How to improve your CV with AI, without it sounding like AI

What AI is good at on a CV, and what it gets wrong

Think of an AI chat tool as a fast, tireless editor who has never met you. It can reshape what you give it. It can’t know what you actually did.

The rule that follows: give the AI facts, ask it for wording, and treat everything it adds as a suggestion to check.

5 prompts that work

Each prompt is ready to copy. Replace everything in [square brackets], then paste your own text underneath. Every prompt tells the AI not to invent facts. Keep that line in, even when it feels obvious.

1. Turn duties into achievements

Most CVs list what you were responsible for. Employers want to know what changed because you were there. This prompt uses the context–action–result pattern.

Rewrite the CV bullet points below as achievements, using context, action and result.
Rules:
- Use only the facts I give you. Never invent numbers, tools, employers or responsibilities.
- If a result needs a figure I haven't given, write a placeholder such as [X%] or [number] and ask me for it.
- Start each bullet with a strong verb, in the past tense for past roles and the present tense for my current role, and keep it under 25 words.
- Use British English spelling.

My role: [job title] at [type of organisation]
My bullets and notes:
[paste your bullets, plus anything you remember about the results]

A good answer adds no tools or numbers you didn’t mention. Check for that every time. For more verbs to open bullets, see our CV action verbs.

2. Tailor your CV to a job advert

Here is a job advert and my CV.
1. List the 8 skills, tools or qualifications the advert asks for most, in the advert's own words.
2. For each one, quote where my CV already shows it, or write "not found".
3. Suggest changes to my personal statement and bullets so they use the advert's wording where it is true for me.
Don't add anything I haven't done. Mark anything you are unsure about with [check]. Use British English.

Job advert:
[paste the advert]

My CV:
[paste your CV text]

The “not found” list is the valuable part. It shows you either what to add honestly or that the job is a stretch.

3. Write a 3-sentence personal statement

Write 3 versions of a personal statement for the top of my CV. Each should be 3 sentences and under 80 words.
Sentence 1: who I am (job title or field, level of experience, specialism).
Sentence 2: what I offer, with one proof point taken from my CV.
Sentence 3: what I want next, matched to this role: [job title] in [sector].
Rules: implied first person (no "I" at the start, never "he" or "she"), British English, no clichés such as "hard-working", "team player" or "results-driven", and no facts that aren't in my CV.

My CV:
[paste your CV text]

Ask for 3 versions, then combine the best parts yourself. More models to borrow from are in our CV personal statement examples.

4. Cut a 3-page CV to 2

My CV is [3] pages and needs to fit on 2 A4 pages. Without changing any facts:
- Keep the last [10 to 15] years in detail and shorten older roles to one line each (job title, employer, dates).
- Merge bullets that say the same thing and remove filler words.
- If space is tight, remove "References available on request". Remove personal details UK employers don't need, such as date of birth and marital status.
- Then list everything you cut, so I can put back anything important.

My CV:
[paste your CV text]

The list of cuts matters. AI can cut the unusual detail that makes you memorable, so read it before you accept the shorter version.

5. Convert a US resume into a UK CV

Convert my US resume into a UK CV.
- Use British English spelling and UK terms: "CV", not "resume", and dates written as "Mar 2024".
- Add a personal statement of 3 to 4 lines at the top, based only on my resume.
- Remove my photo, age, date of birth and marital status if they appear.
- Point out US terms a UK recruiter may not know, such as a GPA, but don't convert my grades into UK degree classes. Tell me what to check instead.
- Keep every fact and don't add any.

My resume:
[paste your resume text]

Then check the paper size is A4 (YourCVy’s default; it’s under Format in the Design tab). Our guide to CV vs resume covers the other differences between them.

Check AI text before you use it

Read every suggestion as if a sceptical interviewer will ask about it, because one might.

• Every number is true, and you can explain how you know it.
• Every tool, skill and qualification is one you really have. “Familiar with” is not “expert in”.
• Job titles, employers and dates are exactly as they were.
• No placeholder is left behind: search the text for “[” before you send it.
• British spelling and UK terms throughout: organise, programme, CV.
• No clichés: cut “passionate”, “dynamic” and “results-driven”, and show the result instead.
• It sounds like you. Read it aloud; if you wouldn’t say it in an interview, rewrite it.
• It matches your LinkedIn profile and anything you have already told the employer.

Privacy: what to remove before you paste a CV into any AI tool

An AI tool only needs your experience and skills to improve the wording. Take these out first:

• Your full home address. A town or city is enough, on a CV too.
• Your date of birth and age. The National Careers Service advises leaving them off a UK CV anyway.
• National Insurance, passport, visa or other ID numbers.
• Your referees’ names and contact details: that is someone else’s personal data.
• Health or other sensitive details you wouldn’t put on the CV itself.
• Confidential information about your employer, such as unpublished figures or client names.

Then check the tool’s settings. Some consumer chat services can use your conversations to improve their models unless you switch that off; ChatGPT, for example, has an “Improve the model for everyone” setting. If a tool doesn’t say what happens to your text, don’t paste your CV into it.

How the YourCVy AI coach works

YourCVy’s AI runs on Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, through our own server function. YourCVy is independent and isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic. Here is what happens, step by step.

1. It reads your CV. When you upload a PDF or Word (.docx) file, its whole content, contact details included, is sent over HTTPS to Anthropic’s API (in the USA) and turned into an editable draft. If the file contains your full address, date of birth or ID numbers, delete them before you upload; a UK CV doesn’t need them. Check the draft: AI can make mistakes.
2. It leaves out your email, phone and date of birth. When you chat, the coach gets the text of your CV without your email address, phone number, date of birth, links or photo. It does see your name, your location and any nationality, work-permit or availability line, plus the names of the layout and colour scheme you picked.
3. It changes only what you ask. It is told never to invent facts about you, such as employers, numbers, results or qualifications. Where a stronger line needs a figure, it should write a placeholder such as [X%] and tell you to fill it in.
4. You decide what goes in. Suggestions appear in the chat with a Copy button. Nothing on your CV changes until you paste it into the editor yourself.
5. It replies in your language. The site is in English, but the coach answers in the language you write in.

Quick prompts cover the common jobs: improve my summary, stronger bullet points, tailor my CV to a job ad, which layout suits me, and a cover letter opening.

We don’t keep your CV. YourCVy has no database and no accounts; your draft lives only in your browser tab and disappears when you close it. Anthropic doesn’t use API data to train its models and deletes it automatically within 30 days under its current policy. The details are in our privacy policy.

Frequently asked questions