7 CV Mistakes International Students Make (and How to Fix Them)

CV conventions are not universal. A résumé that lands interviews at home can quietly get filtered out abroad because it breaks unwritten local rules. Here are seven of the most common mistakes international students make, and how to fix each one.

1. Ignoring the target country's norms

Length, whether to include a photo, and how personal to get all vary by country. A US résumé is usually one page with no photo; some European CVs expect both. Always match the norms of where you're applying, not where you're from.

2. Describing duties instead of results

"Responsible for social media" tells a recruiter nothing. "Grew Instagram following 40% in three months" tells them everything. Lead with outcomes and numbers wherever you can.

3. Weak, repetitive verbs

• •Replace "helped with" and "worked on" with precise verbs: led, built, launched, analysed, redesigned.
• •Start every bullet with a verb, not with "I" or "Responsible for".

4. Burying the relevant experience

Recruiters spend seconds on a first pass. Put the most relevant experience near the top, and cut anything that doesn't support the role you're applying for.

5. Formatting that breaks in screening software

Tables, text boxes, and unusual fonts can scramble your CV inside applicant tracking systems. A clean, simple layout is safer and reads better on any screen.

6. Typos and inconsistent tenses

Use past tense for past roles and present tense for current ones — and keep it consistent. A single obvious typo can undo an otherwise strong CV.

7. Never getting a second opinion

You can't proofread your own blind spots. Fledgy's free CV scorer rates your CV against your target country's hiring norms and can generate a recruiter-ready rewrite — a fast way to catch every mistake on this list before an employer does.