posted 8th April 2026
Your CV is often your first impression with potential employers, yet many talented IT professionals undermine their chances with easily avoidable mistakes.
At TSR Select, we review hundreds of CVs monthly for roles across Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, and Managed Service Providers. We've identified patterns in what works and what doesn't.
Whether you're actively job hunting or keeping your CV current, now is an excellent time to critically review and refresh your application materials. These common mistakes and how to fix them can significantly improve how effectively your CV represents your capabilities.
10 Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them:
1. The Generic, One-Size-Fits-All CV
The single most common mistake is sending identical CVs for every application. While tailoring each submission takes effort, generic CVs consistently underperform because they fail to demonstrate why you specifically fit a particular role.
This doesn't mean completely rewriting your CV for each application. Instead:
- Adjust your professional summary to reflect the specific role
- Reorder your skills section to prioritise relevant technologies
- Emphasise projects or achievements most relevant to the position
- When applying for IT support jobs, highlight troubleshooting and customer service
- For IT sales jobs, emphasise client needs understanding and technical value communication
The goal is demonstrating you've understood what the role requires and showing how your experience aligns, rather than forcing them to reason fit from a generic document.
2. Leading With Responsibilities Instead of Achievements
Many tech CVs read like job descriptions – listing what the role entailed rather than what you accomplished. Hiring managers want to understand your impact, not just your duties.
Transform responsibility statements into achievement statements by adding outcomes. Instead of "Provided technical support," try "Resolved 95% of technical issues on first contact, maintaining satisfaction scores above 4.5/5." Rather than "Managed client accounts," write "Grew assigned accounts by 35% year-over-year through identifying expansion opportunities."
Quantify achievements when possible. If you can't quantify, describe significance – the complexity of the challenge, strategic importance, or skills demonstrated.
3. Technical Skills Presented as Simple Lists
Tech CVs commonly include skills sections that are keyword dumps – endless lists with no context about proficiency levels.
Organise technical skills more meaningfully. Group related technologies logically. Distinguish between deep expertise versus basic familiarity – hiring managers need to understand where your strengths lie.
Better still, demonstrate technical skills through achievement descriptions rather than relying solely on a skills section. When you describe migrating infrastructure to Azure or implementing security controls, you're proving capability while showing how you've applied it.
4. Outdated or Irrelevant Information
CVs often accumulate historical information that no longer serves any purpose. Your CV should tell the story of your professional development; not be a comprehensive record of every job you've held.
What to trim:
- Retail jobs from 15 years ago when applying for senior technical roles
- Detailed descriptions of every task from your first help desk position (if you have a decade of experience)
- Very old certifications that have been superseded by newer versions
- Technologies that are no longer industry-relevant
Focus detail where it matters – typically your most recent roles and any earlier positions particularly relevant to roles you're targeting. For earlier career positions, particularly those outside tech, brief mentions confirming employment history suffice.
5. Poor Formatting and Readability
Even excellent content can be overlooked if your CV is difficult to read. Common issues include inconsistent styling, walls of text, poor white space use, tiny fonts, or excessive colours and graphics.
Your CV needs to be easily scannable. Hiring managers often spend seconds on initial review. Use clear headers, consistent formatting, appropriate white space, and logical organisation.
Keep formatting professional and clean. Elaborate designs often just make your CV harder to read and can cause issues with applicant tracking systems.
6. Lack of Clear Career Narrative
Reading through your CV, can someone understand your career trajectory? Or does it feel like a random collection of jobs?
Your CV should tell a coherent story about your professional development. This doesn't mean you need a perfectly linear path – many successful tech careers involve pivots – but there should be logic to how you've moved between roles.
Your professional summary at the top should orient readers to this narrative. What's your current focus? What are your core strengths? This overview helps frame everything that follows.
7. Neglecting the Professional Summary
The professional summary at the top of your CV – often just two or three sentences – is prime real estate that many people waste with generic statements or simply skip entirely.
Use this space strategically to immediately communicate:
- Your current focus or specialisation
- Years of experience in relevant areas
- The type of opportunities you're targeting
Example for technical roles: "Cloud Infrastructure Engineer with 6 years of experience designing and implementing secure, scalable Azure environments for enterprise clients. Expertise in automation, Infrastructure as Code, and cloud migration. Seeking senior engineering roles in fast-paced technology organisations."
Example for IT sales jobs: "Technology sales professional with 4 years of experience selling cloud and cyber security solutions to mid-market organisations. Consistent record of exceeding quota through consultative approach and strong technical fluency. Seeking account management opportunities in SaaS or managed services."
These summaries immediately convey relevant information and help frame everything that follows.
8. Ignoring Gaps or Job Changes
Employment gaps or frequent job changes create questions in hiring managers' minds. Failing to address them allows speculation, whereas brief, honest explanations provide context.
For gaps: Simple honesty works well:
- "Career break for family responsibilities"
- "Consulting work during career transition"
For multiple short-term positions: If there's explanation beyond job hopping, brief notes help:
- Contract roles that were always time-limited
- Company closures or redundancies
- Upskilling in different specialisations
The goal isn't justifying every decision but removing obvious questions that might otherwise work against you.
9. Spelling, Grammar, and Attention to Detail
Nothing undermines credibility faster than basic errors. Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, inconsistent formatting, or wrong company names signal lack of attention to detail that hiring managers reasonably assume will carry into your work.
Proofread multiple times, ideally with time between reviews so you see with fresh eyes. Ask someone else to review as well – it's difficult to catch your own errors. Use spell-check, but don't rely on it exclusively since it won't catch correctly spelled wrong words.
Pay particular attention to company names, technical terminology, and dates. Getting these wrong suggests carelessness that reflects poorly on your professionalism.
10. Not Optimising for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
Many organisations use applicant tracking systems that parse and rank CVs before human review. CVs that aren't ATS-friendly may never reach human eyes.
To optimise for ATS: use standard section headings, avoid complex formatting like tables, include relevant keywords naturally, use standard fonts, and save as .docx or PDF depending on requirements.
This doesn't mean keyword-stuffing. The goal is ensuring systems can parse your CV accurately while maintaining readability.
Conclusion
Spring cleaning your CV isn't just about correcting mistakes – it's ensuring your application materials effectively represent your capabilities and growth. As you progress, your CV should evolve to reflect your increasing experience and expertise.
Set a recurring reminder to review and update your CV quarterly, even when not actively job hunting. Add recent achievements while they're fresh, remove outdated information, and ensure it reflects your current skills and goals. This regular maintenance means your CV is always ready when opportunities arise.
At TSR Select, we work with experienced IT professionals in Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, and Managed Services.
If you have updated your CV and are ready to start applying for IT sales or technical roles, please get in touch by applying directly to one of our roles, uploading your CV, emailing contact@tsrltd.co.uk, or calling 020 3837 9180.
