Landed Team
A CV that works brilliantly in the tech industry might fall flat in healthcare or finance. Every sector has its own conventions around format, language, and what counts as impressive. Understanding these differences is essential if you want your application to resonate with hiring managers who live and breathe their industry.
Before diving into differences, it is worth noting the universals. Every strong CV should:
Tech CVs prioritise technical skills, tools, and measurable impact. Hiring managers want to see specific programming languages, frameworks, and platforms. A dedicated "Technical Skills" section near the top is expected. Contributions to open-source projects, GitHub profiles, and personal projects carry genuine weight. Keep the design clean and minimal — flashy layouts are frowned upon.
Key emphasis: system scale, performance improvements, tools and technologies, agile methodologies.
Finance CVs tend to be conservative in both design and language. Precision matters — quantify everything with exact figures where possible (revenue generated, portfolio size managed, cost reductions achieved). Certifications like CFA, CPA, or FRM should be prominently displayed. Formatting should be traditional, using serif fonts and a formal tone.
Key emphasis: regulatory knowledge, financial modelling, risk management, deal sizes, compliance.
Healthcare CVs often include sections not found in other industries: clinical rotations, licensure, board certifications, and continuing education. Publications and research experience are highly valued for clinical and academic roles. Patient outcomes and quality improvement metrics are the healthcare equivalent of revenue figures in business roles.
Key emphasis: certifications, patient care metrics, compliance, specialisations, continuing professional development.
Creative roles are the one area where visual presentation of your CV genuinely matters. A graphic designer submitting a plain-text CV is sending the wrong signal. However, even creative CVs must be ATS-compatible for online applications — save the visually rich version for direct submissions and portfolio links. Balance aesthetics with readability.
Key emphasis: portfolio links, notable clients or brands, creative tools (Adobe Suite, Figma), campaign results.
The most efficient approach is to maintain a comprehensive master CV that contains all of your experience, then extract and emphasise the relevant portions for each industry. This is where tools like Landed prove particularly valuable — you paste the job description, and the platform tailors your master CV to match the terminology, format expectations, and priorities of the target role, regardless of industry.
Every industry has its own vocabulary. Finance professionals talk about "deliverables" and "stakeholder alignment." Tech teams reference "sprints" and "deployments." Healthcare uses "patient outcomes" and "evidence-based practice." Using the wrong dialect signals that you are an outsider. Mirror the language of the job posting and the industry at large.
Industry-specific tailoring is not about fabricating experience you do not have. It is about presenting genuine experience in the language and format that your target industry expects. Master this, and you will immediately stand out from candidates who submit the same generic document to every sector.
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