Applications and CV
Keep every application and its next date in one list, and check your CV and cover letter before you send them. Everything stays on this device.
Kept on this device only, and never sent anywhere. Please do not note the names or contact details of people you meet; this list is for your own applications.
Check my CV
Your text never leaves this device. The checks run in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and nothing is saved unless you press Save on this device. This is not an AI: it applies published rules, and it will not rewrite anything for you.
For the note on photos and personal details
Put each bullet on its own line. Up to 20,000 characters are checked.
Not saved. The text stays in this tab until you close it.
How this is checked
- About one page. Counts the words. Up to 650 usually fits one page for a student or early-career CV; under 200 is probably unfinished.
- Bullets open with an action verb. At least 70 percent of bullets should start with one of the 338 action verb forms on our list (led, built, ran and so on). British and American spellings both count, for example analysed and analyzed.
- Bullets show a result with a number. At least 50 percent of bullets should hold a number (a digit, or doubled, tripled, halved).
- No first person in bullets. Bullets should not use I, me, my, we, our or us. The reader already knows the CV is about you, and "we" hides your own role.
- No duty phrases. Flags phrases that describe a duty instead of an action, such as "responsible for", "helped with", "worked on" and "involved in".
- Shows qualities instead of listing them. Flags words nearly every applicant uses about themselves, such as "hard-working", "team player", "detail-oriented" and "passionate". A reader cannot check them, so a line that shows the quality with a result does more. On a CV any of them is flagged; in a cover letter, more than 2 different ones.
- One date style. Finds dates written as "Jan 2025", "January 2025", "01/2025" or "2025-01" and flags a CV that mixes styles.
- Tense is consistent. Notes bullets that open in the present tense ("Lead") alongside the past tense ("Led"). The present tense is right only for a role you still hold.
- Bullets are short. Flags bullets over 30 words, about three printed lines.
- Shows what consulting looks for. Looks for words that show leadership, analysis, results, teamwork and business sense. At least 4 of the 5 should appear somewhere.
- Formatting is consistent. Flags mixed bullet symbols, bullets where some end with a full stop and others do not, and double spaces.
- No common misspellings. Checks against a small list of words people often misspell (for example "managment" and "recieve"). British and American spellings are both fine. It is not a full spelling check.
- Personal details fit the region. Looks for a date of birth, age, marital status or nationality, and compares with the general norm on these (and on photos) for the region you choose. Follow the firm when it says otherwise.
These checks look at form, not substance. They cannot tell whether your experience is strong, whether a number is true, whether the CV suits a particular firm, or how a recruiter will read it. They are not an AI and do not rewrite anything for you.
Every rule for every score on the site is on How we grade.