The Best File Names for your CV

The file name you use for your CV is another opportunity for you to promote your personal brand, and to help your name stick with recruiters. Naming your CV ‘CV.doc’ or ‘Resume2021.pdf’ isn’t at all inspiring and won’t help your application stand out. These file names are meaningless, and it’s likely that there will be duplicates of these in the recruiter’s CV pile. If you want to make your application easy to find, you don’t want to be putting any obstacles in the recruiter’s way. 

Instead, always include your name, e.g. ‘John_Smith_CV.pdf’ and use underscores or hyphens to make it easier to read. Don’t include irrelevant words like ‘final’ or ‘2020’ as these won’t add anything to your application. You could include the title of the role you’re applying for, e.g. ‘John_Smith_CV_Clinical_Research_Associate’ as this will help recruiters organise their applications if they’re managing multiple roles at once. 

Remember when it comes to your job applications, every part counts towards building a positive personal brand, and thinking about the file names you’re using is part of this, and really won’t take up much effort.