Making Your CV Stand Out in 2025

The modern job market is more crowded and competitive than ever before, so standing out from every other candidate is crucial. The best way you can do this is by crafting a compelling CV that includes all the relevant details about your professional history and key skills. But to make your own application distinctive, we recommend following our guide that runs through the best CV tips to follow for 2025.

As a specialised learning and development recruitment agency, we’re certainly in a good position to provide some CV writing tips since we study hundreds of applications each week. Specifically looking for eLearning jobs in the digital learning industry? You’ve arrived at the right place. Search our available jobs to seize your new career opportunity – we’ve helped pair eLearning experts with such organisations as King’s College London and The English Institute of Sport.

Once you’ve implemented the tips from this guide to your own CV, you can even submit your CV to us, and we’ll be in touch!

Why a distinctive CV presentation matters

When applying for a job, you’re throwing yourself into a ring of hundreds (potentially thousands) of other candidates, so you want to do all you can to stand out when hiring teams start reviewing CVs. Then, there’s the reality that many recruiters spend just 6-8 seconds reviewing a CV, giving you a very short window of opportunity to explain why you’re suitable and how you can excel in the role.

In the contemporary job market, things are always changing, too, so just because your polished CV from three years ago was great before, it doesn’t mean it will be effective now. Most hiring teams and recruiters now like to see leaner CVs that highlight digital skills with comprehensive portfolios and an accompanying LinkedIn profile that ties everything together, with personal branding playing an increasingly important role.

What are employers looking for in 2025?

The skills that employers favour change year-on-year depending on market trends and technological innovations. Just last year, Forbes reported that 71% of employers prefer AI skills above experience, with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence becoming a key area of growth for companies across the globe. The interest in AI has only increased in 2025, with key skills in this area being one of the most desirable qualities in job applicants.

Elsewhere, it is key soft skills that demonstrate a candidate’s confidence and proactivity that prove to be the most desirable for employers in 2025. These skills include public speaking, innovative and creative thinking, adaptability and conflict management, with each of these abilities contributing to a hardworking individual at the forefront of their respective fields.

The essential elements you need to include in your CV

The foundations of a CV start with the basics. But, without including these essential basics, the rest of your CV won’t be worth reading. So, while it might be tempting to jump straight to explaining why you’re the very best candidate, start by making sure that you have included these essential elements:

• Contact details: Including email address, phone number and LinkedIn profile. Short personal statement: A headline of 2-3 lines explaining your experience and key skills.

• List of key skills: A short bullet-pointed list of key skills and abilities, tailored to the job role.

• Professional experience: Include your job titles, employer names and dates of employment for roles from the past 15 years
• Education and qualifications: Including degrees and other qualifications alongside the name of the institution and the date you received them.

How to make your CV stand out in 2025

2025 is already markedly different from 2024, with new technologies changing how we communicate, express ourselves and learn new skills. Your CV should, therefore, be on the cutting edge of such changes, incorporating changes in the field of recruitment and beyond, which will help you stand out. Explore our best CV writing tips for 2025 below:

Digital Portfolios

While this will be industry-specific, with some employers not requiring this, having a hyperlink to a digital portfolio is becoming increasingly more important. Whether it’s a personal branding site, a fleshed-out portfolio or even just a LinkedIn profile, having a strong digital presence is critical for demonstrating your passion and professionalism, with a hyperlink to your digital profile on your CV helping you to stand out.

Optimise it for ATS

For the uninitiated, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application used by recruitment teams to lessen the workload of the hiring process. These applications scan CVs for the relevant skills, looking out for specific keywords and phrases that indicate an individual has the necessary skills. Help yourself get noticed by optimising your CV for ATSs, this includes streamlining and simplifying your document, making sure it has no images, tables or complex designs, as well as tailoring each CV specifically to the relevant job, including key phrases and mandatory skill requirements.

Want to find out more about ATS and how it works? Watch the video below to learn more.

Underline your digital proficiency

Many modern jobs exist almost exclusively online, making your digital proficiency of the utmost importance to your employer. This is especially true if your new role will be remote or hybrid, with a knowledge of online tools like Slack and Trello giving you an advantage over other applicants. Other more specific skills like data analysis and even coding capabilities (no matter how basic) show a willingness to engage with cutting-edge techniques and technologies.

Don’t forget soft skills

Any competent list of tips for a good CV, even in 2025, should include a reminder about the importance of soft skills. After all, as well as technical professionals, companies want to employ people with interpersonal proficiency and who can work competently as part of a wider team. Make sure to express your teamwork skills, adaptability and emotional empathy, to name just three examples.

Tailor each CV you create

While it can be tempting to create one CV and send it to every employer you’re interested in joining, doing this will make you a generic candidate for each job you take the time to apply for. Instead, tailor each of your CVs to the specifics of the role you’re applying for, using keywords and phrases from the job description to make yourself as aligned as possible with the company values and goals.

CV dos and don’ts for 2025

CVs have changed considerably from the days of old, with many previously mandatory inclusions now being outdated. When searching for tips on how to write a good CV, it’s important to make sure you’re reading a guide like this rather than an outdated source that may tell you to include features that could waste valuable writing space. When constructing your CV in 2025, make sure to follow these guidelines:

Do

• Include a hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile.
• Restrict your CV to 1-2 pages.
• Include a short personal statement.
• Tailor your CV and include relevant keywords.
• Include career gaps – but explain what you personally achieved throughout this period.

Don’t

• Include a photo (unless it’s specifically requested).
• Include your entire job history.
• Resort to cliché phrases.
• Lie or exaggerate.
• Use complicated layouts and imagery.

Should you use AI to write your CV?

The short answer is no, using AI to fully construct a CV on your behalf isn’t a good idea. While generative AI tools like ChatGPT have the capability to tailor-make a CV for you, they will lack the context to create something compelling and persuasive, likely creating generic content that could be created for any user. This would ultimately create a CV that doesn’t reflect your personality, tone of voice and career experience.

With this being said, AI tools can be useful when used as a personal assistant to guide you through the writing process. For example, an AI tool could provide you with a basic structure that your CV could follow, proofread your work, suggest areas of improvement and make sure any spelling and grammatical errors are eradicated. The L&D skillset will evolve in the age of AI, however, so it’s certainly not a bad idea to be in tune with how these platforms operate.

How to make your LinkedIn account stand out in 2025

In the modern world, a strong LinkedIn account is almost just as important as a fully optimised CV, after all, this social media profile is visible to every recruiter at all times. Your LinkedIn profile should, therefore, be constantly updated, not only with new job roles, but also with new achievements, updates and personal goals. With the job market being as competitive as it currently is, an active LinkedIn profile that’s simmering with enthusiasm and confidence could just give you the edge.

Indeed, the process of actually making your LinkedIn profile optimised for hiring isn’t all that different from building a competent CV. Here are some of the best ways to stand out.

Headline

Just like your CV, a great LinkedIn profile should start with a clear, concise headline just beneath the profile picture. This headline should explain what you do and the skills you possess in this role, conveying your expertise to potential new employers. You only have 220 characters to sell yourself, but try to use relevant keywords to your industry as you highlight your unique skills that make you different from the competition.

Profile picture

First impressions count, therefore, choosing a high-quality, appropriate profile picture for LinkedIn is enormously important. An unprofessional picture that doesn’t align with the values of your industry is unlikely to attract the right attention. Tailor your picture to the industry you’re operating in – you could opt for a professional headshot for a commercial business, while creative and design sectors could play with a more dynamic image.

Streamline your experience

Your career history should be instantly clear to whoever is browsing through your LinkedIn profile. This can be achieved by optimising the experience section of your profile, using bullet points to highlight your achievements in each role, rather than creating an exhaustive list of your responsibilities. Use specific, quantifiable achievements that clearly demonstrate your value to new employers.

Request recommendations

Are you a seriously experienced eLearning expert looking for specialist LMS jobs? Why not reach out to past colleagues for a recommendation that provides proof of your claimed expertise? These profile testimonials give you some serious credibility and demonstrate that you work well with others and leave a lasting impression. Try to keep these recommendations diverse, requesting feedback from a whole range of different people from various roles.

Engage with the platform

It’s all well and good connecting with hundreds of people, but that should be merely the beginning. Like, comment and forge online relationships with your new connections by sharing insightful thoughts about your industry or by posting news or blog articles. By demonstrating that you’re engaged with your industry, you will be seen as informed, enthusiastic and approachable to potential employers.

In the contemporary job marketplace, it’s important not just to follow the aforementioned CV tips but also to curate a professional online presence, demonstrating your suitability for new roles. As a specialist digital learning recruitment agency, we certainly know what it takes to build a compelling job application. Offering a free online CV template, we’re passionate about helping applicants secure their dream job, no matter what sector of the digital landscape they might be in.

Sourcing eLearning roles from the technology sector while helping to recruit for the NHS and bolster the digital learning platforms of many other industries, at Instinct Resourcing, we’re dedicated to helping you thrive.

Looking for a role in the eLearning industry? Submit your CV or contact us today to take your first step towards your new career.