Build a CV with AI

What a good CV looks like

Recruiters often spend less than a minute on a CV at first. Make it easy for them. A strong CV is usually one or two pages with these sections, in this order:

1. Name and contact: phone, email, city, and a LinkedIn link if you have one.
2. Profile: two or three lines on who you are and what you're looking for.
3. Experience: most recent first. Job title, organisation, dates, and bullet points.
4. Education and training: including certificates and short courses.
5. Skills: the tools and skills the job asks for.

Keep the layout simple: one column, clear headings, a standard font. Many companies scan CVs with software first, and fancy layouts, tables and text inside images can confuse it.

Turn duties into achievements

The biggest improvement AI can help with is rewriting bullet points. Weak bullets list duties; strong ones show results, ideally with numbers.

Give AI the real facts and ask for better wording:

Rewrite these CV bullet points to show achievements, using a strong
action verb at the start. Don't invent numbers; where a number would
help, put [number?] so I can fill it in.

- Responsible for stock taking at the pharmacy
- Helped customers choose products
- Trained new staff

Notice the instruction "don't invent numbers". Only use figures you can explain in an interview.

Tailor it to the job

Sending the same CV everywhere wastes good applications. For each job you really want, paste the advert and your CV into an AI assistant:

Here is a job advert and my CV. List the 5 most important skills or
requirements in the advert. For each one, tell me whether my CV shows
it clearly, and suggest a truthful way to make it clearer.

[paste the job advert]
[paste your CV]

Then update your profile and the most relevant bullets, using the same words the advert uses where they're true for you. If the advert says "stakeholder management" and you've done it, say it that way.

Check it before you send it

AI can make you sound like someone else, or quietly add things that aren't true. Before sending:

• Everything must be true. If you couldn't explain a line in an interview, remove it.
• Read it aloud. Replace words you'd never use, such as "spearheaded" or "synergy", with plain ones.
• Check the details: your phone number, email, dates and spellings.
• Save as PDF with a clear file name like Chiamaka-Obi-CV.pdf.

Try it

1. Write down your current or most recent role and three things you did in it.
2. Ask AI to rewrite them as achievement bullets, with [number?] where a figure would help. Fill in real numbers or remove the gaps.
3. Find a real job advert you'd like, and ask AI which requirements your CV doesn't show clearly.
4. Update one bullet and your profile for that job, and read the result aloud.