The 5-Minute Wins (Remove These Now)
These are errors that immediately undermine the quality of your CV. Fix them before anything else:
Remove "References available on request"
Everyone knows you have references. This phrase takes up space and signals that you haven't updated your CV template since 2004. Delete it.
Remove your photo (UK CVs)
If you are applying for jobs in the UK, never include a photo. It is considered unprofessional and puts employers in an awkward position regarding unconscious bias. Remove it.
Remove date of birth, nationality and marital status
These are irrelevant and can open the door to discrimination. Employers should not need this information at the application stage.
Remove the heading "Curriculum Vitae" or "CV"
Your CV does not need a label. The recruiter knows what they are reading. Use the space for your name and contact details.
Fix your email address
Is your email still a nickname from your teens? A professional email is your name or an approximation of it. Set up a new one if needed — it takes two minutes.
The 15-Minute Wins (Highest Impact)
Rewrite your professional summary
If your summary is vague ("I am a highly motivated individual seeking a challenging role in a dynamic environment"), replace it. Write 3–4 lines that answer: who you are, how many years of relevant experience you have, what you specialise in, and what you are looking for.
Before: "Hardworking professional looking for a new opportunity to develop my skills."
After: "Financial analyst with 5 years of experience in investment banking, specialising in financial modelling and M&A due diligence. Seeking a senior analyst role in corporate finance."
Add numbers to your bullet points
Go through your work experience and add one number to every bullet that does not have one. Numbers do not need to be exact — approximate figures work.
- "Managed a portfolio of clients" → "Managed a portfolio of 45 clients with combined revenue of £3.2M"
- "Improved the onboarding process" → "Reduced onboarding time from 3 weeks to 5 days by redesigning the welcome workflow"
- "Led a team" → "Led a cross-functional team of 8 across two departments"
Replace "Responsible for" with action verbs
Go through every bullet point that starts with "Responsible for" and replace it with a strong action verb. "Responsible for managing" becomes "Managed". "Responsible for delivering" becomes "Delivered". "Responsible for overseeing" becomes "Led" or "Oversaw".
Cut the last third of your CV
Most people include too much. Roles from 10+ years ago rarely need more than a one-line entry. University projects from 15 years ago can go. Cut anything that is not directly relevant to the roles you are targeting. A tighter CV reads better and is more likely to be read in full.
The 30-Minute Improvements (Per Application)
Tailor your keywords to the job description
ATS systems rank CVs against job descriptions. Read the posting. Note every skill, tool, and qualification mentioned. Check your CV against that list. Add any relevant keywords you are missing — once each, in context.
Mirror the job title
If the job is titled "Senior Product Manager" and your current title is "Lead Product Owner", mention the target title in your summary. "Experienced Senior Product Manager with 6 years..." — even if your job title was technically different, this helps with ATS matching and makes your suitability clearer to the recruiter.
Check your formatting for ATS compliance
Quickly check your CV for: tables or text boxes (remove them), multi-column layout (flatten to single column), images or icons (delete), contact details in the header/footer (move to body). These are the most common reasons CVs fail ATS screening.
The Before/After Test
After making changes, ask someone to read your CV for 30 seconds and answer three questions:
- What do I do?
- How much experience do I have?
- What kind of role am I targeting?
If they cannot answer all three from a 30-second scan, your summary and formatting still need work.
Red Flags That Immediately Damage Your CV
- Typos and grammatical errors — use spell check AND read aloud
- Inconsistent date formats (January 2022 in one place, 01/22 in another)
- Different fonts or font sizes used inconsistently
- Unexplained employment gaps — add a one-line explanation
- Using "we" instead of "I" — describe your individual contribution
- A link to a LinkedIn profile that does not match the CV
What One Hour Can Do
Spending one focused hour on your CV — applying the changes above — will produce a meaningfully better document. Not a perfect CV, but one that will get a higher response rate than the version you have now.
If you want the same result in 60 seconds — without doing it manually — FuseCV applies all of these improvements automatically.