Blue layout general CV template in Word format – 2020 update

Remember our Helvetica Blue Layout CV template? We published that design, our 93rd template, three years ago. We've now given it a fantastic refresh with lots more white space, an updated font and a bigger focus on achievements. We hope you love the new look as much as we do! This CV template includes sample information for a Marketing Manager.

CV template details:

  • CV ref: #206
  • File size: 33kb
  • File format: .docx (MS Word)
  • File name: blue-layout-word-cv-updated-2019.docx
  • Fonts required: Acme, Open Sans, Open Sans Light
  • Price:
  • User rating:
    Blue layout general CV template in Word format - 2020 update
    4.6 rating based on 12,345 ratings
    Overall rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 200 reviews.
/cv-template/blue-layout-cv-template-in-word-2019-update/

About this CV template:

A brand new look for our old Helvetica template, with better spacing and a far bigger focus on achievements.

Click here to view a preview of this CV template (PDF)

Click here for our CV editing guide

Don't like this CV template? Find another:

Review this CV template:

Name
Email
Rating
Review Content

Text preview of this CV template:

This is a text-only preview - download the formatted Word file using the link above.

James Smith

Address: 123 The Street, The Town, NG1 234
Tel: 01234 567890
Email: jamessmith@hotmail.com
Twitter: @james_smith | LinkedIn: @jamessmith3 | Instagram: @james123 |
Pinterest:
@jamessmithmarketing

Personal Profile

  • BA Hons Marketing (1st Class Honours)
  • Demonstrable track record of success supporting the marketing and commercialisation of multi million pound businesses
  • Strong digital and social experience and understanding
  • Strong team leader, with natural mentoring capabilities
  • Ability to anticipate issues and respond quickly, flexibly and creatively to solve problems and address commercial market challenges

Work history

April 2015 – date
Influencer Marketing Manager | BLUE MEDIA SEO

I am responsible for engaging and promoting the brand at every opportunity, managing and working with influencers’ PR agencies and creating engaging articles.

My main responsibilities include:

  • Managing budgets.
  • Tracking KPIs daily/weekly/monthly.
  • Maintaining strong relationships with current influencers and recruiting new influencers and brand ambassadors.
  • Providing communication across all business matters for creators, brand extensions, industry trends and revenue opportunities.
  • Monitor analytics to understand best practices.
  • Tailoring contracts to each influencer.

March 2012 – March 2015
Digital Marketing Manager | HODOWN MEDIA

My responsibilities included:

  • Planning and executing web, SEO, email and social media campaigns.
  • Planning and executing offline marketing campaigns.
  • Maintaining, improving and growing clients’ social media presence.
  • Planning and writing content for digital and print media.
  • Forecasting, measuring and reporting performance of campaigns.

March 2010 – February 2012
Marketing Executive | BIG HAND MEDIA

My role at this busy agency included:

  • Creating and optimising all email campaigns via a CRM.
  • Managing and developing all social media activities including content creation and analytics.
  • Managing both paid and organic search campaigns using advanced SEO techniques and Google AdWords (PPC).
  • Creating copy for press releases, blogs, newsletters and website content.
  • Running advertising and print campaigns.
  • Line management of one direct report.
  • Budget management.

January 2008 – February 2010
Marketing Junior (PPC) | SEO2U

In this role I worked with a wide portfolio of clients where I set up websites and managed accounts with the goal of increasing visitors, calls and return on investment using paid advertising. I also planned and executed landing pages for dedicated product ranges or services and optimised the user experience.

ACHIEVEMENTS

  • I designed an email campaign for Client LD which generated 534 new sign-ups to their online music lesson subscription (approx. 43% of the list).
  • I created a killer piece of content for Client RD which attracted 40+ high quality links for their website.
  • Through promoting my weekly blogs for Client RT through a brand new newsletter and social media, I increased the client’s website traffic by 45%/month in six months.
  • My social campaigns for Client UY helped grow their mailing list from 52 subscribers to 5,621 active subscribers over 3 months.

I WOULD BE PLEASED TO SHARE DETAILS OF THE ABOVE PROJECTS DURING AN INTERVIEW (CLIENT PERMISSION OBTAINED).

Skills

  • Experience in setting up and optimising PPC and Google AdWords campaigns
  • Google Adwords Certifications
  • Intermediate HTML and CSS
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as strong time management skills
  • Good attention to detail with a high level of accuracy.
  • Highly creative with experience in identifying target audiences and devising digital campaigns
  • Highly capable of brainstorming and presenting new creative growth strategies

Hobbies and interests

When I’m not at work, I love going to the gym and keeping fit. I enjoy running and I regularly take part in half marathons, sometimes raising money for charity. I also love rowing and take part in local competitions several times each year.

References

Nelly Roberts, Manager, Blue Media SEO, 123, High Street, Nottingham NG1 234
nelly.roberts@bluemediaseo.com | 0115 9123456

George Lee, SEO Manager, Hoedown Media, 234, High Street, Nottingham NG1 456
george.lee@hodownmedia.com | 0115 9234567

“James is a highly competent at planning and executing web, SEO, email and social media advertising campaigns.”
NELLY ROBERTS, BLUE MEDIA SEO

“James has the innate ability to brainstorm and present incredible new and creative growth strategies.”
GEORGE LEE, HODOWN MEDIA

“James has real knack for generating truly original ideas and methods which constantly exceed clients’ expectations.”
SAM JONES, BIGHAND MEDIA

Template details:

A smart two-page general CV template created using tables, with a focus on your career and achievements. Extra space for reference quotes is included. Scroll down for a helpful guide on how to write a CV with this template.

Blue layout general CV template: page two

Here’s page two of this template:

Blue layout - page 2

Fonts required for this general CV template:

Quick tip:

You’ll find it easier to edit this general CV template if you turn on text boundaries. Here’s how.

What’s new with this general CV template?

Here’s the old version of this CV:

Old blue layout CV template

Helvetica Blue Layout Word CV template (free)

Customising your blue layout general CV template

We’ve made a few key changes to our blue CV layout, which we explain below – with some great tips on putting together an interview winning curriculum vitae:

Write a strong personal statement

There’s a generous section at a top of this general CV template for you to include a personal statement (or profile). This is a key area to impress the employer by:

  • Setting out exactly how you meet the job specification, including skills, experience or qualifications required
  • Including any relevant key achievements

You can find out more here about writing an effective personal statement.

Include your social profiles

It’s now more important than ever before to demonstrate to employers that you are involved with and immersed in your industry – particularly for certain jobs (Politics, Marketing or Law, for example). We’ve therefore included a lot more space for your social profiles on this updated version of the template. So which social profiles should you include?

Twitter

Including your Twitter handle on your CV helps to show prospective employers that you’re following the right people within your industry, sharing relevant content, getting involved with discussions and staying up-to-date. It can help establish your credibility in the eyes of a would-be employer.

Of course, whilst every tweet might not be industry relevant, it’s important to keep them work-safe. “Keep your Tweets PG-rated”, suggest the folks at Grantham University – “no cursing, no slang, mostly proper grammar”.

LinkedIn

Including your LinkedIn handle on your CV allows you to provide the employer with a much more in-depth view of your work experience and skills. It also allows you to gather recommendations and reviews from people who have knowledge of your work.

“LinkedIn recommendations can make a positive difference to your online reputation and have a positive impact on your prospects as a job candidate. However, the effectiveness and weight those recommendations carry depends on the quality of those recommendations and who writes them.”

~ Joseph Liu, Career Change Consultant

Find out here about writing a great LinkedIn profile to complement your CV.

Others

Whether you include other social profiles on your CV really depends on whether they add value to your application. Instagram, for example, might add value to a marketing or graphic design application where the posts you’ve shared are relevant. Facebook in most cases won’t add value, but you might include details of your Facebook page if it’s work-relevant.

Include testimonials

Although we generally include space for two references at the bottom of our CV templates, we’ve also included space in this version for small quotes from those references. Obtaining a mini-reference for your work in advance is like getting a great testimonial from a customer – and it does have an impact!

Just like recommendations on your LinkedIn profile, the value of these testimonials depends on who writes them. A positive reference from a past employer may carry a lot of weight.

Detail your achievements

There’s a generous space for work history on this CV which should be listed in reverse chronological order.

Nowadays, with applicants ten-a-penny, recruiters are more interested in what you’ve achieved than what your responsibilities were. That’s why we’ve included a generous space on page two for you to wow employers with what you’ve achieved in previous roles. Your past performances and accolades are more likely to impress than a simple list of skills, tasks and responsibilities. You need to show the employer what you’re capable of.

“The simplest means of showing achievements on your CV is to employ the ‘What?/So What?’ formula, a two-step process that asks:

  • What did I do?
  • So what? What was the quantifiable result?

Rather than stating that ‘you were responsible for a team of 10 people’, you could instead say that you ‘planned, arranged and hosted a team building away day, which resulted in improved communications within the office.”

~ International Hellenic University

Use an ATS-friendly font

Whilst we love Helvetica, we think there are lots of other fonts that offer a crisp, easy-to-read experience. Open Sans is a firm favourite (as you can probably tell generally from the number of CV templates we have which use it) and that’s why we’ve switched to this lovely free font in the updated version. Of course, you can switch back to Helvetica if you wish, or any other font of your choosing.

It’s important to choose a font that your target employer will have installed on their PC already. Otherwise, their copy of Word will substitute your choice with something else – and it may break the spacing. You can get around this by sending your CV as a PDF, but only do this if you’re confident the employer is not using ATS software.

If you’re not sure which font is best to use on your CV, here’s a great infographic from the Undercover Recruiter.

Leave plenty of space

Today’s CV layout standards require clean fresh designs and our previous design felt a little cluttered. That’s why this updated general CV template has a lot more space, making your information more legible and easy-on-the-eye.

Use a maximum of two pages

Our original version of this template had just one page, and our updated version has two. Because the template has been built with tables, it’s a little tricky adding a second page yourself. We’ve done all the work for you so you have as much room as you need (and sections can easily be taken away by deleting rows).

Use example information to inspire you

Our old version of the template had place-holder information – the new version has real-life examples for a Marketing Manager, to inspire your own CV writing. You can find more CV examples here.

Originally published 12th January 2020.

4 thoughts on “Blue layout general CV template in Word format – 2020 update”

    • Hi Sam – although tables aren’t the biggest worry (text boxes cause far more problems) if you’re applying to a large organisation that may be using ATS-software, it’s recommended to use a simpler CV layout such as our ATS-friendly CVs. If you do decide to use this CV when applying to a business that uses ATS, I would suggest removing the images. Hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply

Leave a comment