CV and job-search guides
Plain, honest answers about CVs, ATS software, and getting past the first screen, from the team that built CVBetter. No fluff, no fake metrics.
Getting past the ATS
What is ATS, and why your CV format matters
How applicant tracking systems parse your CV, which layouts break them, and what a keyword match score really means.
Does an ATS auto-reject your CV?
The honest answer to the CV-eating-robot myth: what an ATS really does, the one place auto-filtering is real, and why the risk is being buried, not rejected.
How to find the keywords in a job advert
Where the keywords hide, the four kinds worth pulling, and how to match them without claiming anything you cannot back up.
How to tailor your CV to a job advert
A step-by-step method for matching your CV to a specific advert, using its own language where it fits your real experience.
Do you really need to tailor for every role?
Why one CV per application beats a single generic CV, and how to do it in minutes rather than hours.
Getting past Workday and similar systems
Practical tactics for the big-name ATS platforms that trip applicants up before a human ever looks.
Writing a CV that stands up
How to write a CV (UK)
Section order, what goes in each one, real before/after bullet examples, and how to adapt it for every job you apply to.
Returning to work after a career break
Why the gap is not what buries returners, the way an ATS misreads it, and the CV structure that fixes it.
What is a STAR example?
Turning real work into short, structured evidence: Situation, Task, Action, Result, and why recruiters trust it.
How long should a CV be?
The honest UK answer: two pages, most of the time. Why the one-page rule is a US import, and why length is a symptom of relevance, not a target.
Is it OK to use AI to write your CV?
What UK employers actually think, whether they can tell, and the one rule that keeps an AI-assisted CV honest.
Why AI-written CVs are failing jobseekers
Where generic AI CVs go wrong, and how to use AI as an editor without sounding like everyone else.
AI in recruitment: what is really happening
How employers actually use AI to screen applications, minus the hype and the scaremongering.
The future of AI in recruitment
Agentic hiring, AI interviewers, the AI-vs-AI arms race, and the new UK and EU rules that are landing on your side.
The truth about AI-proofing your CV
White-text keywords, hidden prompts, fake titles: the hacks job seekers are racing to use, why they now backfire, and what to do instead.
Running your job search
Finding jobs through LinkedIn
Using LinkedIn as a real job-search channel without drowning in noise or spammy outreach.
Writing a follow-up email after applying
A short, honest template that nudges a hiring manager without pestering them.
Ready to put this into practice?
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