Tailoring your CV to a job description in 15 minutes
You do not need a new CV for every role — you need a repeatable tailoring pass. This is the one that survives both the parser and the recruiter.
Step 1 — Mine the job ad (4 min)
Paste the ad somewhere you can mark it up. Highlight every hard skill, tool, certification and repeated phrase. Requirements listed first are usually weighted highest by the hiring manager.
Step 2 — Rewrite the summary (4 min)
Three lines: who you are professionally, your two strongest proof points for this role, and the value you bring next. Include the target job title verbatim — it is one of the highest-weighted matches in most systems.
Step 3 — Reorder, do not rewrite everything (4 min)
Within each role, move the bullets that match the ad to the top. Swap generic tool names for the exact ones the ad mentions where truthful. Cut anything irrelevant to keep the page count honest.
Step 4 — Scan and fix (3 min)
Run an ATS scan against the job description, fix the top three missing keywords if you genuinely have that experience, and export. Never claim a skill you cannot discuss in an interview — the parser is not the last gate.
Put this into practice
Scan your CV against a real job description and fix the gaps in minutes.