Working in media can mean very different things depending on what you actually do. You could work in television, radio, publishing, journalism, digital media, social media, advertising, content production, communications or one of the many specialist roles supporting these industries.

That creates an immediate challenge when writing a Media CV.

A generic CV that simply says you are creative, enthusiastic and passionate about media is unlikely to tell an employer very much. Your CV needs to explain what you actually do, the environment you have worked within, the audiences or clients you have supported and, importantly, what you have achieved.

As a professional CV writer, this is where I would start. Before worrying about design, fonts or trying to make a CV look creative, I want to understand the person behind it.

What have you worked on? What was your responsibility? Who were you working with? What size audience did you reach? Did you increase engagement, generate revenue, grow a platform, deliver a campaign or manage a production? What changed because you were involved?

Those are the things that begin to differentiate one Media CV from another.

What Should a Media CV Include?

A good Media CV needs to establish your professional identity quickly.

Someone reading it should not have to work their way halfway down the first page before understanding whether you work in journalism, digital content, television production, social media or advertising.

Your opening professional profile should therefore give the reader context.

For example, somebody working in digital media might introduce themselves along these lines:

Digital Media professional with experience developing and delivering multi-channel content across social, web and digital platforms. Experienced in content strategy, campaign delivery, audience engagement and performance analysis, working with internal teams and external stakeholders to create content aligned with commercial and brand objectives.

That is considerably more useful than saying you are a creative and passionate media professional looking for an exciting new challenge.

Your profile needs to tell the employer what you bring.

My guide to writing a personal profile for your CV goes into this in more detail.

What Skills Should You Put on a Media CV?

This depends entirely on the role.

There isn’t a single list of “media skills” that should be copied into every Media CV.

Someone working in television production might need to demonstrate production planning, scheduling, research, location management, budgeting and stakeholder coordination.

A social media professional might need content strategy, campaign management, analytics, community engagement, paid social, audience growth and platform management.

Someone in journalism may need research, interviewing, editorial judgement, copywriting, fact-checking and deadline management.

The important thing is relevance.

Look at the roles you are applying for and identify the capabilities employers repeatedly request. Then make sure your CV provides evidence of those capabilities rather than simply listing them.

Media CV Keywords and ATS

The media and creative industries aren’t somehow exempt from Applicant Tracking Systems and digital recruitment.

Larger organisations, agencies and corporate employers may use recruitment technology to process applications before they reach the person making the hiring decision.

That means terminology matters.

If an employer is looking for experience in content strategy, digital campaigns, audience analytics or video production, but your CV describes the same experience using completely different terminology, you may be making it unnecessarily difficult for the recruitment system and recruiter to recognise your suitability.

This does not mean stuffing your CV with keywords.

It means understanding the language employers use and making sure the relevant terminology appears naturally within your CV where it accurately describes your experience.

My ATS-friendly CV guide explains how this works and why keywords should support the CV rather than dominate it.

How to Write Your Media Employment History

This is where I see one of the biggest missed opportunities in CVs generally.

People describe what they were responsible for but don’t explain the scope or outcome.

Imagine somebody writes:

Responsible for managing social media channels and creating engaging content.

That tells me what they did. It doesn’t tell me whether they managed an account with 500 followers or 500,000.

It doesn’t tell me whether engagement increased.

It doesn’t tell me whether the content generated enquiries, sales, subscriptions or audience growth.

A stronger version might explain that the person managed content across several social platforms, developed a new content schedule and increased audience engagement over a particular period.

Suddenly, I understand the scale and impact.

This principle applies whether you’re working in television, publishing, advertising, journalism, content creation or digital media.

Your CV should demonstrate scope.

That might include audience size, campaign budgets, production budgets, circulation, viewing figures, subscriber growth, engagement, revenue, number of projects, client portfolios or size of team.

Not every Media CV will contain all of these. The point is to identify the measures that matter in your work.

Media CV Achievement Examples

Achievements make your experience more credible because they show what happened as a result of your work.

For example:

Developed and implemented a new social content strategy that increased audience engagement by 35% over six months.

Or:

Coordinated delivery of a multi-channel campaign across digital, social and email, achieving more than 500,000 audience impressions.

Or:

Managed production schedules across multiple concurrent projects, coordinating internal teams, freelancers and external suppliers to meet demanding broadcast deadlines.

These examples show three very different areas of media, but the principle is identical.

Tell me what you did, give me some context and, wherever possible, show me the result.

If you struggle to identify these examples within your own career, my guide to key achievements on a CV explains how to start finding them.

Should a Media CV Be Creative?

This is an interesting question because people often assume that applying for a creative role means the CV itself needs to be highly creative.

Sometimes it can be appropriate to introduce more visual personality. But there is a difference between professional design and creating something so elaborate that the information becomes difficult to find.

The purpose of your CV is still to communicate your suitability for the job.

A recruiter should be able to understand your experience quickly.

You also need to consider ATS compatibility. Complex layouts, unusual structures and excessive graphical elements can create unnecessary problems when a CV is processed electronically.

My approach through my professional CV writing service is to prioritise the content first.

Good design should support good writing, not compensate for weak content.

Media CV Examples: What Should You Learn From Them?

Google is already showing this page to people searching for Media CV examples, so it is worth addressing this directly.

There is nothing wrong with looking at examples for inspiration.

The mistake is copying them.

If you find a Media CV online and copy its profile, skills and wording, you are effectively describing somebody else’s career.

Use examples to understand structure.

Look at how quickly you can identify what the person does. Look at how their experience is presented. Look at how achievements are incorporated into the career history.

Then apply those principles to your own experience.

Your CV should sound like you, not like a template downloaded by hundreds of other applicants.

What About Social Media CVs?

Social media deserves particular attention because it has developed into a substantial profession in its own right.

If you work in social media, don’t allow your CV to become a list of platforms.

Knowing how to use LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube isn’t enough by itself.

Employers want to know what you have done with them.

Have you grown audiences? Developed campaigns? Managed paid advertising? Increased engagement? Generated leads? Supported product launches? Managed communities? Worked with influencers? Analysed campaign performance?

Again, the strongest CV moves from activity to impact.

If you have commercial results, use them.

What About Freelance Media Experience?

Freelancing is common within media, and it can create a CV that initially looks fragmented because somebody may have worked with numerous clients or on multiple short projects.

That doesn’t mean every project needs a separate full employment entry.

The objective is to make the experience easy to understand.

You might group related freelance work under one period and then highlight significant clients, projects and achievements underneath.

If a particular production, campaign or client is especially relevant to the role you are applying for, give it greater prominence.

Again, there isn’t one rigid formula. The structure needs to work for the career.

Should You Include a Portfolio?

For many media roles, yes.

If your work can be demonstrated visually or through published content, campaigns, articles, video, audio or other creative output, a portfolio can give the employer evidence that a CV alone cannot provide.

Your CV can then provide context around that work.

What was your role? What was the objective? Who else was involved? What did you personally contribute? What was achieved?

Your portfolio and CV should support one another rather than simply duplicate the same information.

Your CV and LinkedIn Should Tell the Same Story

An employer may look at your LinkedIn profile after reading your CV, particularly for roles involving digital media, communications, marketing or content.

The two don’t need to be identical, but they shouldn’t feel like they belong to two different people.

Your job titles, dates and overall professional positioning should make sense together.

My LinkedIn profile optimisation and coaching goes much further than rewriting an About section. I work through the relevant LinkedIn settings with the client, explain recruiter visibility, job alerts and searches, and show them how to use the platform more effectively.

That is particularly relevant in media because your online professional presence can form part of the employer’s overall impression of you.

Don’t Treat the Cover Letter as an Afterthought

A cover letter gives you an opportunity to connect your experience with a particular organisation, role or project.

That can be especially valuable within media.

Perhaps you have worked within a similar audience. Maybe you understand the subject matter. Perhaps you’ve delivered campaigns through the same channels or have experience in a related sector.

A generic cover letter misses the opportunity to explain that.

My guide to CVs and cover letters explains the different jobs these two documents should perform.

Do You Need a Professional Media CV Writer?

Not necessarily.

If you can step back from your career, identify the strongest evidence and write it clearly, you may be perfectly capable of producing your own CV.

Where people often struggle is identifying what is actually important.

I’ve had many conversations with clients where something significant emerges almost casually during our consultation. They didn’t put it on their old CV because, to them, it was simply part of the job.

That’s one of the reasons my CV writing process is consultative.

I don’t simply take an existing CV, change a few words and send it back. I want to understand the person, their career, achievements and where they want to go next.

Only then can I write something that genuinely represents them.

Frequently Asked Questions About Media CVs

How long should a Media CV be?

For most people in the UK, one to two pages will normally be sufficient. What matters more than an arbitrary page count is relevance. Your strongest and most recent experience should receive the most attention, while older or less relevant information can usually be reduced.

What skills should I include on a Media CV?

That depends on your specialism and target role. Relevant areas might include content creation, production, digital strategy, social media, campaign management, journalism, copywriting, editing, audience development, analytics, project management or stakeholder management. Only include skills you can genuinely demonstrate.

Should I include social media statistics on my CV?

If they demonstrate the impact of your work, absolutely. Audience growth, engagement, reach, conversions, campaign performance and revenue can all provide useful evidence.

Should a Media CV include a photograph?

For most UK applications, I would not normally include a photograph unless there is a specific reason or requirement to do so. Your CV should concentrate on your professional suitability.

Do I need a different CV for every media job?

You don’t necessarily need to rewrite the entire document for every application, but you should make sure the CV is relevant to the position. A television production role and a digital content strategy role may require very different emphasis.

Can you write my Media CV for me?

Yes. My service is bespoke and begins with a one-to-one consultation. I want to understand what you’ve done, the level at which you’ve operated and what you’re trying to achieve next. You can see the different options on my CV packages and pricing page.

Need Help With Your Media CV?

If your current CV lists everything you’ve done but doesn’t really demonstrate what you’ve achieved, it may be underselling you.

I can work with you to understand your career properly, identify the experience and achievements that matter and create a CV that presents you clearly and professionally.

You can read more about my CV writing service, see what previous clients have said in my client reviews or book a consultation if you’d like to discuss your next move.

If you’re not yet sure whether you need professional help, send me your existing CV through my free CV review. I personally review it and tell you what I believe is working, what isn’t and where it could be improved.