How to tailor your CV for a job (with examples)

Popular job postings attract hundreds of applicants, and many companies use software to filter CVs before a person ever reads them. A generic CV — the same one you send everywhere — rarely makes it through.

Tailoring your CV means adjusting it for each role so the most relevant parts are easy to find. It doesn't mean inventing experience or rewriting your CV from scratch. Done well, it takes about 20 minutes.

Step 1: Pull out what the job really wants

Read the job description and list:

• The job title they're hiring for.
• Must-have skills — usually under "Requirements" or "What you'll need".
• Repeated words. If "stakeholders" appears four times, it matters to them.
• The main outcome of the role. For example: "grow merchant sign-ups" or "keep our systems reliable".

Highlight five to eight keywords. These will guide every change you make. To see which ones your CV already uses, paste both into our free CV keyword checker.

Step 2: Match your headline and summary

The top third of your CV gets the most attention. Make sure it matches the role.

Before

Hardworking graduate looking for opportunities to grow in a reputable organisation.

After

Product designer with 4 years' experience designing fintech and payments products — from user research to shipped design systems.

The "after" version names the role, the experience and the industry. A recruiter knows in five seconds whether to keep reading.

Step 3: Rewrite your bullet points around results

For each relevant role, lead with the bullet points that match the job's keywords, and rewrite them to show results — ideally with numbers.

Before

• Designed screens for a fintech app.
• Worked with developers.

After

• Redesigned merchant onboarding in Figma after 14 user interviews, cutting drop-off from 38% to 21%.
• Built a 120-component design system used by 3 product squads.

A good formula is: what you did + how you did it + what changed because of it.

If you don't have numbers, describe the scale or the outcome: how many users, how much time saved, what got launched.

Step 4: Use their words (honestly)

If the job asks for "user research" and your CV says "customer interviews", use their phrase — as long as it's accurate. This helps both the filtering software and the human reader see the match.

Never add skills you don't have. Interviews will expose it, and it damages trust fast.

Step 5: Cut what doesn't help

A tailored CV is often shorter. Remove or shrink:

• Old roles that aren't relevant to this job.
• Long lists of generic skills ("Microsoft Office", "teamwork").
• Hobbies, unless they genuinely relate to the role.

For most people, one to two pages is right.

Step 6: Check it before you send

• The job title you're applying for appears near the top.
• Your strongest, most relevant achievement is in the first half of page one.
• Your contact details are correct.
• It's saved as a PDF with a clear name, like Firstname-Lastname-CV-Product-Designer.pdf.

A quick tailoring checklist

1. Highlight five to eight keywords from the job description.
2. Update your headline and summary to match the role.
3. Reorder and rewrite bullet points to lead with relevant results.
4. Use the job's language where it's accurate.
5. Cut anything that doesn't support this application.
6. Proofread, save as PDF, and send.

Want to see what a finished CV looks like for your field? Browse our CV examples by role, from software engineers to accountants.

Let Litjob do the tailoring

Tailoring every CV by hand is the right thing to do — and also the reason most people skip it. Litjob's AI CV tailoring does it for you: it scores each job against your skills, rewrites your CV and cover letter for the role you choose, and has a second AI agent review them before you send.

You can do it from the web app, or by sending a job link to Litjob on WhatsApp. Found a job on social media? Read how to apply for jobs you see on social media and WhatsApp.