CV checklist: 35 checks before you send it

Concrete checks to run on your CV before every application, grouped so you can work through them in 15 minutes.

Most CV mistakes are not about strategy. They are a wrong digit in a phone number, a date that says 2032, a bullet that still mentions the last company you applied to. This checklist catches those. Work through it on the exact file you are about to send, not the version in your editor.

Each check is something you can verify in seconds. If an item fails, the linked guide explains how to fix it.

Contact details

1. Your name is at the top and spelt as you want to be addressed.
2. Your email works and looks professional. Send a test email to it if you have not used it recently.
3. Your phone number is correct, with the country code if you are applying abroad (+44, +1 and so on).
4. Your location is at the level the reader needs: town or city and country is usually enough. A full street address is rarely needed.
5. Any links (LinkedIn, portfolio, GitHub) open the right page and the page is up to date.
6. Contact details are in the body of the page, as text, not only in a header, footer or icons. See ATS formatting pitfalls.
7. No personal details your region doesn’t expect. In the US and UK that usually means no date of birth, marital status, nationality (unless relevant to right to work) or photo. See personal details and photo on a CV.

Content

8. The summary names the type of role you are applying for, not a generic one. See CV summary.
9. The most relevant bullet in each recent role is first.
10. Your recent roles each have at least one result, not only duties. See achievement bullets.
11. You have two or three numbers per recent role where honest ones exist. See quantify achievements.
12. Every must-have from the job ad that you genuinely meet is visible. See job ad keywords.
13. Nothing on the page is something you could not explain in an interview.
14. Nothing mentions another employer’s name from a previous application.
15. Old or irrelevant roles are shortened or removed.

Wording

16. Bullets start with a verb, not “Responsible for” or “Duties included”. See action verbs.
17. Tense is consistent: present for ongoing current work, past for everything finished. See tense and pronouns.
18. No “I” at the start of bullets, and no third person anywhere.
19. No clichés you cannot back up (“team player”, “hard-working”). See clichés and buzzwords.
20. Bullets are under about 30 words each.
21. Full stops at the end of bullets: all or none.
22. Spelling matches the country (UK or US) and is consistent throughout.
23. Acronyms are spelt out at least once unless universal in your field.

Dates

24. Every role and qualification has dates, in one consistent format. See dates on a CV.
25. No end date before a start date, and no dates in the future except confirmed upcoming ones.
26. Gaps over about 6 months are either explained briefly or you are ready to explain them. See career gaps.

Formatting and length

27. Length fits the conventions for the region and your career stage. See CV length by country.
28. Paper size matches the region: A4 for the UK and Europe, US Letter for the US and Canada. See paper size.
29. No orphan lines: a heading at the bottom of a page with its content on the next, or a final page with two lines on it.
30. Section headings are standard (“Work experience”, “Education”, “Skills”). See section order and headings.

The file

31. The copy-and-paste test passes: select all the text in your PDF, paste it into a plain text editor, and check everything is there in a sensible order.
32. The file name is your name and “CV” (Jordan-Lee-CV.pdf), with no “final_v4” or the name of another employer.
33. The format is what the employer asked for (PDF unless they ask for Word). See saving your CV as a PDF.
34. You have opened the exported file and looked at every page, rather than trusting the preview.

The application

35. You have kept a copy of exactly what you sent, and noted the employer, role and date.

Checks the builder runs for you

The builder automatically flags several of the items above as you type: weak openings (“responsible for”, “worked on”), achievement bullets with no number, bullets over about 30 words, first-person pronouns, inconsistent date formats, end dates before start dates, gaps over 6 months, length against your region’s usual page count, unfamiliar section headings, photos and personal details in regions where they are not expected, clichés in the summary, inconsistent full stops and a missing email.

It cannot check whether your phone number is right, whether your achievements are true and relevant, or whether you left the wrong company’s name in. Those are on you.

Tip: Read the CV once on paper or on a different screen from the one you wrote it on, and once out loud. Both catch mistakes that a familiar screen hides.

Watch out: Proofread the plain-text version too, if you paste your CV into application forms. Special characters such as curly quotes and bullet symbols can turn into question marks or boxes in some systems.

A last read as the recruiter

Before sending, spend 30 seconds reading only the top third of page one: name, summary and your most recent role. Ask whether someone who read only that would know what job you want and why you might fit. If not, move your strongest evidence up.

Next: if you are applying to several roles, keep a master copy and tailor each one with the tailoring guide.