You submit your CV for a job you deserve, and the system rejects it before a human sees it. The reason is usually not your experience, but a single section you wrote in a way that neither the ATS (Applicant Tracking System — the software that screens CVs before they reach a recruiter) nor the hiring manager understands. In this guide you will learn the role of every CV section and how to write each one to serve a single story: why you are the best fit.
What you will learn:
- A professional CV consists of 6 core sections (contact, summary, experience, education, skills, certifications) plus optional sections depending on your situation; each serves a defined role that should never be neglected.
- The professional summary is the most important section: the hiring manager reads it first and decides within a few seconds — make it two to four sentences with a number-backed achievement, not a generic description.
- Turn every duty into an achievement using the CAR formula (Challenge, Action, Result) with a specific number; this is what distinguishes a CV among the thousands scanned by the Barez simulator.
- Order your sections by experience: a graduate leads with education, someone with three-plus years leads with experience; the wrong order buries your strongest point.
- Drop the photo, date of birth, and marital status — most large companies in Saudi Arabia focus on content, not personal data.
What are the core CV sections and how many are there?
A professional CV consists of six core sections: contact information, professional summary, experience, education, skills, and certifications. Optional sections such as volunteering and achievements are added depending on your situation and field. This is not a random list: each section answers one question in the hiring manager's mind, and dropping a section or writing it poorly leaves a gap in your story.
Many applicants write their CV in an arbitrary order and stop. The result is a flat CV that does not set you apart from a hundred others. The secret is not the number of sections, but understanding the role of each and writing it to fulfil that role. The table below summarises the function each section performs.
| Section | Role it serves | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Contact information | Makes you reachable | How do I contact you? |
| Professional summary | Sells your value in seconds | Why should I keep reading? |
| Experience | Proves impact with numbers | What did you actually achieve? |
| Education | Confirms academic qualification | Do you have the foundation? |
| Skills | Matches the listing requirements | Do you master the tools? |
| Certifications | Adds external proof | Who vouches for you? |
From here the rule begins: never write a section "to fill the page," but to answer a question. And any line that answers nothing steals space from a line that would.
Why does random section order fail?
Random order fails because it buries your strongest point in the middle of the page while the hiring manager scans the top third first. The section you write to fill space is the same one that may get your CV rejected early. In a competitive market, first impressions form in seconds, and the wrong order wastes those seconds on a section that does not sell you.
The section you write "to fill the page" is the very section the tracking system rejects your CV over — every section either serves your story or deletes you.
And the market is genuinely competitive. According to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) in its Q4 2025 labour market bulletin, unemployment among Saudis reached 7.2% and the overall rate 3.5%, while Saudi labour force participation rose to 49.5%. Saudi female unemployment stood at 10.3% versus 5.6% for males in the same quarter. These figures mean you are not just competing for a job, but for seconds of attention from a tired reader scanning dozens of CVs.
From analysing thousands of scans in the Barez simulator, the most common pattern in CVs eliminated early is a professional summary with no single number. The reader finds no reason in the first four lines to keep reading, and moves to the next CV. The cost is not theoretical: it is an interview opportunity lost before your experience was even read.
How do you write the contact information section?
The contact section answers one question: how do I reach you quickly? Include your full name, phone number in international format, a professional email, a custom LinkedIn link, and the city only. Drop everything that does not serve contact: the photo, date of birth, marital status, nationality, and full address.
What to include:
- Full name as on your ID.
- Phone number in +966 format so the tracking system and an international reviewer read it without ambiguity.
- A professional email (your name, not childish nicknames).
- A custom LinkedIn link such as linkedin.com/in/ahmed-zahrani instead of the default number-filled URL.
- The city (Riyadh, Jeddah) without district and street.
What to avoid: the photo, date of birth, marital status, ID number, and an unprofessional email.
Copy-ready template:
Ahmed Al-Zahrani | Riyadh | +966 5xxxxxxxx | ahmed.zahrani@email.com | linkedin.com/in/ahmed-zahrani
Why does this work? Because it gives the reviewer every contact method in a single scannable line, and frees the space saved from the photo and date of birth for an achievement that sells you.
How do you write the professional summary the hiring manager reads first?
The professional summary is the most important section because it is the first thing the eye lands on, and the hiring manager decides from it whether to continue. Write it in two to four sentences: open with who you are and your years of experience, then your specialty, then a unique strength, and close with a number-backed achievement. A summary without a number is the most common cause of early elimination in Barez simulator scans.
The winning structure:
- Who you are and years of experience.
- Your specialty within the industry.
- A strength that sets you apart.
- One achievement with numbers.
Before (weak):
An accountant with experience in accounting, responsible for preparing monthly financial reports, seeking a job to develop his career.
After (strong):
Certified Management Accountant (CMA) with 7 years in the Saudi banking sector. Built an automated reporting system that cut preparation time from 5 days to one, and saved SAR 850,000 annually by detecting processing gaps.
Why does "after" work? Because it replaces generic adjectives ("has experience") with measurable proof (7 years, 5 days to one, SAR 850k). The number stops the eye, and the Saudi context makes the claim relatable and believable. To deepen this section, review the guide on writing an ATS-compatible CV.
How do you turn the experience section from duties into quantified achievements?
The experience section proves impact, not the job title. Order experiences from most recent to oldest, and under each role write the title, company, city, and dates accurately, then three to five achievement bullets. The decisive difference: a duty describes what you were responsible for, while an achievement describes the impact you left, with a number.
The difference between a duty and an achievement:
| Duty (describes the role) | Achievement (describes the impact) |
|---|---|
| Responsible for managing the sales team | Led a team of 12 and achieved a 28% rise in annual sales |
| Preparing monthly financial reports | Built an automated reporting system that cut prep time from 5 days to one |
| Serving branch customers | Cut customer wait time 22% by rescheduling shifts |
Use the CAR formula: Challenge, then Action, then Result. Start with the situation, then exactly what you did, then the number achieved. And begin every bullet with a strong verb: led, executed, built, achieved, improved, reduced — and avoid "responsible for" and "helped with."
Fill-in-the-blank template:
[Strong verb] + [what you did] + [tool/scope] which led to [result quantified by a percentage, amount, or time].
And be precise with the time periods, as they are no formality. Your tenure is tied to statutory rights: under Article 84 of the Labour Law (Royal Decree M/51), end-of-service award is calculated at half a month for each of the first five years and a full month for each subsequent year. The pensions branch at GOSI also mandates an 18% contribution (9% employer, 9% subscriber) with pension entitlement at 120 months of service. To officially document your title, company, and period, the Qiwa platform lets individuals authenticate contracts and manage their job status. For more examples, see the difference between duties and achievements.
How do you arrange the education section and where do you place it?
The education section confirms your academic foundation, and its position shifts with your experience. Place it before experience if you have less than three years, and after it once you exceed that. Include the degree, major, university and city, graduation year, and the GPA if it is high.
Write the degree (bachelor's, master's, doctorate) then the major, then the university and city, then the graduation year. As for the GPA, mention it only if it is striking (4.5 of 5 or 3.5 of 4 and above); an average GPA adds nothing and instead draws attention to a weak point. A new graduate benefits from leading with this section because it is currently their strongest asset, and can support it with training programs. For instance, the HRDF (Hadaf) employment support program via the Taqat platform contributes up to 50% of the contribution-subject wage, a practical entry point for a first experience stated with confidence. For graduates, read the guide on your first job after graduation.
How do you classify the skills section into 3 categories the ATS understands?
The tracking system matches your CV against the listing's keywords, so classify your skills into three clear categories: technical, soft, and languages. This classification eases automated matching and prevents skills piling into one unscannable block.
Technical: concrete tools with a proficiency level, such as Excel (advanced), Power BI, SQL, Python. This is the most important category because the tracking system searches for them literally in the listing text.
Soft skills: four to five at most. It is better not to merely list them, but to prove them within your achievements (for example, "led a team" proves leadership more convincingly than the word "leader").
Languages: use the standardised CEFR scale instead of vague descriptions: Arabic (native), English (advanced C1), and so on.
Why does this split work? Because the tracking system does not "understand" text, it matches words. When you write "Power BI" as it appeared in the listing, you raise the match probability. This direction is framed by the Human Capability Development Program under Vision 2030, which aims to raise employability through upskilling. To understand how the system itself works, review how applicant tracking systems work.
How do you choose certifications, achievements, and volunteering in the Saudi market?
Choose the certifications and achievements that provide external proof of your competence in the target field, and leave out the irrelevant. Every item here must answer: who vouches for you, and what sets you apart in this market specifically.
In the certifications section, write the certificate name, then the issuing body, then the year obtained. Valuable certifications differ by field: PMP and PRINCE2 for project management, CFA, CMA and CPA for finance, AWS and Google Cloud for tech, SHRM for HR. Do not mention a short course without an accredited certificate; it fills space without proving anything.
As for additional achievements (awards, patents, publications, professional memberships) and volunteering, they are optional but carry weight in the Saudi market, especially for a new graduate. In volunteering, state the organisation, your role, the duration, and one concrete achievement. The correct job title and statutory compliance reflect a professional awareness employers value, as documented by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in workers' rights at enterprises.
What is the golden order of sections?
The golden order places your strongest section right after the summary. A graduate leads with education, and an experienced candidate leads with experience. The rule: do not bury your strongest point beneath a weaker section.
For graduates with zero to three years:
- Contact information
- Professional summary
- Education
- Experience or training
- Skills
- Certifications
- Activities and volunteering
For those with three or more years:
- Contact information
- Professional summary
- Experience (the most important)
- Education
- Skills
- Certifications
- Achievements
Why does this order work? Because the eye scans from the top, so what you place first creates the impression. A graduate without long experience sells their qualification, and an experienced candidate sells their impact — each plays their winning card rather than hiding it.
How do you review your CV through a hiring manager's eyes before sending?
Before sending, read your CV as if you were a hiring manager with mere seconds per CV. In each section ask: does it answer its question? Does it carry a number? Does it serve the story? The list below is a quick final check.
- Does the summary contain at least one number in the first four lines?
- Does every role in experience have three to five achievement bullets starting with a strong verb and a number?
- Did you remove the photo, date of birth, and marital status?
- Is the phone in +966 format and the email professional?
- Does the order place the strongest section right after the summary?
- Are your skills classified into three categories using the listing's own keywords?
- Does every line serve the "why I am the best fit" story? Delete what does not.
Every section must serve a single story: why you are the best fit for this job. And every small edit brings you a step closer. When your CV is ready, scan it with the Barez CV analysis tool to see what the tracking system sees, then improve it with the CV optimization service. The next step after fine-tuning your sections is preparing for the job interview.