The Best CV Templates For Your 2024 Job Search

If you don’t yet have your dream job, you’re going to need every tool at your disposal to attract an employer’s eye in 2024. Literally.

That’s why it’s increasingly popular for people to incorporate flashy designs in their CV. For those of us who aren’t graphic designers, that often means using a CV template. We’ll point you in the direction of some CV templates out there in a minute, but first, you might be wondering how necessary these are for a job search. Do hiring managers even look at CVs when they can find out everything about us on social media or in those lengthy online applications we’re always filling out?

“Employers are always going to look you up on LinkedIn, but you also need to have some kind of tangible document that you can send along to demonstrate your professional identity,” career coach Elana Konstant tells Refinery29.

Amanda Augustine, careers expert for TopCV, says having a strong CV template is vital. “If a CV’s content is king, then consider its design is queen,” she says. “How your information is presented on a CV is just as important as the information itself. Recruiters want to see a visually appealing, yet uncomplicated, CV that strikes the right balance between content and white space. If your CV is not easy to read, employers will simply move on to the next application.”

When you’re going up against potentially hundreds of people for a job, the layout of your CV could be the difference between being skipped over and getting an interview, Augustine warns. After all, studies have proved recruiters typically make a decision about a CV within 10 seconds.

“A good CV template is designed with both the hiring professional and its recruitment tools in mind,” she adds. “The document is first and foremost easily skimmable; it utilises a consistent layout with clearly marked headings and an uncomplicated design that allow the reader to quickly understand why you’re a good fit for a particular job. It also avoids certain design elements that might throw off an applicant tracking system (ATS), such as custom fonts or bullet points, graphics and right-hand columns or rails, among others."

As you browse through some of the templates, you might be tempted to choose the designs that are the most artistic or fit the most words on the page. Konstant warns that those aren’t necessarily the ones that will land you a job. Some managers in creative fields might welcome an unconventional design, while many others will prefer a more conservative approach.

“I’ve noticed on Etsy, and some other sites, they sell formats that are pretty to look at, but I sometimes find that it can be hard to extract the right information from them,” she says. “It’s a delicate balance between finding something that you think looks good, but that represents the right information. ... I definitely err on the side of fewer bells and whistles and really having the experience stand out.”

While many of these template sites include guidance on the content, not just the design, Konstant suggests seeking guidance offline. “Ask people who actually do the kind of work that you want to do to take a look at [your CV] and see what’s missing,” she says. “[That way] you can make sure that your CV really speaks to the kind of jobs that you're looking for.”

Before you run off and find your mentor, you can at least start by using the following template sites. One note: Beware of many sites offering free or low-cost templates. Some of them will automatically subscribe you to their services after 14 days, and charge you fees. If there’s no pricing info available on a site, that should be a red flag.

There are plenty of options here, and Augustine recommends using the London, Santiago, Singapore and Athens templates if you’re applying for a job in a country that discourages using a CV photo.

In both the UK and US this should be avoided as many recruiters won’t consider applications with a photo.

The easiest place to start is right here, and it’s free. There are five templates to choose from that include tiny bits of personality in the form of font changes, colour and lines.

This can give you a clean, neat and easy-to-read format to follow, that you can also adapt and develop further if you need.

If you have Office, there are pages and pages of free CV and cover letter templates available to download and use in Word. They range from the simplest to wildly colourful with photos. Choose wisely — you don’t want to use the same template as everyone else, nor do you want to present something wild to a very traditional employer.

At the very least, use this as a source of inspiration, then create your own format selecting the best of what you’ve browsed through.

There’s a variety of free Word doc templates to choose from here, but it comes with a catch: You have to share a link to the site on Facebook or Twitter in order to unlock the free download link. We know that can feel a bit cringy to do.

As an alternative, you can buy a premium pack, which includes a cover letter format and free email support.

Another site with plenty of Word templates for free, but this one comes with a land mines of ads for other CV sites scattered throughout the page — and they all look like the buttons you should click for your download until they take you to a different page.

The trick is to hunt for the blue “Download” buttons on the template of your choice, and then click on the hyperlinked word “free”.

Graphic designers use this site to showcase their work, and some up-and-comers are so eager to showcase their wares that they offer CV templates to download for free. This is a gold mine if employers in your field value creativity.

Canva is another option if you’re keen to be a bit more creative; both paid and free versions are available. Someone working in graphics or a creative role might enjoy the range of design options here more, as there’s plenty of space to put your own mark on your CV. Remember, it still needs to be clear and easy to read, so don’t go overboard.

Seb Morgan, an expert at CV Genius, says most of the templates here are free to download, and you don’t need to sign up to access them.

“Two of my personal favourites are Severn and Tyneside, two versatile templates that are both easy to personalise and appropriate for most industries,” he says.

This site offers two templates you can download for free in a ZIP file and then edit in Microsoft Word or Apple Pages.

You can also buy fancier templates for around £11 (each, with some packages costing more). For an additional fee, you can get an editor to look at your CV, too.

Support the entrepreneurial designers out there by buying a template directly from them.

There are plenty listed for around £8, give or take a few pounds. Most offer simple designs, so you might find it worth the investment.

This site offers free one-page CV templates, in styles ranging from “functional” to “creative”, that are perfect for people in the early stages of their career.

Premium subscribers (£19.99 for one month) can get longer CV templates, custom layouts, cover letter templates, extra fonts and colors, and options to add icons.

The best thing about this site is the way you can import info from your LinkedIn profile to begin building your CV. Of course, you should probably do a bit of editing after that: Konstant recommends you tailor descriptions of your experience and skills for each position to which you’re applying, making sure you include some keywords that are in the specific job listing.

There’s a free option for some of the templates, but they will include a Resumonk footer, which doesn’t look particularly professional. An annual fee will get you 17 templates in both PDF and doc formats, accompanying cover letter templates, plus a URL for your CV that allows you to track who’s looked at it. It costs £40 for a year’s access.

Though it’s based in Poland and caters to people all over the world, this CV-building site specifies which formats are recommended for jobs in your country. An online tool clearly guides users through each step of filling out the template, with tips from recruiters included in each section.

The starter pack includes four templates that you can save in PDF format and download unlimited times. The premium plan includes 18 templates, cover letters, and a URL that tracks views and downloads.