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Create ResumeIf you are applying for jobs in the UK from overseas, your CV needs to do more than list experience. It has to remove doubt quickly. Recruiters and hiring managers are not only checking whether you can do the job. They are also asking whether your experience translates to the UK market, whether your location is clear, whether your right to work status is understandable, and whether your CV feels easy to compare with local candidates.
A strong overseas applicant CV should be UK style, ATS friendly, direct, achievement focused, and honest about practical details. It should not over explain your personal story, copy your home country CV format, or hide important information that recruiters will eventually ask about anyway. I’ll show you what that looks like in practice.
A strong CV for overseas applicants is not a dramatic reinvention of your career. It is a clear translation of your experience into a format UK recruiters can read quickly and trust.
That distinction matters. I often see good candidates lose attention not because they lack experience, but because their CV makes the recruiter work too hard. The CV feels unfamiliar, too long, too academic, too task based, or unclear about basic hiring logistics. In a competitive UK job market, confusion is expensive. Recruiters rarely stop and investigate a confusing CV when there are easier ones in the pile.
For UK applications, your CV should usually include:
Your name and contact details
Your current location and relocation position
A clear professional profile
Key skills relevant to the target role
Work experience in reverse chronological order
The biggest difference is usually not spelling or formatting. It is how directly the CV proves relevance.
Many overseas CVs are written in a style that works perfectly well in another country but performs badly in the United Kingdom. Some are too formal. Some include personal information that is not needed. Some focus heavily on duties rather than outcomes. Some use job titles that do not translate clearly. Some include long career summaries that sound impressive but do not say much.
In the UK, recruiters tend to screen CVs quickly. That does not mean they are careless. It means they are looking for fast evidence of fit.
They are asking:
Can this person do the job described?
Is their experience similar enough to the UK role?
Are their skills current and relevant?
Is their level of seniority clear?
Do they understand the type of organisation they are applying to?
Achievements and responsibilities written in UK business language
Education and professional qualifications
Certifications, tools, languages, or technical skills where relevant
Right to work or visa information if it helps remove uncertainty
The point is not to make your CV look British for the sake of it. The point is to help a UK recruiter understand your value without needing a cultural translation exercise. Your CV should answer the quiet questions in their head before they become reasons to move on.
Are there any obvious practical blockers around location, visa, salary, or notice period?
Would a hiring manager understand this CV without explanation?
That last question is brutal but important. A recruiter may understand that your international experience is strong, but if they have to spend too much time explaining it to a hiring manager, your CV is already creating friction.
A good overseas applicant CV reduces that friction.
Recruiters notice patterns. Not because they are trying to be difficult, but because patterns help them screen quickly.
When I review CVs from overseas applicants, I immediately look for signs that the candidate understands the UK hiring context. I do not mean perfect British phrasing or pretending to be local. I mean practical clarity.
If your CV says you are based in another country but gives no relocation information, the recruiter has to guess. Guessing is not your friend.
Weak Example
Currently based in Dubai.
This is not wrong, but it leaves too much open. Are you relocating? Are you already in the UK sometimes? Do you need sponsorship? Are you applying remotely?
Good Example
Currently based in Dubai and relocating to Manchester in September 2026. Available for remote interviews and open to hybrid roles across Greater Manchester.
This gives the recruiter something useful. It removes uncertainty without turning your CV into a personal essay.
You do not always need to include visa details on your CV, but overseas applicants often benefit from clarity if it prevents confusion.
Good Example
Right to work in the UK: Skilled Worker visa sponsorship required.
Good Example
Right to work in the UK: British citizen relocating from Singapore.
Good Example
Right to work in the UK: Graduate visa valid until August 2027.
This is not about apologising for your situation. It is about helping the recruiter understand the practical route to hiring you.
Some international job titles do not map neatly onto UK roles. A title may be senior in one country and ambiguous in another. If your title could confuse a UK recruiter, add context.
Weak Example
Executive, Operations
In some markets, “executive” can mean junior, mid level, or senior. In the UK, it often sounds less senior unless clarified.
Good Example
Operations Executive, equivalent to UK Operations Coordinator level, supporting logistics, supplier management, and reporting across three regional sites.
This helps the recruiter place you correctly.
If your previous company is well known in your market but not in the UK, add one short line of context.
Good Example
ABC Foods Group, one of the largest FMCG distributors in the UAE, supplying retail and hospitality clients across the Gulf region.
This is useful. A recruiter may not know the employer, but they can understand the scale.
Do not overdo this. You are not writing a company brochure. One line is enough when it helps.
A UK CV should usually be clean, direct, and easy to scan. You do not need a photograph, date of birth, marital status, nationality, full address, passport number, or personal identification details. In most UK hiring processes, these details are unnecessary and can make the CV feel outdated or non local.
Use this structure.
Include:
Full name
Phone number with country code
Professional email address
LinkedIn profile if strong and updated
Current location
Target UK location or relocation plan if relevant
You do not need your full home address. City and country are enough.
Your profile should be short, specific, and relevant to the UK role. Avoid vague claims such as “hardworking professional with excellent communication skills”. That line has been doing absolutely no work on CVs for decades, yet somehow it survives.
A strong profile should answer:
What do you do?
What level are you operating at?
Which industries, tools, clients, or environments are relevant?
What makes you credible for this UK role?
Good Example
Finance Analyst with five years of experience across budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting within multinational retail and FMCG environments. Experienced in SAP, Power BI, and Excel based financial modelling, with a strong record of supporting commercial decision making across regional teams. Relocating to Birmingham in October 2026 and targeting finance analyst roles within UK based corporate finance teams.
This works because it is specific. It tells the recruiter what the person does, where their experience fits, and how they are positioning themselves.
Use a focused skills section, not a dumping ground. Overseas applicants often include too many soft skills because they are trying to appear flexible. The result is usually weaker, not stronger.
Better skills sections include role specific terms that match UK job descriptions.
For a project manager, that might include:
Stakeholder management
Project planning
Budget tracking
Risk management
Agile delivery
Vendor coordination
Change control
Reporting and governance
For a data analyst, that might include:
SQL
Power BI
Excel
Data cleaning
Dashboard development
KPI reporting
Commercial analysis
Python
The recruiter is not impressed by a long list. They are looking for match quality.
Use reverse chronological order. For each role, include:
Job title
Company name
Location
Dates
Short company context if useful
Bullet points focused on responsibilities, achievements, tools, scale, and outcomes
Write for the role you want, not just the job you had. That does not mean exaggerating. It means selecting the most relevant evidence.
For overseas qualifications, add a UK equivalent only if you know it accurately. Do not guess.
Good Example
Bachelor of Commerce, University of Delhi, India
Comparable to UK bachelor’s degree level according to UK ENIC assessment.
Only include this if you have actually checked or obtained the assessment. Recruiters dislike vague equivalency claims because they create more questions than answers.
Candidate Name: Aisha Rahman
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Target Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
Phone: +971 55 000 0000
Email: aisha.rahman@email.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aisharahman
Right to Work: Skilled Worker visa sponsorship required
Availability: Available for remote interviews. Open to relocation within eight weeks of offer.
Professional Profile
Finance Analyst with five years of experience across budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, variance analysis, and commercial finance support within retail and FMCG environments. Experienced in SAP, Power BI, advanced Excel, and monthly reporting cycles across multi entity businesses. Strong track record of improving reporting accuracy, supporting budget planning, and helping senior stakeholders understand financial performance. Targeting Finance Analyst and Commercial Finance Analyst roles within the UK market.
Key Skills
Financial analysis
Budgeting and forecasting
Variance analysis
Management reporting
SAP
Power BI
Advanced Excel
Financial modelling
Month end reporting
Stakeholder support
Retail and FMCG finance
Cost control
Professional Experience
Finance Analyst, Al Noor Retail Group, Dubai, UAE
March 2021 to Present
Al Noor Retail Group is a regional retail operator with more than 80 stores across the UAE and Gulf region.
Prepare monthly management reports covering revenue, margin, operating costs, stock performance, and store level profitability.
Support annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting across multiple retail divisions, working closely with operations, merchandising, and senior finance teams.
Built Power BI dashboards to improve visibility of sales trends, stock movement, and cost performance across regional stores.
Reduced manual reporting time by improving Excel templates and standardising data inputs from store managers and department leads.
Analyse budget versus actual performance and explain key variances to finance leadership with clear commentary and supporting data.
Partner with commercial teams to evaluate promotional performance, pricing impact, and category level profitability.
Support month end close activities, including accruals review, cost allocation checks, and reporting pack preparation.
Junior Finance Analyst, Gulf Consumer Brands, Dubai, UAE
January 2019 to February 2021
Gulf Consumer Brands is an FMCG distributor supplying supermarkets, pharmacies, and hospitality clients across the UAE.
Supported weekly and monthly sales reporting across major retail accounts and product categories.
Assisted with budget preparation, sales forecasts, and margin analysis for regional account managers.
Prepared Excel based reports to track customer performance, rebate agreements, and promotional spend.
Worked with finance and sales teams to investigate revenue discrepancies and improve reporting accuracy.
Helped automate recurring reports, reducing time spent on manual data consolidation.
Education
Bachelor of Commerce, University of Delhi, India
2015 to 2018
Certifications and Tools
SAP Financial Modules
Power BI
Advanced Microsoft Excel
Financial modelling
Google Sheets
Languages
English: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
Arabic: Conversational
Recruiter Note
This CV works because it does not simply say “finance professional”. It gives UK recruiters the evidence they need: reporting cycles, tools, stakeholder exposure, commercial analysis, and business scale. The right to work status is clear, which means the recruiter can decide whether sponsorship is possible instead of guessing.
Candidate Name: Daniel Okafor
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Target Location: London or Manchester, United Kingdom
Phone: +234 000 000 0000
Email: daniel.okafor@email.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danielokafor
GitHub: github.com/danielokafor
Right to Work: Skilled Worker visa sponsorship required
Availability: Available for remote interviews and willing to relocate within ten weeks of offer.
Professional Profile
Software Developer with four years of experience building web applications, APIs, and internal business platforms using JavaScript, React, Node.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, and AWS. Experienced in agile teams, code reviews, testing, deployment support, and working with product managers to turn business requirements into reliable technical solutions. Targeting UK software developer roles where strong full stack development, clean code, and practical problem solving are valued.
Technical Skills
JavaScript
TypeScript
React
Node.js
Express.js
PostgreSQL
REST APIs
AWS
Git
Docker
Jest
Agile delivery
CI and CD pipelines
HTML and CSS
Professional Experience
Software Developer, FinEdge Technologies, Lagos, Nigeria
June 2021 to Present
FinEdge Technologies develops payment and finance platforms for small businesses and regional financial service providers.
Build and maintain full stack features for customer onboarding, account dashboards, transaction reporting, and user management.
Developed reusable React components that improved front end consistency and reduced repeated development work across product modules.
Created Node.js APIs for transaction history, user permissions, and reporting workflows using PostgreSQL and Express.js.
Worked with product managers to clarify requirements, estimate development effort, and deliver features within sprint timelines.
Improved API response times by reviewing database queries, indexing frequently used fields, and reducing unnecessary data calls.
Write unit tests using Jest and contribute to peer code reviews to improve quality before deployment.
Support AWS based deployments and troubleshoot production issues with senior engineers.
Junior Web Developer, BrightSoft Solutions, Lagos, Nigeria
February 2020 to May 2021
BrightSoft Solutions is a software agency delivering web platforms for SMEs, education providers, and professional service firms.
Built responsive web pages and client dashboards using JavaScript, React, HTML, and CSS.
Integrated REST APIs and supported backend developers with testing, bug fixing, and data validation.
Updated legacy code and improved front end performance across multiple client websites.
Worked directly with project managers and designers to deliver client requirements within agreed timelines.
Education
BSc Computer Science, University of Lagos, Nigeria
2015 to 2019
Projects
Customer Insight Dashboard
Built a React and Node.js dashboard allowing business users to view customer activity, revenue trends, and account status.
Used PostgreSQL for data storage and created API endpoints for filtered reporting.
Payment Reconciliation Tool
Developed internal functionality to help finance users compare transaction records and identify mismatches.
Improved speed of reconciliation checks by reducing manual spreadsheet review.
Certifications
AWS Cloud Practitioner
JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures
Recruiter Note
This CV works because it uses UK relevant technical language without trying too hard. The project detail supports the work experience instead of replacing it. For overseas tech applicants, GitHub can help, but only if the core CV already explains commercial experience clearly.
Candidate Name: Priya Nair
Location: Kochi, India
Target Location: Leeds, United Kingdom
Phone: +91 00000 00000
Email: priya.nair@email.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/priyanair
Right to Work: Eligible to apply under Health and Care Worker visa route
Registration Status: Preparing for UK NMC registration requirements
Professional Profile
Registered Nurse with six years of experience in acute hospital settings, including medical wards, patient assessment, medication administration, care planning, infection control, and multidisciplinary team coordination. Experienced in supporting patients with complex care needs, maintaining accurate clinical records, and working calmly in high pressure environments. Seeking UK nursing opportunities within NHS or private healthcare settings, with a clear understanding of registration and compliance requirements.
Key Clinical Skills
Patient assessment
Medication administration
Care planning
Acute ward nursing
Infection prevention and control
Clinical documentation
Patient safety
Wound care support
Multidisciplinary teamwork
Family communication
Discharge coordination
Vital signs monitoring
Professional Experience
Staff Nurse, Lakeside Medical Centre, Kochi, India
August 2020 to Present
Lakeside Medical Centre is a multi specialty hospital providing acute, surgical, and outpatient care.
Provide nursing care to patients on a busy medical ward, including assessment, monitoring, medication administration, and care plan updates.
Work with doctors, senior nurses, physiotherapists, and patient families to support treatment plans and discharge preparation.
Maintain accurate patient records and escalate changes in condition to senior clinical staff.
Support infection control standards, including hand hygiene compliance, isolation procedures, and equipment cleanliness.
Assist with wound care, patient mobility, nutrition monitoring, and daily care routines.
Mentor junior nurses and support new starters with ward procedures, documentation standards, and patient care expectations.
Communicate clearly with patients and families, especially when explaining care routines, medication timings, and next steps.
Junior Staff Nurse, St Mary’s Hospital, Kochi, India
June 2018 to July 2020
Supported patient care across general medicine and post surgical recovery wards.
Monitored vital signs, maintained nursing notes, and assisted with medication rounds under senior supervision.
Helped prepare patients for procedures and supported post procedure observation.
Followed hospital protocols for infection control, patient confidentiality, and clinical escalation.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Kerala University of Health Sciences, India
2014 to 2018
Professional Registration
Registered Nurse, India
UK NMC registration process in progress
Training
Basic Life Support
Infection Prevention and Control
Patient Safety and Clinical Documentation
Languages
English: Fluent
Malayalam: Fluent
Hindi: Professional working proficiency
Recruiter Note
This CV works because it does not ignore UK registration reality. Healthcare hiring is compliance heavy. A strong overseas healthcare CV should make clinical experience clear, but it should also show that the candidate understands the UK registration pathway. Hiding that information only delays the conversation.
Candidate Name: Miguel Santos
Location: Madrid, Spain
Target Location: London, United Kingdom
Phone: +34 000 000 000
Email: miguel.santos@email.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/miguelsantos
Right to Work: Eligible to work in the UK through family visa route from September 2026
Availability: Available for interviews immediately. Relocating to London in September 2026.
Professional Profile
Business and Marketing graduate with internship experience across digital marketing, campaign reporting, market research, and customer analysis. Comfortable using Excel, Google Analytics, CRM systems, Canva, and social media scheduling tools. Seeking entry level marketing, marketing assistant, or commercial support roles in the UK where analytical thinking, communication, and practical campaign support are valued.
Key Skills
Digital marketing support
Campaign reporting
Market research
Social media scheduling
Google Analytics
Excel
CRM data entry
Customer analysis
Content coordination
Presentation preparation
Competitor research
Email marketing support
Experience
Marketing Intern, Nova Travel Group, Madrid, Spain
January 2026 to June 2026
Nova Travel Group is a travel services company supporting European leisure and corporate travel clients.
Supported the marketing team with social media scheduling, campaign tracking, content updates, and competitor research.
Prepared weekly campaign performance summaries covering engagement, web traffic, email open rates, and enquiry trends.
Used Google Analytics to help identify high performing landing pages and traffic sources.
Updated CRM records and segmented customer data for email marketing campaigns.
Assisted with market research into UK and European travel trends for seasonal campaign planning.
Created presentation slides for internal marketing meetings and campaign reviews.
Customer Service Assistant, Mercado Retail, Madrid, Spain
July 2024 to December 2025
Supported customers in a busy retail environment, handling product enquiries, returns, and service issues.
Developed strong communication and problem solving skills through daily customer interaction.
Helped update product displays and supported promotional activity during seasonal campaigns.
Trained two new part time team members on store procedures and customer service standards.
Education
BA Business and Marketing, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
2022 to 2026
Relevant modules included consumer behaviour, digital marketing, business analytics, brand management, and international business.
Projects
Digital Campaign Analysis Project
Analysed campaign performance data for a university marketing project using Excel and Google Analytics.
Produced recommendations to improve audience targeting, landing page messaging, and email engagement.
Tools
Microsoft Excel
Google Analytics
Canva
Mailchimp
HubSpot CRM
Google Workspace
Languages
Spanish: Native
English: Fluent
Portuguese: Conversational
Recruiter Note
This CV works because it does not pretend the candidate has senior experience. Graduate CVs fail when they either undersell everything or inflate basic tasks into nonsense. This example positions internship, customer service, tools, and projects honestly while still showing relevance to UK entry level marketing roles.
Overseas applicants should include the same core CV sections as UK based candidates, but with a few extra pieces of clarity.
Do not make the recruiter hunt for your location. If you are overseas, say so clearly.
Good Example
Based in Toronto and relocating to Edinburgh in November 2026.
Good Example
Currently based in Cape Town. Open to UK relocation for roles offering Skilled Worker sponsorship.
This is practical, not negative. The recruiter needs this information to understand whether the vacancy can realistically work.
This depends on your situation. If you already have the right to work in the UK, say it. If you need sponsorship, say it clearly. If your visa route is in progress, be factual.
Avoid vague lines like “visa can be arranged” unless you can explain exactly how. Recruiters have seen too many optimistic visa claims collapse later in the process.
Do not assume the recruiter understands your market, company, qualification, or industry structure. Add context where it helps.
For example:
Size of company
Type of clients
Revenue, region, or team size if appropriate
Tools used
Reporting lines
Regulated environment
Industry sector
Scale of responsibility
This helps UK recruiters compare your experience with local candidates.
Use UK English spelling where possible. Write “organisation”, “specialised”, “prioritised”, and “analysed”. This is a small detail, but small details create familiarity.
Use UK terminology naturally:
CV rather than resume
Hiring manager
Notice period
Right to work
Sponsorship
Fixed term contract
Permanent role
Hybrid working
Salary expectation
Do not force British phrases into every line. That starts to sound odd. Just make the document feel aligned with the market you are entering.
The most common mistakes are not always obvious. Many overseas applicants are trying to be professional, thorough, and respectful. The problem is that UK recruiters may read those choices differently.
Do not include:
Date of birth
Marital status
Religion
Passport number
National identity number
Full residential address
Photograph unless specifically required for a particular sector or country process
For UK applications, these details are usually unnecessary. They can also distract from the professional content.
A CV does not become stronger because it has more pages. It becomes stronger when the right evidence is easy to find.
For most overseas applicants, two pages is ideal. Senior candidates may need three pages if the content genuinely supports it. Academic, medical, research, or technical portfolios may be longer, but that is role dependent.
The issue is not page count alone. The issue is density. A two page CV full of vague responsibilities can feel longer than a sharp three page CV with strong evidence.
You may feel that your relocation reason matters. Sometimes it does. Usually, it matters less than you think.
A recruiter does not need a long paragraph about why you love the UK, why you are moving, or how passionate you are about starting a new chapter. They need to know whether you can do the job and whether the practical hiring route is realistic.
Keep relocation information clear and brief.
Many CVs from overseas applicants read like job descriptions. They list what the person was supposed to do, not what they actually delivered.
Weak Example
Responsible for preparing reports and supporting managers.
Good Example
Prepared weekly sales and margin reports for five regional managers, helping leadership identify underperforming product categories and adjust promotional activity.
The good version gives scale, audience, purpose, and business relevance.
Phrases such as “dynamic professional”, “strategic thinker”, and “results driven individual” do not prove seniority. They often do the opposite because they take up space without evidence.
UK recruiters are persuaded by specifics:
What did you manage?
What changed because of your work?
What tools did you use?
Who relied on your output?
What problems did you solve?
What scale did you operate at?
That is what gives your CV weight.
The challenge for overseas applicants is not just proving experience. It is proving transferability.
UK employers may quietly worry about whether your experience will convert into their environment. They may wonder whether your market knowledge, compliance exposure, communication style, stakeholder expectations, and systems experience are close enough.
Your CV should reduce that concern.
If you worked in multinational, regulated, fast growth, client facing, public sector, corporate, agency, manufacturing, healthcare, finance, or technology environments, say so.
Good Example
Worked within a regulated financial services environment supporting compliance reporting, internal audits, and senior stakeholder requests.
This tells a UK recruiter that the environment may be familiar, even if the country is different.
Scale helps recruiters understand level.
Use details such as:
Team size
Budget size
Number of customers
Number of sites
Regions supported
Volume of transactions
Project value
Reporting frequency
Seniority of stakeholders
You do not need to reveal confidential information. Use sensible, truthful indicators.
Tools can make international experience easier to understand. If you use SAP, Salesforce, Workday, Power BI, Excel, SQL, Jira, AWS, Azure, HubSpot, Oracle, Xero, Sage, or industry specific platforms, include them where relevant.
Tools do not replace experience, but they help recruiters map your background to UK job descriptions.
Do not inflate your title to sound more impressive. Instead, clarify your level through responsibilities and scope.
Good Example
Reported to the Head of Finance and supported monthly performance reporting for a business unit with 120 employees.
This is more useful than calling yourself a “senior strategic finance leader” when the evidence does not support it.
Small wording changes can make a big difference. The aim is not to sound fancy. The aim is to sound clear, credible, and aligned with UK hiring expectations.
Weak Example
Handled various administrative tasks for the company.
Good Example
Managed diary coordination, travel bookings, invoice processing, and document preparation for a team of eight senior managers.
Why it works: The good version explains the actual work, the stakeholders, and the scope.
Weak Example
Worked on sales and customer service.
Good Example
Supported B2B customers across order enquiries, quotation requests, account updates, and issue resolution, helping maintain service levels during peak trading periods.
Why it works: It gives context and commercial relevance.
Weak Example
Responsible for managing projects.
Good Example
Coordinated three software implementation projects, tracking timelines, risks, stakeholder actions, and weekly progress reports for senior leadership.
Why it works: It shows scale, project type, and actual project control.
Weak Example
Good communication skills and team player.
Good Example
Worked with finance, operations, and external suppliers to resolve invoice discrepancies and improve month end reporting accuracy.
Why it works: It proves communication through a real work scenario.
Weak Example
Seeking a challenging opportunity in the UK.
Good Example
Targeting UK based operations coordinator roles where supplier management, reporting, scheduling, and cross functional communication are central to the role.
Why it works: It tells the recruiter exactly where the candidate fits.
An applicant tracking system, often called an ATS, does not hire you. People hire you. But the ATS can affect whether your CV is found, filtered, parsed correctly, and reviewed easily.
For overseas applicants, ATS issues often happen because the CV uses unfamiliar formatting, tables, graphics, icons, unusual section headings, or country specific terminology that does not match UK job descriptions.
Keep your CV simple.
Use clear section headings:
Professional Profile
Key Skills
Professional Experience
Education
Certifications
Technical Skills
Languages
Avoid overly creative headings such as “My Journey”, “Career Story”, or “What I Bring”. Charming perhaps, but not helpful when the system and recruiter are looking for standard information.
Use keywords naturally from the job advert. If the UK job description asks for “stakeholder management”, “month end reporting”, “case management”, “Safeguarding”, “Power BI”, “B2B sales”, or “project coordination”, include those terms only if they genuinely apply to your experience.
Do not keyword stuff. Recruiters can spot a CV that has been artificially packed with terms. It looks desperate, and worse, it makes the real experience harder to trust.
Also avoid placing important information only in headers, footers, text boxes, graphics, or columns that may parse badly. A clean Word document is often safer than a heavily designed PDF, unless the employer specifically asks for PDF.
The best ATS friendly CV is boring in the right places and impressive in the content. That is not glamorous, but it works.
Before applying for UK jobs from overseas, check your CV against this list.
Is your target role clear within the first few lines?
Is your current location clear?
Is your UK relocation plan clear if relevant?
Is your right to work or sponsorship situation explained where useful?
Does your CV use UK English spelling and terminology?
Have you removed unnecessary personal details?
Are your job titles understandable to a UK recruiter?
Have you added short employer context where the company may be unknown in the UK?
Are your bullet points focused on evidence, scale, tools, outcomes, and responsibilities?
Have you avoided vague phrases that do not prove anything?
Does your CV match the level of roles you are applying for?
Is the format clean enough for both ATS systems and human screening?
Would a hiring manager understand your relevance without needing a recruiter to explain everything?
That final question is the one I would not ignore. A recruiter may like you, but the hiring manager still needs to understand why you fit. Your CV has to make that handover easy.
Written by Simar Malhi, a recruiter and headhunter with international recruitment experience. I write about CVs, job applications, hiring decisions, and the reality behind recruitment processes. My goal is to help candidates understand more honestly how employers, recruiters, and hiring managers actually select candidates.
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