The Indian CV format in 2026: sections, personal details and a modern template

How to write a CV for jobs in India: the right order of sections, what to include for freshers and experienced professionals, when to add personal details and a declaration, and how to group your skills.

Indian CVs are in the middle of a change. The traditional format, with a career objective, a page of personal details and a signed declaration, is still expected for many government, PSU and service-company roles. Product companies, global capability centres (GCCs) and startups increasingly prefer a tighter, achievement-focused CV that reads well in an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Here's how to decide which one you need, and how to get each right.

The modern Indian CV (private sector, MNCs, GCCs)

This is the format behind JobPLT's default India template, Modern Professional. A typical order:

  1. Name and contact details: phone (+91), email, city and LinkedIn, each on its own line under your name
  2. Professional Summary: 3–4 lines on your experience, your specialism and what you deliver
  3. Core Expertise: skills grouped by category
  4. Certifications
  5. Domain Experience: the industries you've worked in, with a line each
  6. Professional Experience: most recent first
  7. Education

Group your skills by category

A flat list of 40 keywords is hard to read. Grouping them shows the shape of your profile at a glance:

In the CV Builder, open the skills section and choose Grouped by category. Each row is a category plus its skills, and the CV shows them exactly like the list above.

Add a Domain Experience section

Indian recruiters, especially in IT services and consulting, look for domain knowledge: BFSI, telecom, energy, healthcare, retail. A short section with one bullet per domain ("Energy: anomaly detection for power plants, alerting") answers that question before it's asked. In the builder it's already there in Modern Professional, and in other templates you can add it under Manage sections → Add your own section.

Write experience as projects with results

For each role, give the title, then "Company • City", then dates, followed by bullets. Starting a bullet with a bold lead makes long project lists easy to scan:

Use the toolbar's Bold button for the lead and keep each bullet to one or two lines.

The traditional Indian CV (government, PSU, many service companies)

The Classic with Declaration template follows this format. It adds two things at the end.

Personal Details

Traditionally listed near the end of the CV:

Every field is optional. Include what the employer expects and leave out anything you're not comfortable sharing; blank fields simply don't appear. In the builder, Personal Details is its own section, separate from your contact details, so it stays at the end where Indian recruiters expect it.

Declaration

A short statement, "I hereby declare that the information furnished above is true to the best of my knowledge and belief", with place, date and your name. Many private-sector recruiters skip it, but government and PSU applications often expect it. The builder fills in the standard wording; you add the place.

Freshers: education first

If you have less than about two years of experience, your education carries the most weight. The Fresher / Campus template:

Recruiters at campus drives compare marks quickly, so the table format helps.

Common mistakes to avoid

Build yours

Create an Indian CV and pick Modern Professional or Classic with Declaration. If you've already uploaded a CV, start from it and the builder will copy your skill groups, certifications and summary.