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TailoringWriting your CV5 min read

How to tailor your CV to a job description

Recruiters read a CV with the job ad open next to it, looking for a match. A CV sent unchanged to fifty companies matches none of them well. Tailoring takes minutes if you know where to look.

Updated 10 October 2026

Start by reading the ad like a recruiter

A job ad is a checklist in disguise. Read it twice. The first time, mark the must-haves: required skills, tools, years and the main duties. The second time, note the words it repeats. Repetition shows what the team cares about most.

  1. The titleWhat do they call the role? Match your headline if it is accurate: “Senior Product Designer” beats a generic “Designer”.
  2. The top three requirementsUsually the first items listed. Your CV must show these clearly, high on the page.
  3. The recurring wordsTools, methods and phrases that appear more than once. Use the same words where they are true for you.

What to change, and what to leave alone

You do not need a new CV each time. Change the parts that move the needle and keep the rest. In order of impact:

  1. Headline and summaryRewrite the last line of the summary so it speaks to this company and role.
  2. Order of bullets and skillsMove the most relevant achievements to the top of each job and the matching skills to the front.
  3. WordingSwap your phrase for theirs when they mean the same thing: “client onboarding” for “customer set-up”.

Instead of

  • Managed projects and worked with several teams to deliver on time.

Write

  • Led 4 cross-functional website projects with design, legal and sales, all delivered on schedule (job ad: “project management across teams”).

It keeps the same facts but uses the ad’s language and shows the scale the employer asked for.

Keep it honest

Tailoring means choosing what to show, not inventing it. If the ad asks for a tool you have never used, do not list it. Show the closest thing you have done and how fast you learn. Interviewers test claims, and a CV that matches too perfectly can be a red flag.

Keep a master CV with everything you have done, then make a shorter copy for each application. Cutting is faster than remembering.

Mistakes to avoid

Avoid

  • Copying whole sentences from the job ad. It reads as lazy and may trip plagiarism checks.
  • Adding every keyword to a long skills list with no evidence in your experience.
  • Forgetting to update the company name or role in your summary or cover letter.
  • Overwriting your only CV, so the previous version is gone.
  • 10 to 20 minutes per application
  • Change summary, order, wording
  • Keep a master copy
  • Never invent

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