Your Experience Deserves an Interview. Is Your CV Doing It Justice?

You send your CV. You check your email. A few days pass, and you check again.

When there is no reply, it can be difficult not to take it personally. You start wondering whether your experience is enough, whether moving abroad is realistic, or whether you should apply for something completely different.

Before you lose confidence, I would encourage you to look at something you can improve: how clearly your CV represents you.

A CV cannot capture everything about a person. It cannot fully show the care you bring to a guest, the way you support a colleague during a difficult shift, or the confidence you have built through years of work. But it can give an employer enough information to want a conversation.

That is what I want to help you achieve.

Give your application a clear direction

Before changing the layout or choosing a new template, decide which role you are applying for.

If your CV says you are open to reception, restaurant service, administration, sales and management, the person reading it has to work out where you might fit. You can make that decision easier by giving each application a clear focus.

You may have experience across several departments. That is valuable. Choose the parts most relevant to the position and give them the space they deserve.

For a front office application, that might mean explaining your experience with arrivals, reservations, guest requests and coordination with housekeeping. For a restaurant role, it might mean table service, menu knowledge, opening duties and communication with the kitchen.

Keep your job history accurate. Adjust the emphasis to reflect the opportunity.

Make the opening lines useful

I would use the beginning of your CV to answer three questions: what work have you done, what can you contribute, and what are you looking for next?

You do not need a long introduction. A few specific sentences are enough.

Here is an illustrative example for someone whose experience supports it:

“Restaurant service professional with experience in à la carte dining and hotel breakfast operations. Comfortable managing a section, explaining menu items and coordinating with kitchen colleagues during busy service. Looking for a waiter position with opportunities to develop within a hospitality team.”

That introduction gives the reader something concrete to understand.

Take care with phrases such as “passionate professional”, “excellent communicator” or “hardworking team player”. They can describe you, but they need context. Think about where those qualities show up in your work and explain that.

Help someone picture you doing the job

A job title is only the beginning of your experience.

Two people with the same title may have worked in very different environments. One waiter may have supported a small neighbourhood restaurant; another may have worked across breakfast, banqueting and evening service in a hotel.

Give the reader that context.

For each recent position, include the employer, location, dates and a few clear points about your work. Describe the type of operation and the responsibilities you actually held.

For example, if accurate, you might write:

“Prepared the dining room before service, managed an assigned section and communicated guest requests to the kitchen.”

Or:

“Supported new colleagues with table setup, menu familiarisation and the restaurant’s service sequence.”

These are useful details. They help an employer understand what you could bring to their team.

You do not need to make every sentence sound extraordinary. You need to make it informative.

Recognise your contribution without inventing results

It can be surprisingly difficult to write about what you have done well, especially when you consider it part of your everyday job.

Perhaps you were trusted to train new colleagues. Perhaps you took responsibility for closing duties, helped organise a stock area or supported a supervisor when the team was short.

Those contributions deserve a place on your CV when they are relevant.

If you have reliable figures that explain your responsibilities or results, include them. Make sure you understand where they came from and can discuss them in an interview.

If you do not have figures, use a specific example instead. You do not need an impressive percentage to make honest experience valuable.

I would much rather read a clear description you can explain confidently than a claim you feel uncomfortable defending.

Make your international experience understandable

When applying abroad, remember that the reader may not recognise your previous employer, a local qualification or the terminology used in your country.

A brief explanation can help.

Alongside an unfamiliar venue name, you could describe it as an independent restaurant, a resort property or a hotel conference operation, if that is accurate. This gives useful context without expecting the employer to research every place you have worked.

Check translated job titles carefully. Choose wording that reflects your actual level of responsibility. If the closest English title could be misleading, retain the original title and add a short explanation.

For qualifications, use an official English title where one exists. Avoid claiming that a qualification is equivalent to another award unless that equivalence has been established.

The aim is to help someone understand your background across languages and countries.

Make it easy to contact you

This is one of the simplest checks, and it is worth doing carefully.

Use an email address you are comfortable putting on a professional application. Check that your telephone number is correct and includes the country code when applying internationally.

Then check the practical details: can you receive calls, does your inbox have space, and are you looking in your spam folder while waiting for replies?

Use a clear filename, such as “FirstName_LastName_CV.pdf”, and follow the application instructions if another format is requested.

Open the attachment before sending it. Check that it is the version you intended to submit and that it displays properly on your phone as well as your computer.

An application can be carefully written and still be let down by the wrong attachment.

Let the layout support the information

You do not need to be a designer to prepare a good CV.

I would start with a readable font, consistent spacing and clear section titles. Keep your recent, relevant experience easy to find. Avoid squeezing so much onto a page that the reader has to enlarge it to follow the text.

Read the document from beginning to end. Are the dates presented consistently? Do any sentences repeat the same information? Is there a large section that adds very little to the role you want?

Be thoughtful about photographs, too. Follow the employer’s application instructions. If you choose to include a photograph, use a current, clear image with a simple background.

Your experience, professional skills and suitability for the work should remain the focus.

Write a short message that gives your CV context

When an application allows a message, use it to explain why you are getting in touch.

You do not need to repeat your entire CV. Mention the role, one relevant part of your background and your interest in discussing the opportunity.

For example:

“Dear Hiring Team,

I am applying for the Front Office Agent position. My experience includes handling guest arrivals, responding to reservation enquiries and coordinating requests with other hotel departments.

I have attached my CV for your consideration and would welcome the opportunity to discuss how my experience relates to the role.

Kind regards,

[Name]”

Adapt the message to your own experience. Read it aloud before sending it. It should sound like something you could comfortably say in a conversation.

Prepare to talk about what you have written

Once your CV is ready, use it to prepare for the interview.

Choose a few examples that explain how you work. Think about a guest request you handled, a busy service you helped organise, feedback you acted on, or a task you had to learn.

Write down what happened, what you did and what you learned. You do not need to memorise a speech. You need to remember the details well enough to explain them naturally.

If an interview will be in English, practise describing your recent role in English. Use words you understand. It is better to speak clearly in straightforward language than to rely on impressive phrases that do not feel like yours.

That preparation can also help you spot anything in your CV that needs to be clearer.

Before sending another application

Give yourself a few minutes to check:

• Is the role I want clear?
• Have I made my relevant experience easy to find?
• Can I explain every claim and figure?
• Are my dates and contact details correct?
• Have I followed the application instructions?
• Does the document sound like me?

These checks will not explain every unanswered application. Hiring decisions also depend on the role, the employer’s requirements, timing and other factors you cannot see.

Please do not treat silence as a complete judgement of your ability.

My advice is to put your effort into the things you can control: a clear application, honest information, thoughtful preparation and a professional approach.

You have put time and effort into learning your work. Give yourself the same care when presenting it.

Lissandra

Kairos Merit

Candidates never pay Kairos Merit.