ToC

Including your postal address among the personal details on your CV is unnecessary and may even be risky.

Although CV templates usually include a spot for your location, don’t add your full home address — your neighbourhood, town, city, or postcode is enough for employers.

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Why you shouldn’t put your full address on your CV

There are a few reasons why you don’t need to include your full address on your CV:

  • you might be uploading your CV to LinkedIn or another platform where it could be accessed by anyone — putting you at risk of identity fraud
  • most employers contact candidates by phone or email so they don’t need your address to arrange an interview
  • undesirable locations could lead to bias against your application (for example, you live in a ‘rough’ area)

When you could include your address on your CV

Although we don’t recommend including your home address on your CV, you might want to include it if you live a few minutes’ walk from your potential workplace.

Doing this will show employers they can rely on you to regularly show up to work on time because you don’t need to commute.

You can also include your full address if the most recent work experience on your CV was abroad and you want to show employers that you live locally now.

How to show your location on your CV

Although you don’t need to put your full address on your CV, including a general location lets employers see you’re a local applicant and can easily attend interviews and get to work on time.

Here are the different ways to pinpoint where you live on your CV:

Neighbourhood name

An effective way to show that you’re close to the workplace is to include your neighbourhood name on your CV.

Here are some examples:

  • London Borough of Tower Hamlets
  • Catbrain, Bristol
  • Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  • Leith, Edinburgh

This approach has the advantage of showing employers you’re locally based and gives them a rough idea of your commute time/options.

For example, if you put your location as ‘Notting Hill, London’, your employer will know you have easy access to the Central, Circle, and District Lines on the Tube and local bus services.

A neighbourhood name used instead of an address on a CV.

Town/city

For a less precise option, you can write the town or city you live in. For example:

  • Kendal
  • Leeds
  • Belfast
  • Ashby-de-la-Zouch

This is a clear indication of where you’re based, satisfying employers that you’re based nearby. However, for big cities, adding a neighbourhood is a good idea to give employers an idea of your commute time.

A town name used instead of an address on a CV.

Postcode (partial)

Adding the first half of your postcode is similar to using a neighbourhood name since it gives a good idea of where you’re located. For example, CH60 shows you live in Heswall or Gayton on The Wirral.

Here are some examples:

  • BS6
  • NE3
  • DL13
  • SW13

You can also provide your full postcode to show employers a more precise location (a full postcode narrows you down to 10–20 houses).

A postcode used instead of a full address on a CV.

No location

If you’re applying for a remote job or you’re not located in the area of the job you wish to apply for, you might decide to leave your location blank.

This maximises your privacy but we don’t always advise it because employers might pass over your application in favour of a local candidate.

No location used where an address on a CV would be placed.

How to write your address on your CV (if you need to)

While we don’t recommend writing your full address on your CV these days, if you want to, here’s how to format it:

On one line

Simply write your address across one line, with commas separating each part:

47 Queen Charlotte Street, Marylebone, London, NW9 9ZZ

Multiple lines

Put each part of your address on one line without commas:

74 St Helen’s Way
Roker
Sunderland
SR9 9ZZ

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about putting your address on your CV:

1. Should I put two addresses on my CV?

No, you should not put two addresses on your CV.

Even if you have two addresses (for example, a home address and a uni address), just put the address that’s closest to the company or organisation you’re applying to.

Doing this will save space and reduce confusion for the recruiting manager.

2. What address should I use if I’m homeless?

If you’re homeless, consider using a:

  • PO box address
  • family member or friend’s address
  • church or charity’s address (most are happy to do this but give them a head’s up so they don’t return your post to the sender)

3. Can I use abbreviations or initials in my address?

Yes, you can use abbreviations or initials in your address. Using initials helps save space on a CV. Here are some common address abbreviations in the UK:

  • St — Street
  • Rd — Road
  • Co. — County
  • Ln. — Lane
  • W., E., N., S. — West, East, North, South
  • Ave. — Avenue

For example: 47 E. Hampton Rd, Spennymoor, Co. Durham, DL16 9ZZ

4. What address should I use if I’m moving?

Use the address you’re moving to so employers can see you’d be close to the workplace you’re applying to.

You can write ‘Willing to relocate’ if you’re up for moving to anywhere you can secure a job.

Samuel Johns
Written by

Samuel Johns

Samuel Johns is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Senior Editor on the CV Genius team, with 6+ years of experience in the careers space. He has helped countless job hunters craft high-quality CVs and cover letters, exceed expectations at interviews, and obtain their dream jobs. Born and raised in County Durham in the beautiful North East of England, he graduated with a BA (Hons) in French Language and Literature from the University of Bristol in 2013 and has worked in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, London, Paris, and Taipei as a French–English translator. He’s determined to use his native English and fluent French skills to help UK and French candidates get the jobs they deserve. In addition to the British and French versions of CV Genius, Samuel’s job-hunt advice has been published on numerous websites, including Careers.org, the University of Warwick, the Enterprisers Project, and HR.com. If you’d like to collaborate, please reach out to Samuel through LinkedIn. Please note, we don’t accept guest posts and won’t reply to such requests.