How to stand out in a sea of talent

Standing out in today’s job market is tougher than ever. With economic uncertainty, role consolidation, and a flood of applicants for each position, even the most seasoned professionals can find themselves lost in the shuffle. Thanks to job boards and LinkedIn jobs, passive talent is abundant. And there’s an oversupply in some roles – interim project managers, for example – which makes getting noticed by hiring teams a real challenge.

So how do you make sure your CV works for you, not against you?

We asked Adam Evans, Managing Director at Levick Stanley, what makes a CV stand out, and how to avoid the most common mistakes. His insights, combined with the 5Cs framework, offer a simple guide to cutting through the noise.

First, how are CVs actually used?

Every hiring process is different. Some companies use a manual sift, where someone in HR reads every CV and scores it against a checklist. Others use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that automatically scan CVs for relevant keywords before a human ever sees them.

That’s why it’s so important to get the fundamentals right: clear formatting, the right keywords, and evidence of results. Which brings us to the 5Cs.

The 5Cs of a Strong CV

1. Clarity
Make it easy to read and navigate. Keep formatting simple – no graphs, pie charts, or overly designed templates. “I see a lot of CVs that are full of graphics, columns, and charts,” says Adam. “They might look clever, but they’re hard to read, and even harder to reformat when sending to clients. The simpler, the better.”

2. Credibility
Use data to back up your achievements. Think: “Delivered a 15% cost saving across a global logistics programme” rather than vague claims. “In the world of change, transformation and interim practitioners, you want to see what these guys have done and achieved,” Adam explains.

3. Consistency
Stick to a clean, reverse chronological structure: job title, organisation, dates, then a few bullet points outlining your key responsibilities and achievements. If you’ve had lots of short-term contracts, make sure it’s easy to follow your career progression.

4. Customisation
Tailor your CV to the role. Hiring managers don’t have time to do the work for you. One skim and it’s in or out. “I met a hiring manager last week who was sent 50 CVs by his Talent Acquisition Coordinator for a change lead role,” says Adam. “He spent 15 seconds on each one. So your CV needs to make an immediate impact.”

In a recent poll on our LinkedIn page, 47% of respondents said tailoring their CV for each role was the hardest part of the process – by far the most common challenge.

Other challenges included ‘selling myself confidently’ (27%), ‘knowing what to include’ (19%) and ‘formatting it well’ (6%).

So if you are struggling to tailor your CV, you are definitely not alone.

5. Conciseness
Two pages is a good rule of thumb. “Unless you’ve had a 25-year independent consultancy career, you don’t need five pages,” Adam says. “Be selective. Roles older than 10 years can just be listed with company name and job title.”

What to Include

Professional Summary: This is your headline. “I liken it to the blurb on the back of a book,” Adam says. “If it excites you, you will buy the book and keep reading.”
Work History: Roles, responsibilities and achievements. Use active language and avoid personal pronouns.
Skills: Highlight both technical and soft skills.
Technology: If relevant, list the tools and platforms used under each role. It makes scanning, whether by a human or machine, much easier.
Education & Certifications: Include what’s relevant and recent.

Do’s

✅ Write a strong, punchy personal statement at the top
✅ Quantify your achievements with data
✅ Include a short description of lesser-known employers
✅ Keep formatting clean and simple
✅ Tailor your summary and use keywords from the job spec
✅ Get someone else to proofread it

Don’ts

❌ Don’t cram everything into one page with tiny font
❌ Don’t include irrelevant or outdated information
❌ Don’t write in the first or third person
❌ Don’t overshare (no need for age, family details or photos)
❌ Don’t forget hobbies – they can be a great talking point
❌ Don’t ignore gaps – just explain them briefly and honestly

It’s easy to feel like “just another candidate” in a market this crowded. But by taking time to write a clear, compelling CV that tells your story and reflects your impact, you make it easy for hiring managers to say yes.

As Adam puts it:

“Big impact on summary, big impact on profile, and then chronological order of what you did to achieve success in those different roles… and what you can bring to the next organisation if they’re lucky enough to hire you.”