A lot of folks’s CVs open with a short paragraph of self-descriptive prose about them. I heard them called “hero paragraphs” somewhere (presumably something like “why you’re the hero of the story” or something) and I like the name so I’m going to keep using it.
I think these are valuable tools and if your CV doesn’t have one, then I think you should strongly consider changing that.
They’re your “elevator pitch” in text form. They’re your space to say “hey, this is me, this is why you want to work with me” - freeform text saying whatever you choose. Take the space, use the opportunity, and pitch.
They add colour and context. The bulk of most CVs is facts - positions, skills, experience. Your hero paragraph is an opportunity to tie that all together in a neat package for the reader - are you a “freelancer and consultant with a focus on algorithmically-complex backend systems”, or an “infrastructure engineer with significant experience in FinTech and other regulated environments” or something else entirely? Say so!
They put the most important information first. Get your message across clearly and concisely and early, and let the rest of your CV follow up with more detail. Hiring managers and other readers can be busy, they can miss things, they can be juggling tonnes of CVs at once - make their lives easier by giving them the key things up front.
They let you shape the narrative. You can’t change your past, but you can choose how you present it. Maybe you had a few recent short stints in places and you’re concerned about being seen as flighty - well you also have “experience across a range of organisations”. Maybe your heart is in hands-on software engineering but you spent the last two years as a manager to see if you liked it - you’re “an experienced software engineer with management experience” so when someone starts reading about your previous roles they don’t think you’ve applied for the wrong thing when they see the most recent.
So if your CV doesn’t have a hero paragraph, I think it’s well worth the time to change that. Spend a few minutes on a sentence or two to really make clear who you are and why you’re awesome.