How to tailor a CV to a job description

Read the job advert like a checklist

Separate the job description into must-have skills, nice-to-have skills, responsibilities, qualifications, and sector language. This gives you a clear map for CV tailoring.

• Highlight repeated words and phrases.
• Note specific tools, processes, or sectors.
• Separate required evidence from desirable extras.

Move the strongest evidence higher

Tailoring is often about priority. If your CV already contains relevant achievements or responsibilities, make them easier to find in the profile, key skills, and first few bullets of each relevant role.

Rewrite the profile for the target role

Your profile should not be a generic summary that could fit any application. Use two or three lines to connect your real experience to the role: sector, seniority, key strengths, and the type of value you bring. Keep it factual and avoid claims that are not supported later in the CV.

• Before: Experienced professional looking for a new challenge.
• After: Operations coordinator with three years supporting logistics, supplier communication, and process improvement for fast-moving teams.
• The stronger version is specific without inventing anything.

Turn duties into role-relevant bullets

A job advert tells you what the employer cares about. If your CV says you handled customer queries, and the advert asks for complaint resolution, prioritisation, or CRM use, rewrite the bullet to make the truthful overlap clearer.

• Before: Dealt with customer emails and phone calls.
• After: Managed customer queries by email and phone, prioritising urgent issues and logging outcomes accurately in the CRM.
• Only include tools, volumes, or metrics if they are true.

Improve wording without adding fake claims

A CV rewrite can make duties sound clearer and more outcome-aware, but it should not add numbers, job titles, systems, qualifications, or responsibilities that are absent from your source CV.

• Keep employers, dates, and titles unchanged.
• Use job-description language where it is truthful.
• Flag missing evidence rather than hiding gaps.

Use one tailored CV per serious application

You do not need to rewrite your whole career for every role. Focus on serious applications where the job description is specific enough to tailor against. LandIt is designed for this: one current CV, one job advert, one tailored output you can review before applying.