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.
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.
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).
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.
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.