How to tailor your CV to a job description (UK)

In short: work out what this advert screens for, show where your CV already proves each point (using the advert's own words), move the most relevant evidence to the top, and treat anything you can't evidence as a gap, never as something to add.

The 7-step method

1. Read the advert like a shortlister. Copy the full advert, including the person specification or 'about you' section. Highlight every requirement and note which are essential and which are desirable. Essential criteria are usually what decides the shortlist.
2. List the exact words they use. Write down the skills, qualifications, systems and duties exactly as the advert words them, such as 'stakeholder management', 'NMC registration' or 'Excel (VLOOKUP, pivot tables)'. Applicant tracking systems and busy recruiters both look for these terms.
3. Match each requirement to real evidence. For every requirement, find where your CV already proves it: a role, a task, a course or a result. If the evidence is there but worded differently, reword it using the advert's language. If it isn't there, it's a gap, not something to add.
4. Rewrite your profile for this job. Rewrite the 3–4 line profile at the top so it names the job title, your most relevant experience and two or three of the advert's essential requirements that you genuinely meet.
5. Reorder, don't invent. Move the most relevant roles, bullet points and skills higher. Cut or shorten what doesn't help for this job. Never add employers, dates, qualifications, registrations or results you don't have.
6. Deal with gaps honestly. For a real gap, either show the nearest true experience (for example, informal training of colleagues for a 'mentoring' requirement) or address it in your cover letter by saying how you would close it. Recruiters check claims at interview.
7. Check UK format and send. Use a UK CV format: no photo, no date of birth, two pages for most roles, with reverse-chronological experience. Save it as Word or PDF, as the advert asks, and give the file a clear name such as Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf.

Before and after: one bullet point

The advert asks for "experience of managing stakeholder expectations on projects". Your CV says:

Ran weekly meetings with the client.

A tailored version, if it's true, uses the advert's language and adds what you actually did:

Managed client stakeholder expectations through weekly progress meetings, agreeing priorities and flagging risks early.

Illustrative only. Only make claims you could explain at interview.

What not to do

• Don't paste the job description into your CV, even in white text. Recruiters and modern systems spot it.
• Don't claim a qualification, registration or licence you don't hold. For regulated roles, employers check.
• Don't send the same generic CV to every advert and hope for the best.

FAQs

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