What recruiters actually scan for in your CV

A recruiter's first pass on your CV takes 90 seconds, sometimes less. They're not reading; they're scanning. The decision they're making is binary: forward to the hiring manager, or reject. Here's what they actually look for, in the order they look for it.

1. Most recent role, top of the page

Eyes land on the top right of the page (or top left in RTL layouts). The first job entry sets the frame. Recruiters check three things in 5 seconds:

• Is the job title senior enough for this opening?
• Is the company recognizable, or does it telegraph the kind of work the candidate has done?
• Is the date range "currently employed" or did it end recently?

Make sure the most recent role is visually the most prominent one. If your previous job at a famous company was the highlight of your career, don't bury it in chronological order — but don't put it on top either; that signals you're hiding the current role.

2. The summary line, if it exists

A two-line summary at the top is optional but high-leverage if you write a good one. Bad version: "Experienced software engineer with a passion for building great products." Reads like a chatbot. Good version: "Senior backend engineer, 7 years across fintech and observability. Most recent shipped: 60% latency reduction on a 200K-RPS API."

If you can't write a sharp summary, leave it out. The blank space is better than generic.

3. Three or four bullet points per role, with numbers

Recruiters skim bullets looking for the same three things in every role:

• A number (revenue, latency, headcount, percentage, anything quantifiable)
• A verb that signals scope (led, owned, designed — not "helped with" or "contributed to")
• A noun they recognize (a system name, a technology, a product surface)

Bullets without all three rarely register. "Implemented new features" is invisible. "Designed and shipped the new pricing API; cut billing-related support tickets by 40%" is what they're scanning for.

Three to four bullets is the sweet spot. More than five and the recruiter starts skipping mid-list. Save the longer detail for the interview.

4. Skills section, scanned for one word

For technical roles, the recruiter usually has a single keyword in mind from the JD ("does this person have Kafka", "do they know Terraform"). They'll scan your skills section for that word and bail out the moment they find it. Make the skills section easy to scan: short list, alphabetized or grouped by category, no progress bars or skill graphs.

If you have a relevant skill the JD requires, repeat it in the bullet point where you used it. Skills section + bullet match = high signal. Skills section alone = "claimed but not demonstrated".

What recruiters don't read

• Your "Hobbies & Interests" section. They'll glance at it for 2 seconds, sometimes use it for small talk on the call. It rarely affects the screen.
• Your education section, if you have 5+ years of experience. They check for the degree and move on.
• Your address. Most recruiters now skip it entirely. The exception: location-restricted roles where they need to verify you're in the right country.

How to write for the scan

Two practical edits:

1. Lead each bullet with the verb, not the context. "Cut deploy time from 18 minutes to 4" reads faster than "By introducing a new pipeline, the deploy time was cut from 18 minutes to 4."
2. Put numbers in the first half of the bullet. Recruiters' eyes catch digits. A bullet that buries the number at the end gets the digit caught after the recruiter has already moved on.

Write for the 90-second scan. The version that wins the interview is the version that survives the 90 seconds before it.