CVs Applications and AI

Your CV should sound like you

Putting together a CV can feel daunting, particularly if you have not written one for a long time. Its job is to give an employer a clear, relevant picture of what you have done, what you can do and what you could bring to the role.

There is no single perfect format. Keep it easy to read, truthful and relevant. Two pages is often enough, but a longer CV may be appropriate if you have substantial or specialist experience.

What to include

Contact details

Include your name, telephone number, professional email address and general location. A full home address, photograph, age, marital status and other personal details are not normally needed.

Profile

Use a short opening paragraph to explain the kind of professional you are, your strongest relevant qualities and what you can bring. Avoid strings of generic words that could describe anyone.

Work history

Start with your most recent role and work backwards. Include the job title, employer and dates, followed by concise bullet points showing the scope of the role, important responsibilities and, wherever possible, achievements or outcomes.

Career breaks are part of many people’s working lives. Explain a gap briefly and honestly where useful, without feeling that you need to apologise for it.

Qualifications training and skills

Include relevant qualifications, training, systems and practical skills. Experience can be every bit as valuable as a piece of paper, so make sure you show what you have learned and applied in practice.

Additional information

Include information such as a driving licence, professional membership, volunteering, languages or interests only when it is useful or helps the reader understand something relevant about you.

Tailor rather than reinvent

You do not need to rewrite your whole CV for every application, but you should check that the most relevant experience is easy to find. Read the advert and job description carefully, then make sure your CV provides evidence of the skills and experience being requested.

Using AI to help with your CV

AI can help you organise ideas, identify repetition, improve clarity or compare your CV with a job description. It can be a useful assistant, but it should not invent your experience or turn your CV into something that no longer sounds like you.

* Start with your own career history and examples.

* Do not enter confidential employer, client or personal information into a tool unless you know it is safe to do so.

* Check every date, claim and skill; AI can make mistakes or add things that are not true.

* Remove generic phrases and language you would never use yourself.

* Make sure you can explain and evidence everything on the page.

Employers are increasingly aware of polished, AI-assisted applications. What matters is not whether a tool helped with the wording, but whether the content is accurate, authentic and genuinely yours.

Leave these out

* A photograph unless there is a genuine and lawful reason for one.

* Age, date of birth, marital status, family details, religion or political views.

* Salary expectations unless they have been specifically requested.

* Confidential information from a current or former employer.

* Reasons for leaving every role; these can be discussed at the appropriate stage.

* References and “references available on request”; prepare them separately.

* Anything exaggerated or untrue.

Before you send it

* Check spelling, grammar, dates and contact details.

* Use a clear layout and consistent formatting.

* Save it with a sensible filename that includes your name.

* Ask someone you trust to read it.

* Read it aloud: does it sound like you?