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Heather Russell Writing
The Journal

Journal theme

Beyond the Duty List

Why a CV that lists duties rarely gets read to the end, and what replaces it.

The duty list problem

Most CVs describe the job, not the person who did it. A reader already knows what a project manager is responsible for; what they cannot guess is what changed because you were there.

Contribution over chronology

Dates still matter, but each role should lead with the result you owned. One sentence of scope, then two or three lines of what moved.

A useful test

Cover your name and read a bullet aloud. If it could belong to anyone in your role, it needs a detail only you could supply.

Begin in writing

Tell Heather what you need.

You do not need the perfect terminology. Write what is happening and what you are working toward.

Write to Heather