How to tailor your CV to a job description

Start with the role, then look at your CV

Read the posting once for context and again for the work you would actually do. Separate essential qualifications from preferences. Write down the three responsibilities that seem most central to the role, then find evidence of each in your experience. This gives you a useful editing plan before you change a word.

For example, a customer success role might emphasize onboarding, retention, and cross-team communication. A sales-heavy CV may already contain relevant examples, but they could be buried under prospecting details. Tailoring means making the relevant evidence easier to find.

Build a simple requirement-to-evidence map

Use three columns: what the job asks for, what you have actually done, and where that evidence belongs in your CV. Put a product launch in your experience section, a relevant certification in education or credentials, and a specific tool in skills if you can discuss how you used it.

If you have no evidence for a requirement, leave the gap visible in your own notes. A preferred skill may not be essential. An essential qualification may affect whether this is the right opportunity. Do not turn a requirement from the posting into an achievement you have never had.

Make a generic bullet specific

Consider this fictional example. Original: “Responsible for customer accounts.” Details supplied by the example candidate: they guided new customers through setup, held weekly calls, and coordinated support issues. Tailored version: “Guided new customers through setup, led weekly account calls, and coordinated support issues with the technical team.”

The revised bullet makes the work easier to understand without adding a made-up retention percentage or revenue figure. If you have a verified outcome, add it. If you do not, specific responsibilities are still more useful than vague claims.

Use AI for a focused edit

In lolcv, open Prepare, paste the job URL or description, review the extracted role, and choose a CV. Give lolcvAI a clear instruction instead of asking it to make you sound perfect for everything.

Try this prompt: “Use the attached job description to focus my summary on onboarding and customer communication. Use only experience already in my CV. Suggest clearer bullets and identify any requirements for which I have not provided evidence.”

Review the output for changes to employers, job titles, dates, qualifications, and results. Keep language that you would be comfortable explaining in an interview.

Save the version you actually apply with

Keep your master CV intact. Save the tailored version with a company and role name, attach it to the application, and make your final layout changes in CV Studio. A name such as “Northstar — Customer Success — September” is more useful than “CV final final”.

Before exporting, check your contact details, the order of your most relevant work, spelling, page breaks, and the employer’s file-format instructions. Open the exported file itself. When an interview arrives, return to this version so you prepare from the same information the employer received.