To ask if people really tailor their CV for every job they apply for?

[ByMildEditor]

I get tailoring your cover letter to match the job but do people honestly rework their entire CV every time too? I’ve heard it’s “essential” but sometimes it just feels excessive, especially when applying to roles that are similar. Do you genuinely tweak your CV for each job or do you have one strong version you send out?

I have a few versions, depending on the emphasis I need for the particular job. I will tailor one specifically for any job app that I think warrants it.

I think it does depend on age. If you are 20, with not much job experience, then there is probably no need. If you are 50 with 30 yrs worth of job experience, then there is more need to tweak, emphasising different aspects in different work situations. Especially if you don't want a CV that's 10 pages long.

I always tweak my cover letter but not my CV. I do update my CV every time I do a new course or start a new job

Get AI to do it for you.

A brief summary of skills and what you're looking for at the top of your CV is easy to tweak as needed.

Sort of. I've got a big master version with lots of details about everything then I just pick an choose items from each part depending on emphasis of the job I'm applying for.

I have a master copy and then do a "save as" version for each application.

I’ll tweak my CV a little, to emphasise whatever core experience or skills the role is asking for and to make sure I’m covering off as many of the keywords in the role description as I reasonably can.

These days your CV will so often be pushed through an AI sifter that if you’re not hitting all the keywords in the advert then it’s likely to be rejected before a human ever sees it. Literally in seconds.

Yes, but it’s really just a case of changing emphasis in the opening description and my most recent roles from whatever the last saved version is. Using AI wouldn’t save any time.

I have different ‘base CVs’ for every type of role I’d apply for. I don’t fully rewrite it, but I will double check every skill required on the job ad is present (as long as I can do it, obviously!) and add them in if needed. And then just make sure the cover letter is very, very personalised to the job and role.

Yes I do. I might want to highlight different things.

I have to because I’ve retail, office pharmaceutical and animal experience- so eg for retail if list my shop jobs but only put worked in administrative job at x from this date to this date, role included and then put the shortest summary. Office jobs I’d got detailed and then just say various shop jobs etc. I have them saved and then I might need to tinker to make eg one aspect shine more, eg that in a certain lab I’ve experience in something they mention they need that I’ve dealt with

Using AI in your CV would get you rejected at my large company, and I've heard of the same happening elsewhere.

Unless you leave the "written by AI" or equivalent at the bottom, how can anyone possibly know if it's been generated by AI? C.v.'s sound unnatural anyway.

I have a master cv with absolutely everything on it and then tailor it according to the type of job I'm applying for if they're in wildly different branches. I have one that highlights research skills and one for a more office based job.

Can people really not do anything now without AI?

OP you don't have to rewrite the whole thing. I edit my CV for every job. Just tweak my bio and bullet points of responsibilities under each job hesding to highlight experience most relevant to the job I'm applying for. It doesn't take long.

Organisations use AI scanners. It's contested whether they work and they sadly do get it wrong, so best to stay away from it altogether when applying for jobs.

I have started doing this now because I have been struggling to get any interviews for the first time in my life!

Which I think might be because I had a career change so my CV is a bit illogical; applying for mid-junior roles in my new field when I was manager level in my previous one.

When I had been doing the same thing for 10 years and was applying for other jobs of that ilk using the same one didn’t seem to be an issue.

Using AI in your CV would get you rejected at my large company, and I've heard of the same happening elsewhere.

I rejected 14 applications for a role last week as large parts of it were clearly written by AI but it wasn't the fact that AI was used, it was because they hadn't bothered to sense check what AI had written.
We use AI in my organisation and it's very useful so we are not against it but you cannot simply trust what it provides.

Sorry OP I went off the topic but yes I also tweak my CV to highlight the skills from previous roles that match the one I am applying for.

You don't really need AI scanners. Once you've read the same thing over and over, it's pretty obvious what was written by AI. However, I'm not bothered if AI is used to polish, only when it's used to lie.

If I'm looking for certain skills, and it's not clear on a CV, it will likely score lower.

I have several versions tailored depending on how the advert is focused. So for an admin role, I have one tailored towards customer service, one tailored towards data related tasks, one tailored to personal assistance.

Cover letters I do individually each time, but I have a bank of sample paragraphs that I refined for every skill I can think of. I then just use the ones mentioned in the job advert and tweak slightly.

I used to use AI to improve my CV/cover letters (rephrasing my own content, not writing it wholesale). I’ve applied for plenty of jobs which have said they are able to detect AI and will reject anyone using it, but still been offered interviews or the job anyway.

I have three versions. One that emphasises my admin skills, one that emphasises my design skills, one that emphasises my technical skills and will forward as needed. Cover letters are tweeked though.

If there's a job that I'm particularly interested in then I'll put more work in, a tailored portfolio and tweek the wording of CV and covering letter to match those used in the job spec.

Worth reading the job description and picking out few key word (skills) and make sure your cv includes those.

Absolutely. If the job is important to you then you should spend time on your application.
If it’s taking a long time, it suggests your cv is too complex or long, it should only need jiggling about to emphasise relevant points.
Demonstrating you’ve read the job spec and read about the company/department can get the attention of the employer.

In minor ways, yes, but not wholesale. Most of the roles I’ve gone for in the past are very similar for firms that are also very similar to one another, so not much tailoring required.