How to Email Your CV: Subject Line, Email Body, File Name and Examples

When you apply by email, the email itself is the first thing the recruiter sees. A clear subject line, a short message and a well-named PDF make the difference between being opened and being skipped.

Subject line

Include the job title, the reference number if there is one, and your name.

• «Application: Junior Accountant – Ref. 2041 – Sara Ahmed»
• «Application for Sales Executive position – James Miller»
• Speculative: «Open application – Logistics Coordinator – 5 years' experience»

Email body template

Dear Ms Taylor, I am applying for the Junior Accountant position (Ref. 2041). I have two years of accounts payable experience and reduced invoice processing time by 30 % at my current company. Please find my CV attached. I would welcome the chance to discuss how I can support your finance team. Kind regards, Sara Ahmed, phone number.

Keep it to five or six lines. If the ad asks for a cover letter, attach it separately; the email body is not a replacement.

File name and format

• PDF unless the ad asks for Word.
• Name it clearly: «Sara-Ahmed-CV-Junior-Accountant.pdf», never «CV-final-v3.pdf».
• Keep the file under 2 MB.

Mistakes that get emails ignored

• An empty email with only an attachment.
• An unprofessional sender address.
• Sending one email to many companies with everyone in CC.
• Forgetting the attachment; check before you press Send.
• Sending from a phone with «Sent from my iPhone» and no greeting.

Follow-up

If you hear nothing after about a week, reply to your own email with a short, polite follow-up.

Subject, two strong lines, a clean PDF. That is all a recruiter needs to open your CV.

Make sure the attachment is worth opening

Before you send it, check your CV with CV Analyz: a score out of 100 for the target job and a list of what is missing. If you need a new CV, the builder exports a text-based PDF that applicant tracking systems can read.