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Practical guide
The headline and the three lines under your name often decide whether the rest gets read. How to write them, with examples for your situation.
On a first read, a recruiter looks at your name, your headline and the three lines that follow, then decides whether to carry on. Their screening software also starts with the job title. Your headline and personal statement are therefore the hardest-working lines in your whole CV: they deserve more care than any other.
Under your name, write the job you are targeting, in the words that job ads use: “Accounts Payable Accountant”, “React Developer”, “Logistics Manager”. It is the first keyword in your CV, the one a recruiter types to find profiles.
Which level to show, dual skills, an in-house job title nobody searches for: the CV headline, in detail.
A good personal statement answers the recruiter's questions, in this order:
Replace each “[X]” with your real figures: a quantified result is worth more than an adjective, as long as it is accurate.
Digital Marketing Assistant
With a BUT in marketing and sales (Techniques de commercialisation, a French university degree), I ran the email campaigns and social media of a tourism SME during my work-study programme ([X] followers gained in a year). I am looking for a first role in digital marketing, on a CDI (permanent contract).
Industrial Financial Controller
Eight years of financial control in the food industry: month-end closes, plant budgets, dashboards for senior management. Experienced with ERPs (SAP) and cost-reduction projects. I am aiming for a senior role in the Lyon area.
Logistics Team Leader
I lead a team of [X] order pickers at a multi-client warehouse: scheduling, safety, productivity indicators. Picking error rate divided by [X] in two years. I am looking for an operations manager role.
Junior Web Developer
Former accountant who retrained in web development ([X]-month course, three React projects published). Rigour, a head for figures and knowledge of business management tools: I am looking for a first front-end developer role, ideally on business software.
For a career change, the headline announces the new job; the personal statement builds the bridge with the old one. See also our guide to the career-change CV.
Keep a core version and adjust it for each important application: the exact title from the job ad as your headline, and two or three of its keywords in your statement, where your background backs them up. How to spot them: our guide to CV keywords.
Your personal statement does not replace the cover letter when the ad asks for one: the statement sums up your profile in three lines, the letter explains why this company and this role.
Is your CV a PDF (Canva, Word…)? On Edit a PDF CV, write for example “Replace my headline with Digital Project Manager and rewrite my profile for this job ad”: the AI changes that text in place, keeping your layout. Our CV analysis also checks your job title and personal statement, and suggests a corrected version.
Yes, as soon as your background needs some explaining: it says in three lines who you are, what you bring and what you are looking for. For a very first job, a precise headline and two lines are enough.
Two to four lines, or roughly forty to sixty words. Any longer and it won't get read: keep the details for your experience section.
No: everyone knows it's a CV. Your headline is the title of the job you are targeting, the one a recruiter or their software will search for.
None: they are three names for the same paragraph, placed under the headline. Choose a simple section heading, such as “Profile”, that screening software recognises.
For the job ads that matter, yes: use the exact job title from the ad and two or three of its keywords that your background backs up. The rest of the CV can stay the same.
The site's tools and features that go with this guide: the figures there are calculated by the code, never by the AI.