Fintech CV Tips: What Recruiters Actually Notice First

Candidates spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve their CV: the formatting, the wording, what to include or leave out. So we asked our Recruitment Partners one simple question: "What actually happens in the first 10 seconds when you open someone's CV?" Here is what they told us.

But before we start

In some of our recent blog posts we've covered the fundamentals of a strong fintech CV: length, structure, contact details, formatting and what to include. You can find the full breakdown in our guide to making your fintech CV stand out. In short:

• Try to keep your CV to 1-2 pages
• Skip the photo
• Use a clean layout without heavy design
• Put contact details and location at the top

This new article focuses on what happens next: the details recruiters notice when they open your CV and start deciding whether to keep reading.

1. Make yourself easy to understand

This is one of the first things our team shared with us. Before anything else, recruiters want to understand who you are professionally, and they want to understand it fast.

Eye-tracking research by Nielsen Norman Group found that people scan pages instead of reading them line by line, focusing first on whatever sits near the top. The study looked at web pages, not CVs, but the pattern still applies: a recruiter's eye lands on the top lines of your CV first, and those lines decide whether the rest gets read.

What this means for your CV: make it easy for a recruiter to understand who you are at a glance. Use familiar job titles, clear wording, keywords relevant to your role, and measurable results where possible. The first few lines should leave no doubt about what you do.

2. Put your latest role at the top

From a recruiter's perspective, your most recent role usually carries the most weight, so it should appear first. It gives the quickest picture of where you are now, your level of seniority, and the direction your career is taking.

If you have a long career history, think carefully about how much detail you include for older roles. Recruiters usually spend the most time on your recent experience, while earlier positions mainly provide context.

What this means for your CV: put your current or most recent relevant role at the top, in the order it actually happened, and keep older, less relevant roles brief.

3. Use specific and accurate language

Descriptive phrases like "experienced leader," "strategic thinker," or "results-oriented" do not help a recruiter understand your experience. Specific language is easier to understand and easier to believe: built, reduced, launched, scaled, improved, ideally next to a number or a clear outcome.

As Arina Oliinykova, Recruitment Partner at Evotym, says: 

Candidates who can explain complicated things in plain words are usually the strongest ones. Complicated language often hides a lack of depth. Candidates who talk about results are always a step ahead of those who only list their duties.

What this means for your CV: replace adjectives that describe yourself with a line or two about what you did and what changed as a result.

4. Don't let AI fully write your CV

Recruiters are seeing a lot of CVs written entirely by ChatGPT or Claude. They read smoothly, but they lean on general phrases and skip the details only you know: the real scope of a project, the specific KPI you moved, the tools or jurisdictions you worked in.

Imagine yourself in a recruiter's chair: you have only 10 seconds to decide whether you might be the right candidate, and your CV may be lying next to 100 others written by the same tools, with the same general wording.

Arina shares: 

AI can write something that sounds polished, but it rarely knows what you actually did. A generic CV looks just like hundreds of others. It gets lost in the pile instead of standing out. Adapting your CV to each role, the industry, the tools takes time, but it's often what gets you the interview.

What this means for your CV: use AI only for structure and clarity. Check carefully for spelling and grammar mistakes. Mention the industry, the tools, and the jurisdictions you have worked in. Adjust your responsibilities for each vacancy. Open the job posting side by side with your CV, and adjust your CV so it matches what the posting is actually asking for. What feels like a small detail to you can be a dealbreaker for that specific company.

5. Your summary should add something new

A summary only earns attention when it gives the recruiter useful information that is not immediately obvious from the rest of the CV.

A specific niche, experience, market, or type of risk exposure can help. Generic phrases such as "results-driven professional" or "strategic thinker" usually add very little.

What this means for your CV: if your summary repeats information that appears further down the page, consider removing it. If you keep it, use it to give the recruiter a clear reason to keep reading.

6. Make your CV and LinkedIn tell the same story

Recruiters often check LinkedIn alongside a CV. That is why it helps when both tell the same story.

A common example: a CV describes years of steady, structured employment, while LinkedIn shows the same period as freelance work, or the other way around. A mismatch like this usually comes up early on, if it hasn't already been explained.

What this means for your CV: make sure your CV and LinkedIn profile describe the same dates, titles, and general career history, so nothing needs explaining before the conversation even starts. Our guide on how to fill in your LinkedIn profile for fintech jobs explains what to keep consistent between the two.

The takeaway

None of these changes take long to make. They are small adjustments that can genuinely help your job search. Together, they make your CV easier for recruiters to read and understand, which is the whole point of a CV.

If you want to go further, explore the other CV and LinkedIn guides linked throughout this article. We hope they help you find your next exciting opportunity.

Looking for your next fintech role? Browse open positions on our Careers Page, or follow our Telegram channel for new roles as they go live.