How to write a Journalism CV

The conventions below are the ones this field actually uses. They are what the builder applies when you pick Journalism / Media, and what the rating checks a finished CV against.

What it must contain

Leave any of these out and the CV reads as incomplete to someone who hires in this field:

Work experience — Beat, output rate, and what the reporting produced - a correction, a policy change, a scoop.

The order to put them in

Order is not cosmetic. What sits at the top is what gets read before someone decides whether to keep reading.

Professional summary
Work experience
Selected Bylines
Skills
Education
Achievements
Languages
Certifications

Section by section

Selected Bylines — Link the pieces. Editors read the work, not the description of the work.

What to put numbers on

The single most common reason a CV in this field reads as weak is that nothing in it is measured. These are the figures that mean something here:

stories per week · readership · time on page · exclusives

Verbs that carry weight

Openers like “responsible for” and “worked on” describe a job description rather than a person. In this field these do the work instead:

Reported · Investigated · Broke · Edited · Filed · Produced

What gets one rejected

A portfolio or clips link is expected for editorial roles.

Length

1 to 2 pages is normal for this field.

Build a Journalism CV See a worked example

Free, no account, and nothing is uploaded — the builder runs in your browser and the CV never leaves it.

Related fields

Content · Design · Film