Better Ways to Say Please Find Attached My CV (Alternatives)

‘Please find attached my CV.’ This is one of those phrases that can suddenly strike you as wrong and prompt you to do a quick search online to make sure you’re typing it correctly. It’s perfectly fine grammar-wise, though. But… it’s also extremely old-fashioned.

That said, you should definitely avoid using it when sending in your curriculum vitae. An email is not a business letter, and a lot has changed since the handwritten or manually-typed business letter had its heyday. Using this and similar phrases isn’t wrong, but there are much better alternatives.

In this article, you’ll see some of the reasons why you should avoid writing ‘please find my CV attached’ or anything similarly outdated. You’ll also find guidelines for what to write instead, no matter the context, and plenty of examples of much better options.

Create an effective CV in minutes. Choose a professional CV template and fill in every section of your CV in a flash using ready-made content and expert tips.

Create your CV now

Create your CV now

The LiveCareer online CV maker lets you build a professional CV fast and download it as a PDF or DOC.

 If you want to know more about CV writing, check the below guides:

• What Should a CV Look Like?
• How to Add a CV to LinkedIn
• How to Write a One Page CV?
• How to Start a CV?
• Skills to Put on Your CV
• What Is a Personal Profile?
• Best Font for a CV
• How to Write Your Degree on a CV
• Resume vs CV: Differences
• Best sample CVs for 50+ major positions in UK

Administrative assistant CV example 

Why not ‘Please find attached my CV’?

If it’s not wrong, then why not use it? There are many reasons, but the thing to remember when doing this kind of writing is that it’s not a matter of why not but rather why would you. You want to draw your readers’ attention to the curriculum vitae and job application letter, that makes sense, but why are you doing it in exactly this way? 

Habit, ease, a lack of any better ideas—these are not good reasons. Another bad reason is confusing formal writing with old-fashioned turns of phrase. There’s a huge overlap between formal writing and old-fashioned writing, but they’re not the same thing. You can be formal without being anachronistic.

The biggest reason not to use these kinds of phrases is that they quickly become background noise: the kind of thing you gloss over with a murmured ‘blah blah blah’ or ‘yadda yadda’ when reading something aloud. You don’t want any part of your job application glossed over in this way.

A strong CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.

Create your CV now

Below is a list of some of the most common phrases used to draw a recruiter’s attention to attachments. Read through the list and (1) don’t worry if you recognise many of them from your own emails (we all do) and (2) just try not to start glossing over them as your near the end of the list. This is what recruiters feel.

How to write ‘please find attached my CV’—list of phrases to avoid:

Apart from the obvious ‘please find’ formula, there are a few other things to look out for:

• Don’t specify what you’re attaching these documents to—the context makes that clear
• Don’t write that you’re attaching a copy of a given document—the words ‘copy’ and ‘original’ don’t make much sense here
• Files are attached to emails, pieces of paper and enclosed in envelopes.

There are many, many other ways to draw a recruiter’s attention to your attachments. It there’s a trick to it at all, then it’s working it naturally into your email. To put it another way: take away the crutch of a ready-made phrase and you’ll come up with your own without even realising that you’re doing it.

A list of phrases to use instead of ‘Please find attached my CV’

Below is a list of examples to give you a sense of what you’re aiming for. The key idea here is to keep the flow and tone of your email going. Write to the recruiter, not at them. This will keep them engaged as they read rather than skipping over those phrases they’ve read a dozen times already that day.

35 best alternatives to ‘Please find attached my CV’

The ‘just say nothing’ option

There’s also a school of thought that says you don’t have to mention attachments at all. According to this way of thinking, ‘my CV is attached’ is as superfluous as ‘please find attached my CV’. Email clients and webmail interfaces make it clear that there are files attached and spelling it out is unnecessary.

There’s something to be said for this line of thinking, but it’s important to remember that not all email clients and webmail interfaces are created equal. The person at the other end might be using something as antiquated as Outlook and could overlook your attachments if you don’t mention them.

Then again, the job advert might have required you to put something like ‘Jane Smith – Admin Assistant CV submission’ in the subject line. In cases like this, mentioning the attachments might indeed be unnecessary. At the very least, knowing that saying nothing is an option certainly takes the pressure off.

Other considerations when attaching your CV

There are other things you can do to make sure your emailed or online job application gets into the right folder once it’s received. Keep the following things in mind to give your application the best possible chance:

• Filenames: name your files in a way that’s clear and easy to follow. For example, Smith-Jane-Admin-Assistant-CV.pdf. Keep it short, avoid unusual characters and symbols and stick to a logical pattern across multiple documents: Smith-Jane-Admin-Assistant-cover-letter.pdf.
• Subject lines: the same holds true for subject lines if you’re emailing your application. Include all the necessary information in a logical order and keep it short. For example, Admin Assistant application – Jane Smith.
• Links: maybe a link to an online CV or professional profile is the way to go in your line of work. In-text hyperlinks definitely look neat and tidy, but can sometimes be stripped away by spam and virus filters. Including the full URL might look a little clunky, but if all else fails, the recruiter can copy and paste it into a browser. Hyperlinks in PDF files are perfectly safe, though.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

Create your CV now

I hope this article has convinced you to leave the likes of ‘Please find attached my CV’ and ‘Pursuant to our telephone conversation’ behind as well as giving you the confidence to reach for more natural and modern alternatives. Comments, questions, anything to add? Share your thoughts below.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.