CV builder

UK recruiters read a CV with local expectations in mind. A photo or date of birth looks out of place, and so does an American spelling such as color or center. Once your draft is finished, go through the seven checks below in order; they separate a good draft from a perfect CV. Still drafting? The builder offers examples for each role, and our CV writing guide explains what goes in each part.

Have any American spellings slipped in?

Often a few have, and they're easy to miss. Text pasted in from an older CV can carry them, and a phone or laptop set to US English may change colour to color as you type. Endings in -ize are accepted in British English, though -ise is more usual in the UK, as the FAQ explains. These words trip up even careful writers:

• analyse, which keeps -yse even if you've chosen -ize elsewhere
• modelled, labelled and counselled, with a double l
• enrol, fulfil and enrolment, with a single l
• practice as a noun, practise as a verb

How should dates look on a UK CV?

As a month and year for each job. In Rocket Resume you pick each month and year instead of typing them, which rules out typos but not a tap on the month or year beside the one you meant, so read each date back once. If you change the date style, avoid one in figures that includes a day: a UK reader takes 03/04/2021 as 3 April, while an American reads it as 4 March.

Is every job in the right tense?

Start with the job you left most recently, the one most likely to still read as current. Its bullet points belong in the past tense (managed, trained), and only the job you hold now keeps the present (manage, train). Then read your personal statement on its own: if one sentence leaves out "I", they all should. Our article on strong action verbs shows how to swap a passive opener such as "responsible for" for an active one.

Does my CV fit on two pages?

Most UK CVs should, and only your downloaded copy can tell you, because the builder shows your CV as one long page without breaks. One page plus a few stray lines looks unfinished, so trim back to one or give page two something worth reading. If a heading sits alone at the foot of a page, trim a line above it or move a section higher and download again.

Have I removed my photo, date of birth and other age clues?

For UK and Irish jobs, leave off your photo, date of birth, age and marital status. In Great Britain the Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on grounds such as age, race, religion and sex, so many employers would rather not see those details. Watch for quieter clues too: a school-leaving year gives your age away just as plainly, so list older qualifications without dates.

Should my CV end with "References available on request"?

No. Use this check on your referees instead: tell both which job you've applied for and what it involves, so what they say fits the role, and make sure the job title, phone number and email you hold for each are still current, since former managers move on too.

Does my CV match the job description's spelling?

Where your CV and the advert share a term, spell it the advert's way. A UK advert usually uses British spelling for its key terms, and a recruiter searching applications for "programme management" or "driving licence" may not find a CV that says program or license. Of employers using recruiting software, 88% say qualified candidates can get filtered out, as the hiring research shows, so don't let a spelling difference be the reason. Check these pairs against the advert:

• programme for a scheme or course, and program only for computer software, even in British English
• licence as the noun and license as the verb, the same split as practice and practise
• -ise or -ize, whichever the advert uses, as in organisation

Get to the final checks sooner with Rocket Resume

Rocket Resume's CV builder gives each part of your CV its own screen, from contact details to the summary that holds your personal statement. Every job title brings AI-enhanced expert suggestions you can accept, rework or ignore, and each ATS-friendly design sets out your sections so a role added late matches the rest. With your employment dates nearby, the first pass can take under 10 minutes, leaving more time for the checks. Here's how:

1. After the opening question or two, pick a design; if another suits the employer better later, all your text moves across.
2. Enter each job, latest first, with the right month and year, and drop any example that overstates your role.
3. Add your education and skills, then a personal statement that keeps one voice from its first line to its last.
4. On the final screen, drag your strongest section higher, then after a break read your CV against the seven checks and download it to see where each page ends.

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