.
Step 1 of 6
Basics
Use an email you check. Recruiters reply there.
CV or resume: which one do you need?
Indian employers and job portals use the two words for the same thing. When a job post in India asks for your CV, send the same one- or two-page resume you would send anywhere else.
Outside India the words can differ. In the UK and Europe a CV is the standard job document. In the US and Canada a CV is a long academic record of publications and teaching, and a resume is the short one for jobs.
For a fresher in India: one page. For a few years of experience: one page, two if every line earns it. Longer academic CVs are for research and teaching roles only.
Sample
A resume in this format, built with the free builder.
B.Com (Hons) graduate with internships in audit and equity research. Builds clean financial models in Excel and has filed GST and TDS returns for small businesses.
- Built a three-statement financial model and DCF valuation for two listed FMCG companies
- Wrote weekly sector notes on quarterly results for the research desk
- Cleaned ten years of annual-report data into a reusable Excel template
- Prepared GST returns (GSTR-1, GSTR-3B) and TDS workings for 14 small-business clients
- Vouched expenses and reconciled bank statements during the statutory audit of a trading firm
- Drafted working papers in Tally Prime and Excel for the senior auditor
- Analysed five years of financial statements and peer ratios to build a buy thesis
- Presented the valuation and risks to a panel of faculty and alumni
- Built an Excel dashboard that tracks monthly spending, SIP returns and savings goals
Financial Modelling, DCF Valuation, Financial Statement Analysis, Advanced Excel, Pivot Tables, Tally Prime, GST, TDS, Bank Reconciliation, Power BI, Accounts Payable, MS PowerPoint
- NISM Series VIII: Equity Derivatives
- Financial Modelling & Valuation (online course)
- Tally Prime with GST
- Rank 3 in B.Com second year, among 420 students
- Treasurer, college Finance & Investment Club: managed the fest budget
- Winner, inter-college stock pitch competition 2024
English, Hindi, Punjabi
CV format
What goes in a CV, in this order.
01
Name and contact
Name, city, phone and a professional email at the top, as plain text. LinkedIn or GitHub if they show your work. No photo, date of birth or father’s name unless the employer asks.
02
Summary (optional)
Two sentences: who you are and what you can do for this job. Skip it if it would only repeat the rest of the page.
03
Experience or projects
Jobs and internships newest first, or projects if you are a fresher. Two or three bullets each: what you did, with which tools, and what came of it.
04
Education
Degree, college, years and score. It goes first while you are a student or fresher, and moves below your experience once you have a job.
05
Skills
Tools and methods you have used, named the way job posts name them: Tally, SQL, Power BI, AutoCAD.
06
Certifications and achievements
Courses you finished, ranks, awards, a hackathon. One line each.
Format rules that matter for a CV in India.
- One column for job portals such as Naukri, LinkedIn and company career sites. Their software reads it in order.
- Standard headings (Education, Experience, Projects, Skills), so each part lands in the right field.
- Real text everywhere: no skill bars, star ratings or icons in place of words.
- Leave out the declaration ("I hereby declare…") and personal details unless a form asks for them.
- Send a PDF where it is accepted, and keep the Word file to edit for each job.
After you build it
One resume sent to every job misses most of them.
Recruiters search applicants by the words in their own job post. Tailoring adjusts your resume to each post, using the job’s words only where your experience backs them up, and keeps your layout exactly as it is.
Check a resume against a job →CV format questions
What people ask before they build.
What is the correct CV format for a job in India?
One or two pages in reverse-chronological order: name and contact details, an optional two-line summary, experience or projects, education, skills, and certifications. Use one column and standard headings so job portals read it correctly, and send it as a PDF unless the employer asks for Word.
Is a CV the same as a resume in India?
Yes. Indian employers and job portals use the two words for the same one- or two-page document. A long academic CV with publications and teaching is only expected for research and teaching roles.
What is the best CV format for freshers?
One page: contact details, education with your score, two or three projects or internships with bullet points, skills, then certifications and achievements. Education comes first until you have a full-time job.
Should I add a photo, date of birth or a declaration to my CV?
Not unless the employer or the application form asks for them. They take space from your experience and skills, and a photo can confuse job-portal software.
Should I send my CV as Word or PDF?
Send a PDF where it is accepted, because it looks the same everywhere. Keep the Word file to edit the CV for each job. This builder gives you both.
Do I need to sign up to make a CV here?
No. Fill the form, pick a layout and download your CV in Word and PDF without an account. Signing in is only needed to tailor it to a job, which is free for 15 days.
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