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The FitMyCV blog

Guides for getting past the filter

How applicant tracking systems actually read a CV, how to tailor one to a job description without losing your evening, and the words that make a bullet land.

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Does Tailoring Your Resume Actually Work?

The strongest public evidence is one field experiment, it was about cover letters, and it was run by a company that sells resume writing. Here is what it does and does not prove.

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How Much Should You Tailor Your Resume for Each Job?

Change the top third, leave the history alone, and stop when the posting's real requirements are covered by experience you can evidence.

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CV vs Resume: What Is the Difference?

In the US they are two different documents. In the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth they are the same document under a different name. Both facts matter when you apply abroad.

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ATS Resume Format: Two Columns, Tables, Icons and Photos Answered

Most ATS formatting advice is folklore repeated until it sounds like fact. Here is what actually breaks a parse, what is merely risky, and the ten second test that settles it for your file.

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How to Match Your Resume to a Job Description

Matching is not the same as tailoring. Matching is the diagnostic that tells you whether this role is worth forty minutes of tailoring at all.

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How to Check Your Resume Against a Job Description

You cannot proofread your own CV against a posting, because you know what you meant. Here are four checks that do not share your blind spot.

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How to Find the Keyword Gaps in Your Resume

Most keyword gaps are not skill gaps. They are wording gaps, and the difference decides whether you spend the evening editing or applying elsewhere.

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What Is a Resume Match Score, and Should You Trust It?

A match score measures word overlap between two documents. That is genuinely useful and much narrower than most people assume it is.

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How to Tailor a Resume to a Job Description Using ChatGPT

The prompt that works is not “rewrite my resume”. It is a two-pass: compare first, then edit only what you can evidence. Here are the prompts, and when a job-link tool is faster.

Flat illustration of three CV documents at different heights with checkmarks, representing an ATS checker comparison

Best Free ATS Resume Checkers in 2026, Compared

Five checkers, five different free tiers. What each one actually scores, whether you need an account, and which to use before you pay Jobscan.

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How to Write a Cover Letter From a Job Description

A cover letter is not a summary of your CV. It is three paragraphs that answer three lines in the posting. Here is a worked letter, then the faster way to draft one.

Flat illustration of a chat panel and a CV document joined by a single orange connector

FitMyCV vs ChatGPT for Resume Tailoring

ChatGPT is fine for one role if you constrain it. It falls over when you apply every week. Here is the honest comparison, including where we lose.

Flat illustration of three CV documents at different heights with checkmarks, representing a tailoring-tools comparison

Best AI Resume Tailoring Tools in 2026

Builders design a CV. Tailors rewrite one against a posting. This is the 2026 comparison of the second group, including where ours loses.

Flat illustration of a job application funnel with most applications falling away before reaching an interview stage

Why Am I Not Getting Interviews? A Job Search Diagnostic

Silence is data. If the same kind of application keeps vanishing, do not send fifty more copies. Find the stage that is failing, then fix only that.

Flat illustration of a calendar with a small stack of tailored applications outperforming a large stack of generic ones

How Many Jobs Should I Apply To? An Honest Answer

The honest answer is not a number, it is a method. Apply to as many roles as you can genuinely tailor, and measure your response rate before you scale.

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How to Follow Up on a Job Application (With Email Templates)

One short, specific follow up sent at the right moment keeps your name in front of a real person. Here is the timing, the wording, and the templates.

Flat illustration of a first-time job seeker assembling a cover letter from projects, coursework, and volunteering

How to Write a Cover Letter With No Experience (Examples)

No experience does not mean no evidence. Coursework, projects, volunteering, and part-time work all count. Here is how to turn them into a cover letter that gets read.

Flat illustration of a first CV built from education, projects, and skills blocks slotting into place

How to Write a CV With No Experience (Template and Example)

A first CV is not an empty CV. Reorder the page around what you actually have, prove it with numbers, and it reads like someone worth meeting.

Flat illustration of a CV timeline with a clearly labelled gap that is handled calmly rather than hidden

How to Explain an Employment Gap on Your CV

A career gap is common and rarely a dealbreaker. What matters is that you account for it briefly, honestly, and without letting it dominate the page.

Flat illustration of a CV bridging two career paths, with transferable skills carrying across the gap

How to Write a Career Change CV (With Example)

A career change CV is not about hiding your past. It is about translating it. Lead with the outcome, reorder for relevance, and speak the new field's language.

Flat illustration comparing a padded CV with a dense, well-edited CV of the right length

How Long Should a CV Be? The Honest Answer by Experience

One page or two is the wrong debate. The real target is density: every line should carry a keyword, a number, or a named tool. Length follows from that.

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How to Get a Remote Job in 2026 (A Practical Guide)

Remote roles draw a global crowd, so getting one is less about luck and more about positioning. Here is where to look and how to stand out in a huge pool.

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How to Write a CV Professional Summary (With Examples)

The summary is the most-read and most-wasted part of a CV. A good one names the role, your level, and one proof with a number in three lines.

Flat illustration of a CV document passing through a scanner beam, representing an applicant tracking system parsing a resume

How to Write an ATS-Friendly Resume in 2026 (Complete Guide)

Most rejections happen before a human opens your CV. Here is exactly how applicant tracking systems read a resume in 2026, and how to write one that survives the parse.

Flat illustration of a CV and a job listing merging together with interlocking edges

How to Tailor Your CV to a Job Description (Step-by-Step)

Tailoring is not rewriting your CV from scratch. It is a repeatable, forty-minute edit, and this is the exact sequence, with a real before and after.

Flat illustration of three CV documents standing at different heights like a comparison podium

Best AI Resume Builders in 2026: Tested and Compared

Five AI resume tools, five different jobs. A straight comparison of what each one is actually built for, including where ours is the wrong choice.

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30 CV Action Verbs for Tech and Engineering Roles

"Responsible for the backend" tells a recruiter nothing. Thirty verbs that do, grouped by the thing each one proves.

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28 CV Action Verbs for Marketing Roles

Marketing CVs drown in "managed" and "created". Twenty-eight verbs that show ownership and a number, grouped by discipline.

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26 CV Action Verbs for Finance and Accounting Roles

Finance CVs are precise about numbers and vague about impact. Twenty-six verbs that fix the second half.

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27 CV Action Verbs for Healthcare and Nursing Roles

Clinical CVs undersell constantly. Twenty-seven verbs that show caseload, judgement, and outcomes without overclaiming.

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26 CV Action Verbs for Sales and Account Management

Sales CVs are the easiest to quantify and the most likely to hide behind "managed a pipeline". Twenty-six verbs that force the number out.

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