Personal details you should include on your CV

There are sections of your CV which are considered the most important and most influential, however, any section can ruin a great chance of being hired if done incorrectly.

Standard sections, such as personal details, are always a compulsory part of a CV. However, writing these sections still requires careful thought and accuracy.

It only takes one small oversight, like a typo on your email address or a missing phone number, for your CV to end up ignored. These costly mistakes can easily be avoided by using CV Whizz and its built-in checks and clear formatting templates.

With that said, you’ve come to the right place if you’re asking yourself questions such as:

• What personal details should be on my CV?
• Where should I put personal information on a CV?
• How do I format my personal information?
• Common mistakes with personal details

Read about what to include in your personal information on a CV and how to list the necessary information.

What personal details should be on my CV?

When adding personal information to your CV, we recommend sticking to the basics. When you fill out most forms, you typically need to fill out the same details; the same should be done on your CV.

Consider adding the following pieces of personal information on your CV:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Address (if necessary)

Optional personal info you can add

In addition to your personal details, you can also think about including:

• LinkedIn URL: Having LinkedIn on a CV offers hiring managers a more rounded view of your career.
• Website or Blog: If you work in creative, tech, or digital industries, linking to a personal website or blog is a great way to showcase your portfolio, past projects, or thought leadership.
• Driving licence: Jobs that involve travel, company vehicles, or require a full driving licence will appreciate knowing right off the bat that you have a driving licence.

By adding these optional CV details, you’ll make the hiring manager’s job easier by giving them more insight into your professional interests and work experience.

Where should I put personal information on my CV?

Your personal information should be easy for a hiring manager to find. So, it’s best to position it in the CV header.

By placing your personal information at the top of your CV, you can ensure that recruiters or hiring managers won’t struggle with reaching out to you if they’re interested in your application.

How to format your personal details

Formatting personal info on a CV in an orderly, organised, and presentable manner will give you the thumbs up from recruiters and demonstrate your ability to display clear information effectively.

Ideally, the format should be easy to follow and enable recruiters to contact you easily.

Here are some tips for the ideal CV personal details section format:

• Write each piece of information on a separate line
• Choose a legible, HR-approved CV font
• Ensure that your email address is in lowercase in case recruiters want to copy your details directly from your CV
• Make sure everything is spelled correctly!

Let’s have a look at a good example of how your information should look on your CV:

This is a fantastic example because the name, address, etc., are neatly laid out and won’t confuse the hiring manager should they want to get in touch.

Remember, including links to LinkedIn profiles or websites can help demonstrate the candidate’s skills and experience in a more detailed and comprehensive way.

What personal information should NOT be included on my CV

There are certain details that jobseekers should refrain from including on their CVs. The reasons for this vary, but you can use the 2010 Equality Act as a reference.

The following types of personal information should not be included in your CV:

• Age
• Marital status
• Nationality
• Race
• Religion
• Sexual orientation

Here is an example of what you should avoid doing:

The example above includes information that is not relevant to the candidate’s qualifications for the job and could be used to discriminate against the candidate.

It’s also very lengthy and can make the rest of your CV look sloppy and make it difficult for recruiters to find key pieces of personal information, such as your contact details.

By not including subjective information on your CV, recruiters can analyse job applications fairly, based solely on professional profiles, skills, previous experience, and academic experience.

In other European countries, you may be expected to include a different variety of personal information on your CV. Spanish job applications, for example, often require jobseekers to include a photo and more details on a CV than what is required in the UK.

To ensure that your details are correctly added, use our online CV builder to draft your application step by step.

This can help you avoid costly mistakes, whether you are planning to apply for a job in the UK or overseas (in which case, you should also give our Europass guide a read as it explains when this format is appropriate, what details it typically includes, and how it differs from a UK-standard CV).

Common mistakes with personal details

Adding personal information to your CV might seem straightforward. However, many people still make various small mistakes with their personal info that can leave a bad impression or prevent a recruiter from getting in touch.

To give yourself the best possible chance, avoid the following three common pitfalls when listing your personal details:

Using informal email addresses

Your email address is one of the first pieces of information a hiring manager will see. So, it must look professional.

Using an email such as “cutiepie88@email.com” or “partyboy92@email.com” might have been fun years ago, but using it for your CV won’t give a potential employer the right impression of you.

So, be sure to stick to a simple and professional format. An example would be a variation of your full name. Some examples include:

• jane.smith@email.com
• peter.jones@email.com
• kyle.whittaker@email.co.uk

If your preferred email address isn’t available, consider adding a middle initial or a simple number.

Providing outdated contact information

An easy mistake to overlook is using outdated contact info on a CV. This can be an old phone number or an email address that you no longer have access to.

If you’ve changed your phone number, email address, or moved address recently, make sure to update your personal information on your CV before applying for any jobs.

Including irrelevant or sensitive details

As mentioned further up in this article, adding personal details to your CV, such as your age, marital status, nationality, religion, and similar, should be left out.

Not only are these details not necessary, but including them could also go against best practices outlined by equality and discrimination laws such as the 2010 Equality Act. 

To avoid your application being overlooked because of unclear, incorrect, or irrelevant personal details, our CV builder will ensure your contact information is presented clearly and professionally every time.

Listing personal information on your CV: Final tips

Before sending out your CV to a potential employer, recruiter, or hiring manager, it’s always worth taking a moment to review your personal details to ensure everything is clear, relevant, and professionally presented.

And if you’re unsure about how to write your CV, format all of the information, or what personal information to include, consider using our online CV builder, CV Whizz.

It can help you structure your CV effectively and offer helpful suggestions to make your application stand out and give you the best chance of landing that interview.

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