We read over a hundred tech CVs every week at PiM IT. After years of this, the patterns that separate a CV that gets a response from one that gets archived are remarkably consistent. Most CVs make the same handful of mistakes — and fixing them is simpler than candidates think.
The biggest issue is a lack of specificity. We see bullets like 'responsible for backend development' or 'worked on cloud infrastructure' constantly. These tell us nothing useful. What we want to know is: what did you build, what problem did it solve, what was the scale, and what was your specific contribution? 'Refactored authentication service from monolith to microservice, reducing p99 latency from 800ms to 60ms for 2M daily users' is something we remember. 'Improved backend performance' is not.
The second issue is stack inflation. Listing every technology you have touched in a decade does not make you look experienced — it makes us sceptical. If you list Kubernetes but have only followed a tutorial, and we ask you about pod scheduling in a call, that is an awkward conversation. Be honest about depth. Mark things you have used in production differently from things you have experimented with. A short, accurate stack is more trustworthy than a long aspirational one.
Format matters more than most candidates assume. We strongly prefer a clean two-page PDF with a clear hierarchy: name and one-line headline at the top, work experience with dates and company names, then education and certifications. Avoid photos in most European markets (they are irrelevant and sometimes create bias). Avoid colours and graphics that make the CV harder to scan — recruiters spend an average of seven seconds on first review.
Start with a one-line headline. Not 'experienced software engineer' — something specific like 'Senior backend engineer specialising in distributed systems and Go | 8 years | fintech and logistics'. This immediately tells us whether you are worth reading further.
Finally: tailor your CV for the role. Not a complete rewrite, but a small adjustment of your headline and the first bullet of each job to match the language and priorities of the job description. It takes ten minutes and meaningfully improves your response rate. At PiM IT we help candidates do exactly this before we send their profile forward — because a well-positioned candidate gets more calls, better offers and shorter processes.