CVs

The AI-powered CV review platform instantly scores your CV on key criteria recruiters and hiring managers look for.

Artificial intelligence will analyse the CV from key criteria that employers are looking for and generate actionable advice on how to improve it. It is important to recognise that the overall rating serves as a general guide to the overall impact it will have.

We would advise trying to achieve a score of 70 or above which would indicate that your CV is effective and impactful.

• Upload your CV in PDF format to get detailed, personalised feedback in 30 seconds
• Understand where your CV stands among your peers
• Learn what recruiters are looking for
• Upload your CV as many times as you like to improve your score

You will need to choose the appropriate ‘CV profile’ as you are about to upload your CV.

There are 3 options to choose from:

• Standard - For standard reverse chronological CVs which are typically 2 pages in length. If you are unsure what to choose then select the ‘standard’ profile option.
• Business - This could be a 1 page CV, which includes sector areas such as finance and consultancy.
• Other - An academic CV could be uploaded under the ‘other’ profile, as could a more creative CV. The review/score will be more lenient on data not being used within the CV.

For a CV review on CareerSet there are two functions:

Score my CV

When you upload your CV as a PDF document you can receive expert feedback on its overall impact, style and brevity. Feedback reports generated include personalised advice on how to further enhance your CV. The line-by-line analysis will help you improve your CV one line at a time.

Target my CV

Target your CV to specific job descriptions, based on keywords and skills.

Upload a job description and find out how to tailor your CV to a specific role, based on keywords and skills. Well-targeted CVs address the needs of an employer, how you will meet the goals of the role, and match the job description.

This function on CareerSet will help to make sure that your CV stands out, as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that employers sometimes use filter and rank candidates based on relevancy to the job description.

You are scored out of 100 based on how tailored your CV is to the job description.

A document used when applying for job opportunities or further study:

• A CV is generally two sides of A4 (unless told otherwise during the application stage).
• To provide an opportunity to persuade employers that you have the experience, qualities and knowledge that they are looking for based on the job description and selection criteria provided.
• To ensure your CV is properly targeted, you need to review and amend your CV for every job application, highlighting your own skills and experience that are relevant to each opportunity.

What "essential" content do I need to include in my CV?

Personal details

Name and contact details including address, telephone number and email address. It is important to include your contact details so that the recruiter you’re applying to can contact you to invite you to interview / assessment centre /further application process (video interview, psychometric/ability tests).

If you are an international graduate, remember to mention your right to work status in the UK. Try to be as clear as possible about your current and future visa status so employers understand your right to work.

Personal profile

A personal profile is a short concise statement to encourage the audience to read more, this can be two to three lines targeted to the role/course you’re applying to. State what you’re currently doing or have most recently done; e.g. ‘Mathematics graduate’. Then include three selling points, such as skills to match the criteria of the role e.g. ‘Confident communicator, strong teamwork and…’. Also try to include what you’re applying to, the more specific here the more the reader will feel you’ve really taken the time to apply to that one role.

Education

List your educational history in reverse chronological order, so start from your most recent qualification all the way back to your GCSE’s (or equivalent). Always remember to include your degree! It is essential to include type of qualification, subject, place of study, dates you were studying (from and to) as well as your grade if received.

If you are an international student, it is important to explain how your international qualifications are equivalent to UK qualifications on your CV. For example, the Indian Higher Secondary Certificate would be equivalent to UK A-levels, as would the Chinese university college entrance examination (i.e. the Gaokao).

UK ENIC (formerly UK NARIC) provides a ‘statement of comparability’ for a fee (£49.50 + VAT) which translates international qualifications into UK equivalencies. ‘This service is for you if you need to evidence the level of your overseas qualification for employment, study, professional registration or another reason’. You probably would not need to use this service for a simple equivalence on a CV, but it may be needed if an employer requests evidence of your international qualifications at a later stage in the recruitment process.

Work experience

List your experiences, in reverse-chronological order, starting from what you’re currently doing or the most recent going backwards to include any work experience you’ve completed which would be of interest to the reader. For example, the reader will want to know that you work part-time in Sainsbury’s and what responsibilities you had but they may not be interested in your experience as a babysitter whilst at school. To keep with consistency of your education section, remember to include dates; name of organisation; job title and some examples of your duties/achievements and skills developed in bullet point format.

If you have any experience in the sector that you’re applying to you, you can format this under two sections; 'relevant work experience’ and 'additional work experience'. By including the 'relevant work experience’ section you can effectively highlight skills and experiences you’ve gained within the sector which can help you stand out from the crowd.

Remember work experience does not have to be paid to count! Any volunteering or unpaid internships you may have done can also be included in this section.

Key skills

Key transferable skills have become more important in the application process, employers understand that you may not have years or even any work experience in the sector that you’re applying to. When reviewing your CV for the first time, an employer is looking for strong transferable employability skills (i.e. those skills that are developed in one area of your life which can be transferred to another).

Common transferable skills include: Communication, teamwork, leadership and supervising, and problem solving. Provide two or three strong yet brief examples of when you have utilised these skills and competencies.

What "additional" content is recommended to include in my CV?

It is unrealistic to suggest that you will be able to provide an example of all the suggested content listed below. Use the sections that you feel are most appropriate for you to convey to the recruiter.

Positions of responsibility/Awards and achievements

Think of any occasion where you have taken on a large amount of responsibility or had to lead a team. List your examples in reverse-chronological order and list the following: dates; organisation; role; brief description of duties; highlights or achievements (just like your work experience). As with your whole CV, you need to tailor this section so it is relevant to the position you are applying for.

Clubs and societies

You may wish to provide details of clubs or societies that demonstrate your enthusiasm for the sector/job type that you are applying for. Ensure you provide the following details: dates; club/society; role; brief description.

Other qualifications

Here you can list any other qualifications that you have achieved such as the Leicester Award or other non-academic qualifications. Make sure you list the following information: dates; type of qualification/programme; brief description of activities.

Professional memberships/Accreditations

Mention any relevant professional memberships or accreditations that you have, and your level of membership/involvement if appropriate. E.g. Student Member of British Psychological Society. Mention any Professional Bodies you have joined.

In most cases we do not recommend adding the details of your references to your CV, and instead suggest stating ‘references available on request’. This is for two reasons:

1. It saves space on your CV so you can add more information about yourself
2. It avoids sharing personal details such as the email address of your references before they are needed, or in the wrong format.

It’s important not to include any protective characteristics when making a UK application. Under the Equality Act 2020, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants based on any of these characters listed below. These characteristics also have no relevance on your ability to carry out the role that you are applying for.

These protective characteristics include: date of birth/age, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, religion and health.

It is not a requirement when applying in the UK to include a photo, though some countries request you include a photo as customary, it is best to research if this is required when applying outside of the UK.

• Make sure the CV is an appropriate length, this will depend on the type of application you’re making
• Use bullet points so the reader can find information clearly and quickly
• Be consistent throughout your CV, especially the 'education' and 'work experience' sections
• Use clear headings, this will ensure that the reading can find information quickly and efficiently
• Avoid including any graphics, this could take up valuable space and it’s not needed to make your CV stand out
• Certain sections, such as 'education' and 'work experience' should be in reverse chronological order, meaning that what you’re currently doing or the last thing you finished should be at the top of the section
• Make sure you include all of the essential content
• Be concise! Consider how long the recruiter will be reading the CV.

Action words

Use an active tense and ‘power’ words such as: analysed/evaluated; formulated; established; and created/designed to begin your statements - making them more interesting and positive. To indicate where you have achieved success use words such as: achieved; delivered; effectively; successfully; succeeded in; and promoted to.

Check out the TopCV webpage focusing on action words for your CV, there are some great examples of how and where you can add these to your CV.

Positive language

Using positive language on your CV can help highlight your skills and achievements. One of the hardest things to do is to sell ourselves, especially on an application. If you use positive language on your CV, it will make the reader believe that you really are great as you say, it’s up to you to sell your skills and achievements in a positive manner as no one else can do this for you.

• Long paragraphs and not using bullet points. Be concise when writing your CV, recruiters may skim over long blocks of texts due to time constraints and may miss some vital skills and experience
• One size fits all. Remember to go the extra mile and tailor your CV to the role you’re applying to
• Going over appropriate length. If your CV is five pages long, the recruiter might get the wrong first impression
• Poor spelling and grammar. Ask a friend or family member to check your CV for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Recruiters will be assessing your written communication, especially if you say you’re a strong communicator!
• Not explaining ‘why’. It’s easy make a statement and say you’re great at something, the recruiter wants to know why you’re great at doing it
• Poor formatting. Make sure the CV is consistent and easy to read, this will help the recruiter to find the information required and make it easier for them to say yes!
• Generic wording. Recruiters will tire of reading the same application again and again, use action words instead. Check out the best words to use in a CV on the TopCV website
• References. You do not need to include the names and contact details of your references on your CV, this should only be given when the organisation requests them during the interview process or an offer of employment.

Watch a video from Graduates First on common CV mistakes

To create an effective CV you need to target it to the specific role you are applying for. This is called tailoring; you can do this by adapting sections of your CV to reflect the skills and experiences needed for the role and matches up to the criteria used in the hiring process to show the recruiter that you’re the ideal candidate for the opportunity.

If you’re looking to apply to a number of roles, tailoring each CV may sound like it’s just adding more work. Once you understand which section that may need adapting, this will become an easier step in your application process. If you want to succeed in the application process, tailoring your CV can be seen as vital.

If you’re not currently in the application process, one way to practice tailoring your CV for a future application is to find a role that you would be interested in applying to, don’t focus on the company or location, but on the job title and responsibilities that would attract you in the future.

Personal profile

Your personal profile should be highly tailored to the position you are applying for and make you stand out from the crowd. You can do this by including around three key skills mentioned in the job description. You can also mention what role you’re applying to, this will make it feel to the reader that you’re making this one CV especially for this one opportunity and will show great attention to detail.

Education

Include relevant modules and projects, especially if you’re looking to apply to a graduate role in the same field as you’ve have been studying, this will give the recruiter a good insight into what knowledge you’re going to bring in the role.

If you’ve just completed your dissertation and final modules, this is a great place to include them if it’s relevant towards the role you’re applying to. You can include the title and if you’ve got space, a concise summary.

To further highlight your suitability, make sure you include any relevant training from a previous experience.

Work experience

If you have previously completed a summer internship or a year in industry in your chosen industry and are now looking to apply for graduate roles, you can split your work experiences sections into two; ‘relevant work experience’ and ‘additional work experience’. As this section needs to be in reverse chronological order, this is a great way to get the industry experience at the top of this section and get noticed by the recruiter.

Reflect on similar skills and/or duties from past roles and highlight these in your bullet points. Make sure they are towards the top of the experience to ensure they’re seen by the recruiter.

Key skills

The recruiter will be assessing you on the skills they have provided in the job description, make sure you include the key skills and an example (remember these examples can be from any of your experiences) so you have the best chance of progression to the next stage of the application process by matching up to their criteria.

Use the same wording as the job advert, for example if they’re looking for someone who is ‘analytical’ then use the word ‘analytical’ on your CV. This will make it easier for the recruiter to find and demonstrate your attention to detail. 

Consider the order you include these in. The employer may have placed the most important skills on the top of the list in the job description – you could reflect this order.

Positions of responsibility and awards and achievements

These sections can be a great way to highlight other experiences which may not fit into the former categories yet still evidence valuable and relevant skills. Include extra-curricular experience such as societies, sports teams, and Students' Union involvement.

Just make sure they are relevant and recent. Include dates, institution and a bullet point or two to show what was involved, this will keep with the consistent theme throughout your CV.