Contents
- Introduction: Why Your CV and LinkedIn Profile Matter More Than Ever
- Using the Same Content for Both Your CV and LinkedIn Profile
- Being Too Generic
- Ignoring Keywords
- Listing Duties Instead of Achievements
- Poor Formatting and Layout
- Unprofessional or Missing LinkedIn Photo
- Missing Personal Branding
- Typos and Grammar Errors
- Final Thoughts: How Small Changes Make a Big Difference
Introduction: Why Your CV and LinkedIn Profile Matter More Than Ever
In today’s hyper-competitive UK job market, your CV and LinkedIn profile are your first (and sometimes only) chance to make a lasting impression.
A recruiter will often spend just seconds scanning your documents, and in that time, they’re looking for signs of credibility, confidence, and clarity.
The problem? Even brilliant candidates often make small mistakes that quietly sabotage their chances.
The good news is that these mistakes are easy to fix, once you know what to watch for.
In this updated guide for 2025, we’ll explore the most common errors professionals make when writing their CVs and LinkedIn profiles, and show you how small, smart changes can turn your documents into powerful career assets.
Let’s dive in.
Using the Same Content for Both Your CV and LinkedIn Profile
At first glance, it might seem efficient to copy your CV into your LinkedIn profile. After all, they both tell your career story, right?
Wrong, because CVs and LinkedIn profiles serve very different purposes.
- Your CV is a precise, role-specific document designed to convince an employer you’re the right fit for a particular vacancy.
- Your LinkedIn profile is a broader, future-facing story about who you are, what you stand for, and where you’re headed.
If your LinkedIn profile reads like a bullet-point list of job duties, or if your CV sounds like a rambling personal essay, you’re missing critical opportunities.
How to fix it:
- Tailor your CV tightly to each role you apply for, focusing on skills, achievements, and results relevant to that position.
- Craft your LinkedIn profile to reflect your wider professional brand, highlighting passions, career aspirations, and a fuller picture of your experience.
Pro Tip:
Use LinkedIn’s About section to build an emotional connection and trust. Think beyond job titles, tell a story that shows your ambition, your values, and your unique strengths.
Being Too Generic
When recruiters or hiring managers review CVs and LinkedIn profiles, they’re not looking for clichés, they’re searching for real evidence of capability and fit.
The problem?
Phrases like “dynamic professional,” “team player,” or “hardworking individual” sound positive, but they’re so overused that they’ve become meaningless.
In 2025, if your application feels generic, it simply gets ignored. Recruiters want specifics, not slogans.
How to fix it:
Replace empty statements with clear, measurable achievements.
Think: what challenges did you face? What actions did you take? What results did you deliver?
Instead of writing:
“Excellent communicator with strong leadership skills.”
Say:
“Led a cross-functional team of 10 to deliver a £500K software implementation project three weeks ahead of schedule, boosting client satisfaction scores by 18%.”
Pro Tip:
Every statement on your CV and LinkedIn should answer this simple question:
“So what? Why does this matter to the employer?”
If you can’t answer that, make it sharper.
Ignoring Keywords
In a digital-first hiring world, both human recruiters and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) filter candidates based on keywords.
Here’s the catch:
Even a perfectly written CV can be missed if it doesn’t align with the specific terms employers are searching for.
How to fix it:
- Scan job descriptions for recurring keywords: skills, tools, certifications, industry jargon.
- Naturally integrate those terms into your CV and LinkedIn profile, especially in the summary, skills section, and role descriptions.
- Be specific. Use “project management” rather than just “managing projects,” or “financial analysis” instead of “working with numbers.”
Pro Tip:
For LinkedIn specifically, your Headline, About section, and Skills list heavily influence whether you appear in recruiter searches.
Optimising for the right keywords can dramatically increase your visibility, even if you’re not actively applying.
Listing Duties Instead of Achievements
Many CVs and LinkedIn profiles make the mistake of sounding like job descriptions.
They explain what you were responsible for, but not how well you performed or what impact you made.
The problem?
Simply listing responsibilities (“managed a team”, “handled customer queries”) doesn’t differentiate you from hundreds of other applicants who had similar tasks.
How to fix it:
- Focus on achievements, not just duties.
- Highlight outcomes, improvements, awards, promotions, cost savings, revenue growth — anything that shows you made a real difference.
Instead of writing:
“Responsible for managing a sales team.”
Say:
“Managed a sales team of 12, achieving 115% of annual revenue targets and winning Regional Sales Team of the Year Award 2024.”
Pro Tip:
Use action verbs at the start of your bullet points: delivered, created, improved, led, reduced, launched, generated.
Action words = action taker.
Poor Formatting and Layout
You could have the best achievements in the world, but if your CV or LinkedIn profile looks messy or cluttered, you risk being overlooked.
First impressions happen visually, even before a single word is read.
Common layout mistakes include:
- Tiny, cramped text with no breathing space
- Long, dense paragraphs without headings or bullet points
- Inconsistent fonts, colours, or spacing
How to fix it:
- Keep your CV clean, clear, and easy to skim. Use a modern font (like Calibri, Arial, or Helvetica) at 10–12pt size.
- Break information into short sections with clear headings.
- Use bullet points to organise key information logically.
- Keep your CV to 1–2 pages maximum unless applying for academic or senior technical roles.
On LinkedIn:
- Use short paragraphs (2–4 lines max).
- Add white space between sections for easy reading on mobile.
- Use line breaks and even emojis (sparingly!) to create visual flow.
Pro Tip:
Before submitting, preview your CV on a mobile device.
Most recruiters view applications on the go, and messy layouts lose opportunities.
Unprofessional or Missing LinkedIn Photo
On LinkedIn, your photo is one of the first things recruiters and hiring managers notice, and it’s more important than you might think.
Profiles with a professional photo receive up to 21 times more profile views and 36 times more messages than those without one.
No photo? No trust. Poor photo? Wrong impression.
Common mistakes:
- No photo at all
- Blurry, low-resolution images
- Party or holiday snaps
- Unapproachable or overly casual expressions
How to fix it:
- Use a clear, well-lit headshot with a plain or neutral background.
- Dress smartly (the way you would for an interview in your target industry).
- Smile naturally, you want to appear approachable and professional.
- Crop from the shoulders up, your face should fill about 60% of the frame.
Pro Tip:
You don’t need an expensive photoshoot. A smartphone, good natural light, and a simple background (like a white wall) can work perfectly.
Missing Personal Branding
In 2025, personal branding isn’t optional, it’s the new currency of career success.
Employers aren’t just hiring skills; they’re hiring people who fit their culture, vision, and future direction.
If your CV and LinkedIn profile don’t communicate who you are, beyond your job titles, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
How to fix it:
- Craft a short personal brand statement and weave it through your CV’s personal summary and LinkedIn’s About section.
- Highlight your unique combination of skills, passions, and career direction.
- Be authentic, not overly polished or “salesy.”
Example:
“I help organisations scale sustainably by building high-performing teams through coaching-led leadership and data-driven HR practices.”
Pro Tip:
Think about what you want to be known for in your industry or role, and make sure every part of your profile reflects that.
A strong personal brand = being memorable for the right reasons.
Click here for LinkedIn Profile Tips UK 2025.
Typos and Grammar Errors
It might seem obvious, but typos and sloppy grammar remain one of the top reasons CVs and LinkedIn profiles get rejected, often without a second glance.
The truth?
Small mistakes signal big things: lack of attention to detail, poor communication skills, or rushed work, all red flags for employers.
How to fix it:
- Proofread carefully. Don’t rely solely on spellcheckers, they often miss wrong words spelled correctly (like “their” vs “there”). See how to write a winning UK CV
- Read your CV and LinkedIn profile aloud to catch awkward phrasing or errors.
- Ask a trusted friend or mentor to review it with fresh eyes.
- Consider using tools like Grammarly to spot sneaky mistakes and polish your writing.
Pro Tip:
Even a single typo on a CV aimed at roles like finance, law, or communications can instantly cost you credibility. In competitive fields, perfection is expected, and achievable.
Final Thoughts: How Small Changes Make a Big Difference
Crafting a standout CV and LinkedIn profile isn’t about luck, it’s about understanding what employers want, and showing them you’re the solution they’ve been searching for.
The best part?
Fixing these common mistakes doesn’t require a complete overhaul.
Often, just a few focused tweaks, clearer formatting, sharper achievements, stronger personal branding, can dramatically lift your visibility and interview chances.
If you’re serious about landing your next great role in 2025, make today the day you take control of your professional story.
Need expert help?
Explore Brendan Hope’s professional CV writing and LinkedIn services, designed to turn your career materials from overlooked to outstanding.
Ready to Transform Your CV and LinkedIn Profile?
If you’re serious about landing interviews, standing out in the UK job market, and making 2025 your breakthrough career year, now is the perfect time to act.
At Brendan Hope, we specialise in helping professionals and executives craft CVs and LinkedIn profiles that open doors to new opportunities.
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